Take Two: Is Ed Orgeron the right coach for LSU after all?

CLASS OF 2019 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | State | Position | Team

CLASS OF 2020 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | State | Position

Take Two returns with a daily offering tackling a topic in the college football landscape. Rivals.com National Recruiting Analyst Adam Gorney lays out the situation and then receives takes from Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell and a local expert from the Rivals.com network of team sites.

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When LSU hired Ed Orgeron as its full-time coach after losing the fight for Tom Herman with Texas, there were a lot of questions and concerns from the Tiger faithful about whether he was the right selection.

Orgeron was 10-25 overall and 3-21 in three seasons as Ole Miss’ head coach. He had one interim year at USC and one interim year at LSU after the Tigers fired Les Miles. His head coaching resume was far from ideal.

In his first full season in Baton Rouge last year, LSU finished 9-4 but the Tigers suffered a 30-point loss to Mississippi State, an embarrassing home loss to Troy and Alabama – always the measuring stick for LSU, fairly or unfairly – beat the Tigers by two touchdowns.

There were certainly questions about Orgeron’s longevity at LSU entering this season especially with a brutal schedule. But the Tigers dominated Miami in the opener and then went to Auburn this past weekend and won on a last-second field goal.

There are still significant challenges on the schedule with Ole Miss in a couple weeks, followed by Florida, Georgia, Mississippi State, Alabama and Texas A&M.

Is the jury still out when it comes to Orgeron’s future at LSU or is he perhaps the perfect coach for this program at this time?

“For now, Orgeron has won over the LSU faithful. LSU fans have shown their affinity for Orgeron before and it's quickly dissipated when adversity strikes. I'm using the term ‘boomerang fans’ to describe how fans of the Tigers feel about the head coach, who has knocked off a pair of top-10 opponents through two weeks – both away from Death Valley – and has the team at No. 6 in the country.

“There was plenty to criticize when Joe Alleva tabbed Orgeron to be the head coach. Last year was a rebuilding year. Orgeron had his fair share of big wins but came up short against Alabama and shy of 10 wins. He added more to his coaching staff and has taken a very CEO-like approach this year, allowing his coordinators to have free range. It's paid off with wins over No. 8 Miami and No. 7 Auburn.

"Still, the ‘boomerang fans’ won't settle for just a win over Auburn, especially with Georgia and Mississippi State coming to town in October. A slip-up there and this signature victory may be forgotten. As always, how LSU fares against Alabama is the measuring stick in Baton Rouge.”

“The jury is still out long term, but he’s done really well this season. LSU is the only team to beat two top-10 teams. It took care of Miami easily, then went into a really tough place to win at Auburn and won that game, too. He seems to be managing things really well with the quarterback. His completion percentage isn’t that good but he doesn’t make many mistakes. They have a running game and a great defense.

“Right now, the 4-6 start or the 3-5 start that a lot of people thought was going to happen isn’t going to happen, so he’s surprising a lot of people.”