Of the eight head coaches already fired in college football this season, LSU’s Ed Orgeron is the only one who chose to coach out the string as a lame duck.
Not only that, but the fiery Cajun is still recruiting, trying to lure new talent he will never coach.
Why?
“It means something to me,” Orgeron said.
He said he thinks it means enough to what few players aren’t on the wounded list for the Tigers (4-5, 2-4 Southeastern Conference) to finish strong, beginning with tonight’s “Battle for The Boot” against surprising Arkansas (6-3, 2-3).
“I feel good about the mindset of this team,” Orgeron said after last week’s surprisingly close 20-13 loss to No. 3 Alabama in which the Tigers had three chances in the fourth quarter to take the lead. “I told them, ‘You play like this, we may win the rest of our games and go to a bowl.”
That seems to be the readjusted goal to a disappointing season — go bowling. It would mean winning two of the final three games for a breakeven record.
Anywhere with “blue water and white beaches” would be fine, Orgeron said.
Tonight could be the key as the Tigers will be heavily favored next week against Louisiana-Monroe (4-5) but likely a big underdog in the season finale against No. 11 Texas A&M (7-2, 4-2).
“It would mean a lot to us and it starts with Arkansas,” Orgeron said. “I think these guys want to keep on playing.
“It’s good for the team. It’s good for the younger guys to have 15 extra practices. It would be good for everybody.”
Or they could just try to get a frustrating season that cost Orgeron his dream job over with.
“I don’t see that in this team,” Orgeron said. “I don’t see that in me for sure.
“I think this team is going to finish strong. I see a lot of fight in them. I see a lot of guys getting their opportunities and playing their butts off.”
The Tigers certainly did that last week in the loss at Alabama despite being decimated by injuries that sidelined at least a dozen starters.
Not much will change against Arkansas.
LSU will get back cornerback Cordale Flott for a secondary that had one starter in its nickel package.
This week it’s the offensive line, which was intact last week for one of the few times this season, that will be missing both starting guards with Chasen Hines and Ed Ingram added to the lengthy injured list.
That will likely leave it to sophomores Marlon Martinez and Xavier Hill in the all-too-familiar role of next man up.
Orgeron, who began his coaching career as a graduate assistant in the Arkansas weight room in the mid-1980s, has won all five games against the Hogs since getting the LSU job in 2016.
But this Arkansas team under second-year head coach Sam Pittman has been one of the pleasant surprises in the SEC. The Razorbacks had wins over Texas and Texas A&M, hit a lull with three consecutive conference losses, but bounced back last week to beat Mississippi State 31-28.
Pittman said he a different LSU team against Alabama last week.
“LSU’s talented,” he said. “They’re LSU. They were inspired to play and played extremely well and obviously had a chance to win it there at the end.”