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2021 season finds Ed Orgeron with back up against the wall ... again

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Ed Daniels

On a broiling hot June day, in the middle of the lineman camp in Thibodaux, Ed Orgeron’s friend and former defensive line coach Pete Jenkins weighed in with a spot on comment.

Reporter: Ed, with his back up against the wall, again?

Jenkins: I think that’s the way he likes it.

For Orgeron, the last five years have been far more than a crazy ride.

It has been an outlandish journey.

In late November of 2016, as his Tigers were finishing off Texas A&M, rumors swirled that LSU would hire Houston coach Tom Herman.

The 2017 season was full of some highs, but some incredible lows. There was a 30-point loss at Mississippi State.

And, then a three-point loss at home, to Troy.

And, to end the season, LSU somehow grabbed defeat from the jaws of victory against Notre Dame in the Citrus Bowl, allowing the Irish and then unknown quarterback Ian Book to score two touchdowns in the last 7:49.

That June, at the same lineman camp, Jenkins weighed in on Orgeron, as the LSU coach was at the top of the hot seat list.

“If LSU had won that game against Notre Dame, the entire season would have been perceived differently,” said Jenkins.

The preseason Las Vegas win totals had LSU at seven.

The Tigers won 10, lost three, including an improbable seven overtime loss at Texas A&M.

We know what happened in 2019.

LSU put together one of the greatest seasons in the history of the college game, winning the school’s third national championship in 16 seasons.

The euphoria didn’t last long.

Wide receiver, Ja’Marr Chase, defensive tackle Tyler Shelvin, and nickel back Kary Vincent all opted out of the 2020 season.

The Tigers lost their opener, 44-34 to Mississippi State.

The defense was a yearlong disaster.

Starting quarterback Myles Brennan was lost for the season to injury.

Freshman tight end Arik Gilbert left the team. Wide receiver Terrace Marshall, a future first round pick, opted out midseason.

LSU was then embarrassed at home by Alabama, 56-17.

Yet, somehow, quarterback Max Johnson, a true freshman making his first college start, led the Tigers an improbable win in the Swamp against sixth ranked Florida.

But, that win and another over Ole Miss didn’t quell the speculation.

Was Ed Orgeron the next Gene Chizik?

You know, the Auburn coach who won the national championship in 2010 and was fired two years later.

The offseason came, and so did a massive scandal that rocked LSU.

The scandal cost former LSU head coach Les Miles his job at Kansas.

Former LSU President King Alexander was ousted from the same role at Oregon State.

So, here we are at the start of another season.

And, in the first week of August, LSU’s preseason quarterback battle ended with a freak injury to Myles Brennan.

So, already, the questions begin.

Will LSU’s only experienced quarterback Max Johnson, run less?

What happens if Johnson is injured, and Orgeron has to turn to a true freshman to make take his first snaps in the cauldron that is the Southeastern Conference?

Always questions for Ed Orgeron.

The fact that he is, even after last season, 45 wins and 14 losses, with a national championship in his pocket at LSU, seems like a footnote.

And, in the words of Pete Jenkins, he wouldn’t want it any other way. BC

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