LSU reportedly negotiates with Herman to be next head coach

It didn’t last long, though.

“This is a great day for LSU and for all of Louisiana”, LSU athletics director Joe Alleva said.

Orgeron said to his wife, Kelly, that he was heading to Baton Rouge.

A couple of hours later, Orgeron dropped the “interim” in front of his title.

Orgeron’s only head coaching job came at Ole Miss where he went 10-25 during a three-year stint from 2005 to 2007.

To say we’re not really sure would be an understatement. “We know where his love is”. Coach O was never going to play games with us. We know where his passion is. Orgeron will be up against that, too.

The Tigers went 5-2 under Orgeron, finishing off the regular season with an emphatic win over Texas A&M. “We got our man, and he’s been here all along”. “He got me to come there”.

Orgeron has gone 5-2 since taking over for Les Miles, who was sacked in late September after LSU started 2-2. Orgeron plans to meet with his staff Sunday morning.

The next move for Orgeron will be trying to keep defensive coordinator Dave Aranda on staff. He declined to mention candidates, even when specifically asked about Kiffin, an old friend who is now the offensive coordinator at Alabama.

Orgeron went 5-2 at LSU under the interim tag. This seems unlikely to me but stranger things have happened, especially considering Orgeron’s and Kiffin’s history together – they worked together under Pete Carroll at USC and during Kiffin’s time at Tennessee. We’re going to recruit some of the best backs in the country. Head coaches have to be great coaches yes, but they also must be excellent recruiters, polished with the media, able to fundraise … you don’t just need a brilliant football mind, you need to be a politician. Miles is likely going to land another job, and he’ll do well there.

“He’s happy”, Orgeron said. His teams work hard for him, he can recruit … he’s nearly there. The first detail was that LSU would be holding a press conference to name their head coach, and then the trickle down effect began.

“We always believed”, Orgeron said. “I don’t think there’s a person that I’ve met that has a bigger heart and a bigger desire to succeed than Coach O”.

This isn’t a plea for the coaching carousel to end, or for schools to not look for the best person to lead their programs or even coaches to do what they have to do and should do for their families and their own careers.

Players continued showing their support for Orgeron on Twitter throughout the night and into Friday. It’s about the people of Louisiana.

“One team, one heartbeat”, Orgeron said when he took the podium after Alleva.