Gotta give it to Ed Orgeron. He certainly knows out to drive up the price. Good for him. Last January, the Dallas Cowboys and the Saints were pursuing Orgeron as defensive line coach. Saints coach Sean Payton went to general manager Mickey Loomis to get some extra cash, and to Loomis' credit, got it.
Coach O was on board at $500,000 per year. That lasted all of one year.
For weeks, Orgeron was rumored to be joining Lane Kiffin's staff at Tennessee. But, along came the LSU rumors. Orgeron did little to dismiss them.
How big a loss is this for LSU? It is really hard to say. Orgeron was brought in large part get a pair of high priced defensive ends, Will Smith and Charles Grant to live up to their paychecks. That didn't happen. Grant was injured and Smith was also, although his injury was not known until after the season.
Orgeron can recruit. The team that Houston Nutt takes to the Cotton Bowl is one that has lots of good athletes, and a quarterback, Jevan Snead, that Coach O convinced to transfer to Ole Miss.
Orgeron can also negotiate. Fired at Ole Miss 13 months ago, Ed Orgeron has now been hotly pursued for 2 off seasons.
Coach O is headed to orange country, with lots of green.