Coaching Comebacks
May 24, 2026 09:35PM ● By Kelsey Swire
LSU bringing familiar faces home to campus
By Jim Gazzolo
The coaching rehab clinic in Baton Rouge received another patient this week.
Ed Orgeron joins a growing group of former LSU head coaches who were fired and are now back with the Tigers.
Ironically, all three have ties to Southwest Louisiana.
The link between the two areas just keeps growing when it comes to college sports. Two of Orgeron’s sons played at McNeese while he was coaching LSU.
Cody Orgeron was the starting quarterback for the better part of three seasons, making Coach O a visitor and interested party for the program. They even played against each other, with the Tigers easily winning.
But LSU gave Orgeron $17 million not to coach the Tigers just 21 months after he had led them to an undefeated national championship season in 2019. Coach O left a mess in Baton Rouge that has yet to be cleaned up.
So what does LSU do, they bring him back.
Orgeron was hired Wednesday by new head coach Lane Kiffin, who knows a thing or two about leaving messes behind as well. Kiffin hired Orgeron as a special assistant to recruiting and defense.
“I'm excited to bring Coach Orgeron back to LSU,” Kiffin said. “He brings us tremendous value with his ability to recruit elite players nationally, but especially the impact he can have for us recruiting the great state of Louisiana. Coach O understands my expectations and commitment to being a championship program. I look forward to seeing him with recruits and his intensity working with our defensive players.”
No question, Orgeron loves Louisiana and LSU, so he is a perfect salesman for the program.
He joins Will Wade and Johnny Jones as former head coaches who were fired and are returning to the programs that let them go. Wade, of course, is the famous basketball coach who rebranded himself with two historic seasons at McNeese.
Jones is the DeRidder product who coached the Tigers before Wade and was let go, but is now back as an assistant under Wade.
You really can’t make this stuff up.
LSU always seems to find a way to make things interesting, even if the things they are doing don’t seem to make a lot of sense.
Jim Gazzolo is a freelance writer who covers sports in Southwest Louisiana. He is also the host of Poke Nation, which airs weekly on CBS-Lake Charles.