Ed Orgeron returns to LSU as special assistant to Lane Kiffin

After six years as head coach, Ed Orgeron is returning to LSU to join Lane Kiffin's staff as special assistant to recruiting and defense.

Orgeron led the Tigers to a national championship in 2019. He was fired in 2021 by former athletic director Scott Woodward and received a $17.1 million buyout.

Kiffin said Orgeron will help recruit elite players across the country and especially in Louisiana. "I’m excited to bring Coach Orgeron back to LSU," Kiffin said. "He brings us tremendous value with his ability to recruit elite players nationally, but especially the impact he can have for us recruiting the great state of Louisiana. Coach O understands my expectations and commitment to being a championship program. I look forward to seeing him with recruits and his intensity working with our defensive players."

Orgeron said adjusting to the current era of college athletics, where players can be paid legally, will be minor. "It’s a minor adjustment. Back then, we used to walk through the back door with the cash, now we just gotta walk through the front door with the cash. A joke, obviously," he said while laughing on the Bussin' With The Boys podcast.

Orgeron and Kiffin have worked together before. Kiffin hired Orgeron away from the NFL for the Tennessee job in 2009. When Kiffin moved to USC the next year, Orgeron followed and coached on the defensive side of the ball. Orgeron said he went to Tennessee because he and Kiffin were close at USC and because he wanted to work with Kiffin's father, Monte Kiffin.

The two coaches faced each other in 2020 when Orgeron was at LSU and Kiffin was at Ole Miss. Former colleague Tee Martin has also joined Kiffin's staff at LSU, creating a reunion of coaches who worked together at USC.

Orgeron is expected to focus on recruiting and defensive coaching at LSU.