Although the CFB season is still in its infancy, the coach carousel is already spinning. Virginia Tech Hokies and UCLA Bruins parted ways with their respective head coaches after 0-3 starts to the season. That was followed by Arkansas getting rid of Sam Pittman. At the moment, these programs have interims, but a coaching search is also on. The 2020 national winner and 2019 AP coach of the year is ready to throw his name in the ring at 64.

Sounds insane, but when you are Ed Orgeron, the gravelly voiced Cajun who became a folk hero in Baton Rouge during the LSU Tigers’ magical 2019 season. The former Tigers head coach, “Coach O,” resurfaced this week at the Patrick Queen’s Stadium ceremony in Louisiana. Asked by Jacques Doucet if he’s looking for a big-time assistant again or HC, Orgeron leaned in with the kind of straight-line answer only he could deliver.

“All depends on what the best thing available is,” he said. “I have a little meat left in the bone. I’m ready to go.”

Four years after walking away from the SEC spotlight, Coach O has been getting that itch again for quite a while now. But this time, a lot of jobs have opened up. The Bruins’ job may have the LA bright lights working for it, but the money behind it is limited. DeShaun Foster was one of the lowest-paid P4 coaches at just $3.25 million a year, and the financial backing for the program remains cloudy.

UCLA can boast of the Rose Bowl, the brand, and the LA talent pool, but without SEC-level commitment, they cannot simply throw cash at a hotshot coordinator like Oregon’s Will Stein or Oklahoma’s Ben Arbuckle. That opens the door for a veteran figure such as Ed Orgeron, whose name carries weight and whose voice alone can command a room full of blue-chip recruits.

Pete Nakos of On3 called him “an interesting name to monitor.” Orgeron knows Los Angeles well, having worked as an assistant at USC and forged deep ties in the area’s high school football scene. Recruiting is often half the battle, and he has the kind of résumé that speaks for itself. Players still remember the locker room energy, the pregame growls, and the way he built a roster around future pros like Joe Burrow, Chase, and Queen.

Ed Orgeron’s baggage from the LSU exit

Of course, there is the baggage. Orgeron’s tenure at LSU ended awkwardly, not long after lifting the trophy in New Orleans. Questions about off-field discipline, program direction, and his management style never fully went away. At 64, he won’t be a young up-and-comer but rather a throwback figure who would bring instant attention to whichever sideline he lands on.

In August, he made it clear on The Chuck & Bo Show: “Obviously being a head coach would be my goal.” He has never pretended to want anything less. Whether that goal aligns with UCLA’s uncertain ambitions remains to be seen.

Since stepping away from coaching, he’s made a habit of popping up at big sporting events, soaking it all in without the weekly grind of SEC pressure. But with his name back in the rumor mill for open jobs. Arkansas jobs have other suitors lined up, and one particular former NFL head coach is the frontrunner there.