🏈 Athlon coach rankings: LSU's Ed Orgeron far from best in SEC, or even Louisiana

[17BAMA]

With much to prove and a checkered coaching past, LSU's Ed Orgeron has work to do to boost his middling standing in the coaching rankings — and even in Louisiana, apparently.

Orgeron (No. 81) was the third-highest rated eligible Louisiana coach, only being ranked above UL-Lafayette's Mark Hudspeth in Athlon's annual rankings.

He finished behind Skip Holtz of Louisiana Tech (67), and Tulane's Willie Fritz (59), who the rankings say has the Green Wave "moving in the right direction" after a 4-8 debut season.

Orgeron is slated to begin his first full season as LSU's head coach after leading the team to an 8-4 overall record (6-2 after Les Miles' firing), coaching for much of the season under an interim tag.

"LSU is a dream job for the Louisiana native, and the Tigers are banking on Orgeron filling the CEO role, with well-paid coordinators Matt Canada (offense) and Dave Aranda (defense) essentially serving as head coaches on their side of the ball," reads the ranking. " ... Orgeron should be better prepared for this stint at LSU [than he was at Ole Miss], but is he the right hire to help the program close the gap on Alabama?"

Also telling are the coaches ranked above Orgeron, including Lane Kiffin (No. 80) who rebuffed an opportunity to become LSU's offensive coordinator to take a head coaching position with Florida Atlantic University of Conference USA.

The other high-profile names LSU was in the market for? Texas' Tom Herman, No. 23, and Florida State's Jimbo Fisher, No. 4.

Orgeron's ranking also doesn't show off well along conference lines. Only Missouri's Barry Odom has a lower ranking (105) among SEC coaches. Alabama's Nick Saban was pegged No. 1.

Athlon coach rankings: LSU's Ed Orgeron far from best in SEC, or even Louisiana

 

[#80]

Ed has to pinch himself every morning when he wakes up.

 

[planomateo]

I have no idea what the LSU money was thinking when they signed up for Coach O.

Rankings > https://athlonsports.com/college-football/ranking-all-130-college-football-head-coaches-2017.

The top 10 is below. Swinney should be #3 or #2 if this is a results oriented ranking. Harbaugh shouldn't be in the top 5.

#1 Nick Saban
#2 Urban Meyer
#3 Jim Harbaugh
#4 Jimbo Fisher
#5 Dabo Swinney
#6 Chris Petersen
#7 David Shaw
#8 Bill Snyder
#9 Gary Patterson
#10 Bobby Petrino

 

[18Champs]

I have no idea what the LSU money was thinking when they signed up for Coach O.

Have you seen he they structured his buyout? I've seen people mention it's in the 12 million dollar range right now.

 

[TUSKtimes]

The "binder" says that 2-coordinators = one head coach. How would you like to be out there on that ledge?

 

[planomateo]

The "binder" says that 2-coordinators = one head coach. How would you like to be out there on that ledge?

I'd gladly stand on the ledge for a year or two.

Orgeron $3.5M/year
Canada $1.5M/year
Aranda $1.3M/year

 

[TUSKtimes]

I'd gladly stand on the ledge for a year or two.

Orgeron $3.5M/year
Canada $1.5M/year
Aranda $1.3M/year

I was thinking about the fans left hoping for the best. Orgeron and company hit the lotto.

 

[TerryP]

Have you seen he they structured his buyout? I've seen people mention it's in the 12 million dollar range right now.

That's one of the more disingenuous things I saw out of their AD, Joe Alleva. Back when we first started hearing about LSU folk trying to push Miles out one of the things Alleva cited was the financial problems the state was dealing with along with the buyout amount. In a few words, he said "it's not a good look for LSU."

But, then he turns around and signs another contract with an odd buyout? Confusing, no doubt.

 

[TerryP]

@planomateo confusing ledger with ledge, perhaps?

Orgeron $3.5M/year
Canada $1.5M/year
Aranda $1.3M/year

FWIW, Aranda signed an extension the weekend of the SECCG that put's him at a reported 1.8 - 1.9mm per year--three year deal. I saw The Advocate (I think that was it, may have been a report on Nola.com) that had their assistants making 3.3mm, combined, this fall.

What really struck me as odd is Orgeron's contract. $3.5mm per year, but if he's fired with one year left on his current contract he's getting 4.5mm as the buyout. As I recall, it runs 12mm, 8mm, 6mm, then down to 4.5mm (or at least close to that.) We're left with the hypothetical situation of him getting fired and then being paid more than he was as head coach--more than several other SEC coaches at this time.

But he's concerned about the public reaction(s) to Miles and his buyout?

Another question that bother the hell out of me is this. Who on earth does LSU feel might make a run at Orge where a multi-million dollar buyout would keep him in Louisiana? You know, his home state? His dream job?

 

[BamaFan334]

That's one of the more disingenuous things I saw out of their AD, Joe Alleva. Back when we first started hearing about LSU folk trying to push Miles out one of the things Alleva cited was the financial problems the state was dealing with along with the buyout amount. In a few words, he said "it's not a good look for LSU."

But, then he turns around and signs another contract with an odd buyout? Confusing, no doubt.

But what would Tom Herman have costed the university? He's not 100% proven either.

 

[50+yeartidefan]

Everybody is right...today....but......what the future holds is ...well in the future...
I still think...LSU.....f***** the pooch.....
But they hired good co-ordinations....its fertile recruiting grounds...
....I remember when TN fired Fulmer.....one of highest winning % in CF...
How has that worked out...????
LSU fires Les....damn good HC...The Saban effect (there was a BEAR effect back then)
I remember when
Lsu fired Charlie Mac ......and it was years before they were the same (the BEAR effect)
.....I cant wait for this to play out...and LSU comes to Ttown...

 

[TerryP]

But what would Tom Herman have costed the university? He's not 100% proven either.

I'm guessing more than five million per year IF Herman was truly interested in the LSU job.

That whole story reads a lot like the recent one of Cal to the Knicks as President. ESPN was reporting contact had been made, instigated by Cal's camp, while SI was reporting the exact opposite (I may have this backwards. Bottom line, two different reports, two different media groups.)

With LSU we had the Texas camp reporting on Herman, ESPN and Schlabach saying it was almost a done deal, and then others talking about how Herman wanted to wait on Texas (while other were saying he wasn't interested in their politics.)

I don't have a burning desire to find out what happened with Miles, Orgeron, Alleva, Herman, Fisher, et al. I can look at what we see today and realize it was quite the cluster ...

 

[TerryP]

....I remember when TN fired Fulmer.....one of highest winning % in CF...
How has that worked out...????

When Fulmer was fired, he was a game or two over .500 in conference play in his last four seasons. If you looked at his winning percentage versus top 25 teams, it was horrible. Horrible.

Phil broke TN a few years before that 2005 season broke him. In his last three years he couldn't get anything going in Knoxville. It is on the coincidental side that you bring him up, here. We've seen a handful of coaches fired for records just like his; some with better records.

 

[50+yeartidefan]

When Fulmer was fired, he was a game or two over .500 in conference play in his last four seasons. If you looked at his winning percentage versus top 25 teams, it was horrible. Horrible.

Phil broke TN a few years before that 2005 season broke him. In his last three years he couldn't get anything going in Knoxville. It is on the coincidental side that you bring him up, here. We've seen a handful of coaches fired for records just like his; some with better records.

Well...all true...but all HCs seem to have down period...maybe NSs was in the NFL.hopefully...but if a HC is fired for a rough 3 year period.....should Bama have fired BEAR after 68, 69, 70 period...that was a rough stretch...
I think TN wanted new blood also... and also think Cutcliff was responsible for a lot of TNs sucess.... anyway...Les had a lot more success to be fired then most....
And Os previous stint as HC didn't exactly work out....

 

[TerryP]

but if a HC is fired for a rough 3 year period.....should Bama have fired BEAR after 68, 69, 70 period...that was a rough stretch...

That's part of the story in those last years in Knoxville. If you look at their record against ranked teams (after Cut left, as you mentioned) it gets worse, and worse, and worse. Over those last several years he was running at a .333 clip against those teams.

A lot of moving parts with Fulmer. We've got the SEC winning percentage, winning against ranked teams, and then we see seasons where they may beat UF but end up losing to Bama and UGA. They may beat UGA in a season, but lose to UF and UofSC.

FWIW, it's my opinion that 2007 trip to ATL for the Vols was a bit of an anomaly. It was one of the first times I can recall a two loss team making to the SECCG. You may remember Florida complaining a lot that season since two of their losses (5-3 overall) were to teams from the West. I'm sure there are a lot of UGA fans still wondering how they lost to UofSC that season. They did lose to UT (sending the Vols to ATL) but that UofSC loss was a ... shocker, to a lot.

One thing I am convinced of...the UT PTB realized at some point in those early 2000 years that Fulmer's focus wasn't on making Tennessee a better team. It was all about what kind of short-cuts he could take. Let's not forget, we were in the middle of the Ron Zook era at UF so there was only one legitimate threat to UT winning the east--and they still failed to get there more often than not.

 

[50+yeartidefan]

That's part of the story in those last years in Knoxville. If you look at their record against ranked teams (after Cut left, as you mentioned) it gets worse, and worse, and worse. Over those last several years he was running at a .333 clip against those teams.

A lot of moving parts with Fulmer. We've got the SEC winning percentage, winning against ranked teams, and then we see seasons where they may beat UF but end up losing to Bama and UGA. They may beat UGA in a season, but lose to UF and UofSC.

FWIW, it's my opinion that 2007 trip to ATL for the Vols was a bit of an anomaly. It was one of the first times I can recall a two loss team making to the SECCG. You may remember Florida complaining a lot that season since two of their losses (5-3 overall) were to teams from the West. I'm sure there are a lot of UGA fans still wondering how they lost to UofSC that season. They did lose to UT (sending the Vols to ATL) but that UofSC loss was a ... shocker, to a lot.

One thing I am convinced of...the UT PTB realized at some point in those early 2000 years that Fulmer's focus wasn't on making Tennessee a better team. It was all about what kind of short-cuts he could take. Let's not forget, we were in the middle of the Ron Zook era at UF so there was only one legitimate threat to UT winning the east--and they still failed to get there more often than not.

100% with u on that....plus..the best part.....Fulmer got back what he did to Majors....
Thats the beauty of his final years...
And his "secret witness" shit on Bama was embarrassing to TN....
And failure to go to media days to keep from being served... what a joke he became!