Ed Orgeron won’t return as LSU’s head coach in 2022, the school announced Sunday. Orgeron is expected to finish out the 2021 season.
Orgeron, 60, has a 49-17 record at LSU across five-plus seasons, including four bowl appearances. The Tigers won the College Football Playoff Championship in 2019 led by Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Joe Burrow. Last year, LSU went 5-5 in the pandemic-shortened season. He enrolled as a freshman defensive lineman for the Tigers in 1979, playing one season before transferring to Northwestern State University.
“Ultimately, we have very high standards for all of our sports programs at LSU, and we will stand proudly behind our expectations of competing for SEC and national championships year in and year out,” athletics director Scott Woodward wrote in an open letter. “Our last two seasons have simply not met those standards, and based on our on-field results and our evaluation of the potential for future immediate success, it is time for a new direction.”
Orgeron released a statement of his own, saying that his return to LSU five years ago “fulfilled a lifelong dream.”
“All I wanted to do when I accepted the position as head coach in 2016 was to build a championship program and make the state of Louisiana proud,” he said. “With the hard work and support of talented players, loyal assistants, dedicated staff, and the most passionate fans in college football, we did just that in 2019.
“I have always understood the expectations at LSU, and they are the same expectations I have for myself and our staff. I am disappointed that we have not met these expectations over the past two years.”
The Tigers opened this season with a loss at UCLA, won their next three games and then fell to Auburn in a crushing 24-19 loss at home in Week 5. It marked Auburn’s first win in Death Valley since 1999. LSU followed that with a 42-21 loss to Kentucky in Week 6, but rebounded Saturday with a 49-42 win over Florida.
LSU is expected to pay Orgeron his entire buyout, which is more than $17 million.
LSU promoted Orgeron to head coach in November 2016 after he held the position on an interim basis for two months following Les Miles’ departure. Orgeron also served as a head coach at Ole Miss from 2005 to 2007 and at USC as an interim coach in 2013 after replacing Lane Kiffin.
For more, follow The Athletic’s live updates on the coaching change at LSU.
(Photo: Andy Lyons / Getty Images)