Unless you cheer for an SEC team that regularly gets or recently got beat up by No. 1 LSU, it’s hard not to like coach Ed Orgeron.
From his unmistakable voice to his elite coaching ability to his classic “Go Tigers” at the end of every interview, Orgeron is simply a treasure. And those around him have some incredible stories.
So ahead of LSU’s national championship game against Clemson on Monday, ESPN’s David M. Hale rounded up some of the best Ed Orgeron stories you could possibly imagine with his mother, Coco, Tigers players and even the governor of Louisiana, John Bel Edwards, sharing some memorable moments.
People like Pete Carroll and Tommy Tuberville shared some incredible stories — and we highly recommend reading the whole thing — but one that really stood out was from junior center Lloyd Cushenberry. Via ESPN:
Before games, LSU has a team meeting in which the Tigers hold a “Call Out Session.” It’s essentially a pep rally in the team hotel. Orgeron is always the star, but there’s one session from last season that stands out.
“Coach O comes in to try to get us fired up. He’s carrying two Red Bulls,” Cushenberry said. “He rips his shirt off and shotguns both Red Bulls. Everybody was fired up after that.”
How could you not want to run through a wall after that? And that story is totally believable if you’ve ever seen Orgeron animated or excited.
Another fantastic story goes a bit further back came from Orgeron’s mother. Growing up, she said her son was all about sports all day, every day. But things got a little complicated when he broke his leg in second grade and needed a cast that went to his thigh.
But according to Coco Orgeron, that didn’t stop Ed. More from ESPN:
“He learned how to play football with the cast on, with crutches,” his mother said. “We had to go in to the doctor nearly every week to get the cast changed.”
The doctor begged Ed to take it easy, but that wasn’t happening, so the process simply repeated itself every few days, with Ed and Coco showing up at the office, the mud-crusted cast coming off and a new one going on. Then it was back to football.
“You should’ve seen how fast he could go on those crutches,” his mother said.
The 2019-20 College Football Playoff national championship game is Monday, January 13 at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Read more incredible Ed Orgeron stories over at ESPN.com.
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