During his time at LSU, Ed Orgeron matched Nick Saban’s legacy in Baton Rouge by winning a national championship in 2019. The campaign saw the Tigers travel to Tuscaloosa to take on the Tide. As per Orgeron, Saban was taken aback by what LSU’s passing game coordinator Joe Brady had in store for him.

“One of my favorite times [Alabama game] besides the one at Clemson,” Ed Orgeron said on the Pardon My Take podcast as he revealed how LSU overpowered Alabama. “On Thursday night, coaches go home; we wore out and go home at six o’clock, not Joe Brady.”

“Joe Brady is gonna sit in there, and he’s gonna watch every NFL touchdown in the red zone and study it and come up with maybe an extra game plan. And I got to work about six o’clock that morning, and Joe was leaving the office, and this is all he told me. ‘Coach. I got him,” said Coach O.

The No. 3 LSU took down No. 2 Alabama to snap the latter’s eight-game winning streak over the Tigers. The loss also ended Alabama’s 31-game unbeaten run at home. In the first half of the game, the Joe Burrow-led offense simply overpowered the Tide. One play, in particular, got Edgeron hyped.

“I mean, that three-level route we ran to Clyde at the end zone after the interception, I saw Saban scratching his head. And I got all the respect in the world for Coach Saban. When we were slicing and dicing in Alabama, I never saw our guys that wide open. Right. I’m like, look at this sh-t, man. Wow. And he said he had it. He did,” said Orgeron

With two minutes left in the first half, the Tigers were leading 19-13. They had to settle for a field goal after failing to convert on a 3rd-and-goal. The score read 22-13, but with 1:45 left on the clock, Alabama had a chance to cut the deficit. The Tide marched to LSU’s 40-yard line, and then the disaster struck. Tua Tagovailoa threw an interception.

When Burrow got the ball, the clock read 11 seconds. First play, a 29-yard gain to Ja’Marr Chase. LSU was at Alabama’s 21-yard line, and many expected them to kick a field goal with six seconds on the clock. But Joe Brady had other plans. He went for the kill. Burrow snapped the ball and calmly found RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire on a Texas route right across the middle. Clyde did his thing, made a DB miss, and jumped into the end zone as the clock expired.

It’s no wonder that Joe Brady is currently an NFL head coach. Ed Orgeron saw what he was capable of at LSU. Unfortunately, the former Tigers’ head coach didn’t have a long run at the job. He was let go in 2021. But Coach O is back in Baton Rouge.

Ed Orgeron returns to LSU

Lane Kiffin made many staff changes, but the new coach surprised everyone by hiring Coach O, whom they fired in 2021. His return has left everyone speechless, but the new role assigned to him would be highly beneficial. Rather than leading the Tigers from the sidelines once again, Coach O will take over as the “special assistant to defense.” Even though his exit left a lot of questions unanswered, his experience speaks for itself.

“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,” Kiffin said of Orgeron.

With his work all laid out for him, the former national championship coach has been handed his first task: bringing his trademark energy and recruiting reputation back into the spotlight. Orgeron has already returned to work mode, collaborating with Lane Kiffin to flip elite Vanderbilt linebacker commit Omarii Sanders.