Ed Orgeron tells the story of how he met Lane Kiffin

LSU coach Ed Orgeron is set to meet Lane Kiffin and the Ole Miss Rebels at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday in Oxford, Mississippi. Although they will be opposition then, the two were once on the same team at USC.

The Tigers headman recalled his first meeting with Kiffin during a Monday press conference ahead of this weekend’s matchup.

“I remember I was with Pete Carroll and he asked me a question,” Orgeron said. “He said, ‘I can hire an older, experienced coach or I can hire a young, go-getting coach that I think can help us in recruiting.’ I said, ‘Well, why don’t we get a guy that can help us in recruiting?’ It was Lane Kiffin. He was a young coach at Colorado State. I remember sitting in the recruiting meeting and we were evaluating some talent. I liked the guy and Lane didn’t. He was right. He earned my respect.”

Orgeron served as the defensive coordinator under Kiffin at USC from 2010-13. When Kiffin was fired, Orgeron took over as the Trojans’ interim head coach. He led them to a 6-2 record to finish out the year.

“Lane and I became very close with me being the recruiting coordinator,” Orgeron said. “He brought in some tremendous talent. He taught us how to recruit out of state at USC. He brought in a lot of number one draft picks. He recruited every day he could. He was on the road seven days a week working from Florida to New York. I think the guy’s an honest recruiting, a great recruiter and great evaluator of talent.”

It was announced Sunday that LSU and Orgeron have mutually agreed to part ways at the end of 2021. The news comes after the Tigers defeated Florida by a score of 49-42 in Week 7.

Kiffin defended his longtime friend in a Monday press conference, hinting that he believes the Tigers made a rash decision.

“It’s the profession we’ve always been in but now more than ever its not, ‘What have you done last year?’” Kiffin said. “Literally it’s, ‘What have you done Saturday?’ I just had this conversation with another head coach who’s struggling a little bit. I said, ‘Every Sunday you’re either a good or bad coach based off of that Saturday.’ When I see a thing on SEC Network when I walk by and someone’s talking bad about (Nick) Saban after the A&M game as a coach, that just shows you where we’re at.”

Ole Miss looks like one of the top teams in the SEC in Kiffin’s second year thanks to an explosive offense featuring quarterback Matt Corral. A victory against the Rebels would be a big statement for the Tigers. Can Ed Orgeron come up with a second straight upset, this time against Lane Kiffin?