Lane Kiffin Finally Breaks Silence on LSU's Ed Orgeron Hire

The last time the LSU Tigers won a national championship, Ed Orgeron was head coach.

Now, seven years after Orgeron led LSU to arguably the best season in school history - the 2019 Tigers went 15-0, averaged an NCAA-leading 48.4 points and 568.4 yards per game, and steamrolled then-defending national champion Clemson in the title game - he's back in Baton Rouge on head coach Lane Kiffin's staff.

LSU hired Orgeron to be its new special assistant to recruiting and defense last week in a move that had Tiger fans raving on social media. On Tuesday, Kiffin revealed why he brought Orgeron, his close friend of over a decade, back to Death Valley.

"It just seemed like the perfect time to bring him back," Kiffin said, via ESPN's Pete Thamel. "We talked for a number of days about it. We had to figure out exactly what it was. I feel awesome about it.

"… [The recruiting benefit of having Orgeron on the road is] a tremendous value anywhere, let alone the state of Louisiana."

Recruiting is where Orgeron excelled during his last stint with LSU.

That 2019 national title team was a super squad of future NFL talent including quarterback Joe Burrow (Cincinnati Bengals), wide receivers Justin Jefferson (Minnesota Vikings) and Ja'Marr Chase (Cincinnati Bengals), linebackers Patrick Queen (Pittsburgh Steelers) and K'Lavon Chaisson (Washington Commanders), cornerbacks Derek Stingley Jr. (Houston Texans), Kristian Fulton (Kansas City Chiefs), and Cor'Dale Flott (Tennessee Titans), and safety Grant Delpit (Cleveland Browns).

Kiffin has done an excellent job of building a Day 1 national championship contending roster in the few months he's been in Baton Rouge, adding five-star QBs Sam Leavitt and Husan Longstreet, five-star offensive tackle Jordan Seaton, five-star edge-rusher Jordan Ross, four-star edge-rushers Princewill Umanmielen and Jaylen Brown, four-star linebacker T.J. Dottery, four-star wide receivers Eugene Wilson III and Winston Watkins Jr., among others.

Now, with the combined recruiting efforts of Kiffin and Orgeron, LSU appears to be a recruiting force for years to come. It would be surprising if LSU didn't have perennial top-five classes as long as the Kiffin-Orgeron duo remains together.

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This story was originally published May 26, 2026 at 9:01 PM.