LSU head coach Ed Orgeron must feel the heat coming into his kitchen after losing to Auburn in Death Valley this past Saturday. This loss, plus coming up short against the “sissy blue shirts”, makes two with the bulk of the SEC schedule left to play.
How much longer can Coach O keep his job?
Losing to UCLA the first game of the season was at least defensible. But taking the L from this Auburn team at home, that’s not going to sit well with the LSU supporters, namely the ones who sign checks or make cash deposits.
Auburn was one week removed from needing a miracle touchdown pass to steal a win from Georgia State. By the way, that pass was thrown by former LSU quarterback TJ Finnley. Bo Nix and the Auburn offense couldn’t find the end zone.
The fallout from this uneven performance cost Auburn wide receivers coach Cornelius Williams his job and drew criticism from Tony Franklin, a former Auburn assistant coach. The following quotes were taken from Alabama Sports Media Group reporter Mark Heim’s article.
First, Franklin on the hiring of head coach Bryan Harsin
“You hired a weak man with no backbone who is gonna get run over by all these boosters.”
Next, Franklin’s reaction to Harsin firing the wide receivers coach
“Four games in and you crack, and you fire your receivers coach? The best-coached group on the field for offense was your receivers. You’re basically firing your receivers coach because your offensive line sucks. Your offensive line is bad.”
Maybe this is just bad blood spilling out on the surface for us to consume, but Franklin’s comments contain an element of truth: giving the wide receivers coach the boot doesn’t compensate or explain Georgia State owning the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball for most of the game.
The Auburn team that took the field against LSU in Death Valley wasn’t exactly a well-oiled machine clicking on all cylinders. Their offensive and defensive lines were not performing well, and Bo Nix was benched.
Yet, somehow, LSU lost the game and managed to resurrect Bo Nix’s career.
Was it that long ago when Coach O and his LSU Tigers finished the season as undisputed champs? The all-time season where the Tigers served up beatdown after beatdown: they took down the Alabama Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa, destroyed Georgia in the SEC Championship game, did the same work against Oklahoma in the first playoff game, and handled Clemson easily to take the championship. Records were broken. The confetti flew as Coach O was crowned Caesar. LSU fans pledged their allegiance to Caesar. Celebrations followed – alcohol flowed – all was good for LSU fans.
Fans of other SEC teams were not as enthralled with Coach O. We had the suspicion that Coach O would return to what he always had been in the past, a good recruiter who could motivate players to run through a wall for him, but he was not a good head coach who could match strategy with the best of the best.
We took the LSU fans scoffing at us in stride because a master head coach at LSU is not a good thing for us – oh no, all the blue-chip in-state talent born ready to play for the LSU Tigers spells problems in any language for other SEC teams.
You are breaking the deal we made with you, Coach O. We agreed to not disturb your faithful fans with the truth and put up with your silly comments after your once-in-a-lifetime season, where divine providence shined on you brighter than any star in the galaxy. But you returned to your baseline skills as a head coach, didn’t provide competent leadership, and the smokescreen that was created during your championship run has evaporated.
Just like Brutus and the rest of the senate, the LSU “faithful” are coming for your job, Coach O.
Categories: College football
Sportschasers 
If he wins at least 7 games, yes. If he wins at least 6 games AND beats Bama, yes.
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Hi! Thanks for taking the time to stop by and leave a comment.
Agree that your scenario – especially, beating Alabama – would get it done. It’s possible, but let’s just say LSU and Coach O have their work cut out for them.
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