Ed Orgeron Has A Chance To Do Something Les Miles Never Could

After a heartbreaking loss Saturday night to the Alabama Crimson Tide, many are beginning to question the candidacy of Ed Orgeron for the LSU head coaching position. Going into the game, the consensus opinion seemed to be that the interim head coach was a heavy favorite to become the full-time head coach of the Tigers.

Prior to the loss, Orgeron had won three straight games and had not yet suffered a loss. The team looked dominant on offense for the first time in quite awhile, and the overall buzz around the program since he took over was absolutely incredible. The team was playing its best football of the season, and the Tigers were one of the hottest teams in the nation.

I think most right-minded people went into the game saying they would keep Orgeron atop their list even if LSU lost, as long as they were competitive and it came down to the wire. That’s exactly what happened, but with the way the offense performed in the 10-0 loss, it seems that some people aren’t quite sure about Coach O at this point.

It’s a very fair thought, and if Orgeron wants this job, he’s now going to have to go out and prove that he deserves it. The good thing for him is, he’s got an absolutely fantastic opportunity to do just that.

When Les Miles was still the coach of this football team, we saw a very consistent negative trend from the Tigers. LSU would have a great first half of the season and would be sitting in great position in both the conference and national standings. Going into the Alabama game, it was always a battle of top teams, and quite often the matchup had serious implications on the national and conference championship pictures.

Miles is often labeled as a guy who can’t get over the hump of beating Alabama, but in my opinion, that was not even the biggest problem. It seemed like every time LSU lost to the Crimson Tide, Miles and Tigers would shut it down and play out the season as if the year were already over. Now, technically, with that huge loss, LSU’s chances of playing in any championship game ended, but that still does not excuse the folding of the tent and going home we saw from the team down the stretch of any year they lost to Alabama.

Ed Orgeron has a chance to turn that trend around. Yes, his team lost to Alabama and now has no real shot to make the playoffs or go to Atlanta to play for the SEC title, but there are still three games left on the schedule. With conference foes Arkansas, Florida, and Texas A&M still to go, the Tigers can prove that this is a new era, and that this program no longer quits just because it loses to Alabama. If LSU can win these last three games, it would not only be huge for the team, but it could very well win the head coaching job for Coach O.