Report: Ed Orgeron will not return to LSU in 2022

Ed Orgeron and LSU have reached a separation agreement, according to a report from Sports Illustrated’s Ross Dellinger, and the head coach will not return for the 2022 season.

Orgeron’s career at LSU will come to a close after this season, but he will finish the 2021 campaign before he is formally dismissed. Orgeron boasts a 46-17 record in six seasons at the helm of LSU, and he won a national championship in 2019 — a season in which the Tigers finished 15-0 and put together arguably the greatest season in college football history.

21 months later, the two have agreed to part ways. Since the national championship victory over Clemson, Orgeron’s 9-8 record hardly puts him over .500.

Negotiations between Orgeron and LSU began last week, before the Tigers pulled off an unexpected 49-42 upset over No. 20 Florida on Saturday.

“A strained relationship between coach and administration — rooted in team management & public/private behavior — has warped into an untenable situation, distrust & outbursts,” Dellinger wrote on Twitter.

After going just 5-5 in last year’s COVID-abbreviated season, Orgeron was named in a Title IX lawsuit about allegedly mishandling a rape allegation, igniting conflict off the field at LSU. An amended lawsuit named Orgeron as a defendant in the case, and it accused Orgeron of not reporting the alleged rape of a former student, despite his knowledge of the situation.

“It’s one of those things where no one wanted to be there anymore,” Yahoo! Sports’ Pete Thamel tweeted. “The players didn’t want to play for him, the coaches didn’t want to coach for him.”

LSU is expected to pay Orgeron the entirety of his buyout clause, according to The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman, which is over $17 million.

Orgeron arrived at LSU in 2015, serving first as the defensive line coach. After the university fired then-head coach Les Miles, Orgeron was named the Tigers interim head coach and finished the season with a 6-2 record. LSU then removed the interim tag from title in November 2016, officially naming Orgeron the 32nd full-time head coach.

Orgeron finished the 2016 season with a Citrus Bowl victory, and in 2017, LSU finished with a 9-4 record and lost in the Citrus Bowl. The Tigers showed signs of improvement in 2018, finishing with a 10-3 record and a Fiesta Bowl victory, but his 2019 national championship campaign saw LSU reach new heights. Led by quarterback Joe Burrow, who won the Heisman Trophy, LSU had its fourth undefeated regular season since the program’s inception in 1893.

Orgeron had an uncertain future at LSU

Well before the news was made public, and well before the agreement was even reached internally, Orgeron’s future at LSU looked cloudy, at best.

The aforementioned off-the-field issues, coupled with a mediocre record since the national championship run — at least, by LSU’s standards — led to widespread uncertainty.

LSU and Orgeron reportedly opened buyout negotiations before the win over Florida, meaning the loss to Kentucky was the final straw. LSU lost that game, 42-21, and never stood a chance against the Wildcats.

Kentucky quarterback Will Levis put together one of the most efficient games of his career, needing just 17 pass attempts to complete 14, good for 145 passing yards and three passing touchdowns. Additionally, Levis had 11 rushes for 75 rushing yards and two touchdowns — making him the third-highest rusher on a Wildcats team that ran all over LSU. Chris Rodriguez Jr. had 16 carries for 147 yards and a rushing touchdown, while Kavosiey Smoke had 12 carries for 104 rushing yards. Kentucky ran for 330 yards against Orgeron’s defense that week.

“Stay together. Stay together,” Orgeron said to reporters after the loss, when asked what he told his underperforming team. “It’s going to be tough, I understand that. Just stay together. Let’s look at the film, let’s coach better, let’s play better and let’s get ready for Florida. That’s all we can do.”

Some saw it as a matter of when, not if, LSU made the decision to move on from Orgeron — not just because of the performance and off-the-field conflicts but because of the remaining schedule. The Tigers managed to beat No. 20 Florida, but the gauntlet continues next week at No. 13 Ole Miss, followed by a trip to No. 5 Alabama, then a home game vs. No. 17 Arkansas.