REPORT: ED ORGERON TO TENNESSEE, NOT, I REPEAT NOT, TO LSU

by Joel Hollingsworth on Dec 31, 2008 6:33 PM EST in Tennessee Volunteer Football

Just got a text message that Rivals.com's Jamie Newberg has confirmed from Da Coach O hisself that Orgeron is not, repeat not, despite all of the reports to the contrary, going to LSU.

This thread at Tiger Droppings has been churning for about an hour with the story that once Lane Kiffin heard that Orgeron had decided to join up with LSU, that he and Monte flew down to see O and would not leave him alone until they had his signature saying he'd be coaching at Tennessee next year.

Details as they develop, but, assuming this is in fact true, it's a huge victory for Kiffin and Company.

[Note by Joel, 12/31/08 6:45 PM EST ] Rivals has now posted.

[Note by Joel, 12/31/08 6:46 PM EST ] And WBIR and the Times-Picayune follow. The latter says that Tennessee offered Orgeron "something close to $900,000."

[Note by Joel, 12/31/08 6:58 PM EST ] Aaaaand the clincher: ESPN, who has a quote from Orgeron:

"I'm so excited," Orgeron said via phone. "I get to coach with Monte [Kiffin] and I'm getting to recruit again. It's pedal to the metal and I can't wait to get up there." ESPN says Coach O will get $650,000.

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AAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAAHHAHAAHHAHA

Football Jesus, we sing to thee AMEN.

________________________________
I will give my shirt for Tennessee today.

by Holly Anderson on Dec 31, 2008 6:59 PM EST reply actions

Eric Berry hears, and he smiles upon thee.

by bobo_the_vol on Dec 31, 2008 8:49 PM EST up reply actions

Coach O

Holy crap! Things are lookin up in a big way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GilT

by GilT on Dec 31, 2008 7:08 PM EST reply actions

Wow!

I’m so excited by the coaching news today, I can’t wait for the season to start.

by Bitgod on Dec 31, 2008 8:05 PM EST reply actions

Orgeron assistant HC and DL coach and in other news we have our OC

St. Louis Rams assistant HC Jim Haney is our new Offensive coordinator. Does Kiffin know this is college and not the NFL?, lol

Imagine asking a recruit if he wants to come to a team full of coachs from the NFL.

All I can say is boy I can’t wait a few years until we can whoop up on Florida every year.

by roxbombers on Dec 31, 2008 9:08 PM EST reply actions

Good luck - but....

From an Ole Miss fan and alum who has a huge amount of respect for UT: While at Ole Miss, Orgeron was a classless thug. He is firery, to be sure, but he never produced a winning team – and his antics off the field were a huge embarrassment to the Oxford community.

by Rebel Mac on Dec 31, 2008 10:09 PM EST reply actions

Ya I wouldn't like the hire as a HC but as a behind the scenes guy I love it

Orgeron has never been a real “people” person but I guess a DL coach doesn’t really have to be

by roxbombers on Dec 31, 2008 10:49 PM EST reply actions

I wonder if LSU did this partly to bump UT's bidding price.

I don’t doubt that LSU was making a play for him, but it seems that this last maneuver did little but to cause UT to throw the ol’ boy a lot more money than initially assumed.

Either way, this coaching staff is going to be a LOT more entertaining during pressers than we’ve seen for a while.

+ Lane’s too forthright for his own good
+ I picture Monte to be like those old guys we all know that say what they want and no longer care what you think
+ O is da O

Seriously, between that and this newfound quipfest that Lane has with Spurrier, it’s going to be entertainment at its best. GVX must be ecstatic.

by David Hooper on Dec 31, 2008 11:12 PM EST reply actions

BTW,

FWIW, GVX hints at about $650k for Orgeron, which is much closer to the numbers that ESPN was running on the ticker earlier today. I don’t think the final tally will be $900k.

by David Hooper on Dec 31, 2008 11:13 PM EST reply actions

Oh,

and now I see that final update. Heh.

by David Hooper on Dec 31, 2008 11:14 PM EST up reply actions

Im not exactly celebrating yet

after seeing, first hand, what he did to Ole Miss…

The players there hated him with a passion that I found astounding. They vocalized it well before he was gone, which speaks volumes in my opinion.

by Muhler on Jan 1, 2009 12:26 AM EST reply actions

I'm curious too.

I don’t have any doubt as to his recruiting chops. I do wonder, though, if da O is simply not a good head coach type of guy. Some people are absolute crackshots at coordinating/position coaching/recruiting/etc. so long as there’s somebody else in that HC seat to provide the overall tenor of the program. Could that be the case with O? Maybe. I never heard about those kinds of complaints from his time at USC, so it’s a possibility. But you’re right; waiting is going to be the best answer.

In any case, we’re going to have a brand new staff and their chemistry alone will be enough of an unknown that we shouldn’t presume too much.

by David Hooper on Jan 1, 2009 1:34 AM EST up reply actions