Saturday’s loss to Alabama taught me two things. First, LSU’s offense still has a long way to go before the Tigers will be championship contenders. Second, LSU should officially give the head coaching job to Ed Orgeron.
It seems counterintuitive, sure. Coach O was just handed his first loss as the interim coach, and fans saw an anemic offense reminiscent of the last few seasons of the Les Miles era. Though the defense’s performance was excellent, it was an ugly and painful loss.
Despite all this, the administration should pull the trigger and hire Orgeron.
Coach O came closer to beating Alabama than Les Miles did last year, despite Alabama’s defensive front having improved and LSU’s offense remaining largely unchanged. Yes, LSU was playing at home, and yes, LSU’s offensive numbers were even lower this year. But you also have to consider that this was a team built by Miles and that the offense is run by a tight ends coach who hadn’t been an offensive coordinator for a college football team since 1998.
Of course, for LSU fans, close doesn’t cut it, especially when talking about the Alabama game. But it was unrealistic for so many people to expect Orgeron to out-coach the greatest college football coach of this era with a patchwork coaching staff. Nick Saban and Alabama have stumped some of the best offensive minds in football over the years, so cut him a little slack.
Fans, and, more importantly, the administrators, should not be so quick to discount the offensive performances from the three previous games. Breaking offensive records in three consecutive games is already impressive, but is more so when you consider how little time Orgeron had to make changes.
Coach O has only had about six weeks, yet fans expected him to defeat the No. 1 team in the country. That’s almost like expecting a college freshman to ace an economics final after going to class six times. Personally, I would say he came out of the game sporting a high C.
If for no other reason, hire Orgeron because of his effect on recruits and players. Orgeron was able to minimize the damage to LSU’s recruiting class, while also giving the current players the shot of energy they so desperately needed.
These next three games will be a big test for Coach O and this team. If he is able to avoid another post-Alabama collapse like last season, it certainly stacks things in his favor. Orgeron has turned the team around after a hard loss already, and set records in the process. Only, this time he has to do it against Arkansas, Florida and Texas A&M.
I think it’s fair to say this season has not turned out the way anyone hoped at the beginning of the year. But, realistically, LSU could still make a decent bowl game, considering all three losses have come from top-10 teams. That’s something that can be built upon, and Coach O has done enough to prove he’s the man to do it.