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USA TODAY Sports head coach database lists Ed Orgeron’s buyout number

What would it cost to buy out Ed Orgeron, we now have a better answer.

It is hard to ignore the elephant in the room. With so much discussion around the LSU Tigers football program and the status of head coach Ed Orgeron, many have speculated. What is the number that it will cost to buy out the contract if athletic director Scott Woodward decides to move on? We now have a better idea.

According to the head coach salary database released by USA TODAY Sports on Thursday has his buyout at $17.15 million. Still, a higher amount than one would think would be under consideration. However, with the ongoing Title IX lawsuits and off-the-field issues at LSU, the number could be negotiated down once lawyers get involved. The buyout number is as of Dec. 1, 2021.

This year Ed Orgeron has the third-highest salary at roughly $8.4 million, that number reduced due to the pandemic. Only David Shaw of Stanford and Nick Saban had a higher number. Neither of which saw a reduction. In terms of the full amount of Orgeron’s contract, he is the second-highest paid head coach in the country.

That number is a bit high, but given the situation going on down on the Bayou and which way the program is trending, would that be enough to deter the Tigers leadership? It is highly doubtful but another layer to monitor moving forward.

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What the national media is saying about LSU coach Ed Orgeron

We’ve heard the local reports on Ed Orgeron, what are the national pundits have to say?

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Reading into the tea leaves, it’s safe to assume LSU head football coach Ed Orgeron is coaching for his job over the next six games as the Tigers will try to improve their 3-3 record starting Saturday against Florida.

Orgeron has been in the headlines as a head coach who could possibly be out of a job for a few weeks now, and with a high profile job like at LSU, members of the national media are understandably talking about the prospect of LSU making a change.

SEC Network’s Paul Finebaum said this week that it will be “virtually impossible” for Orgeron to keep his job, mainly because of the daunting schedule left for the Tigers.

“The problem for Ed Orgeron is the schedule,” Finebaum said. “Going into Saturday night, of the next five games, that was possibly the easiest win. They have Florida this weekend. He has Ole Miss, Arkansas, Alabama, and then there is Texas A&M at the end.”

The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman — who keeps a rolling list of hot seats for coaches in college football — wrote this week that Orgeron is in “deep trouble.”

“Orgeron knows the situation there and that he’s working for an athletic director who didn’t hire him and who loves to make splashy hires. Scott Woodward hired Chris Petersen at Washington and got Jimbo Fisher at Texas A&M. Does Woodward try and court Fisher to come back to Baton Rouge? Fisher’s stock just shot up after knocking off Nick Saban last week. Would Fisher want to make that move?

Barring a dramatic turnaround in the next few weeks against many good teams, LSU is headed for a coaching change. The uphill climb looks much steeper now than it did a week ago.”

Feldman called Orgeron’s seat “scorching.”

Dan Wolken of USA TODAY Sports is also predicting Orgeron’s days are numbered:

“The team that catapulted you to the mountaintop is long gone. And your own fans have had enough of how you squandered the momentum from 2019 and brought LSU to a level of mediocrity we haven’t seen in more than a decade.

After LSU’s 42-21 loss to Kentucky, dropping the Tigers to 3-3, this is all now academic. Orgeron is almost certainly going to join former Auburn coach Gene Chizik in getting fired just two years after winning the national title, and the only question is when and how.”

Wolken cited Orgeron’s “temperament, his penchant to meddle in areas where he has no expertise, and his hot-and-cold relationship with a bevy of assistant coaches” as just a few ways Orgeron’s coaching style is “ill-suited to success at this level.”

The Advocate’s Scott Rabalais wrote this week that Orgeron’s recent public comments — whether it was when he called out a UCLA fan’s “sissy blue shirt” or his “kneejerk reaction to an immature troll on his radio show last Wednesday night” — are exchanges that would have been accepted or even encouraged during the national championship run. Now those comments don’t sit the same:

“Orgeron’s dismissal appears inevitable. Halfway through this season, LSU is not progressing and injuries are mounting — superstar wide receiver Kayshon Boutte sadly will miss the rest of the season after suffering an ankle injury at Kentucky. There is an argument that it is better to rip off the bandage as soon and as quickly as possible.

That said, Orgeron still has a mathematical chance to pull out the kind of season — probably going at least 8-4 — to save his job.”

Roundtable Discussion: When does LSU make a move at head coach

When could a change be made at LSU?

The loss to UCLA was a humbling experience for this football team. Changes to the entire staff essentially and the returning talent had many believing that 2020 was the aberration. Turns out that 2019 was the glitch in the matrix for head coach Ed Orgeron.

There is no Joe Burrow and Joe Brady to save the head coach this time. The upcoming schedule is absolutely brutal with Florida, Ole Miss, Alabama, Arkansas, and Texas A&M all ranked in the top 25 of the coaches poll. The only unranked team remaining on the schedule is UL-Monroe. That might be the only win left on the schedule. At least on paper, we could get a surprise win or two.

We have gone from a national championship team to a squad that is struggling to get bowl eligible. How the mighty have fallen. Everything going wrong for LSU falls at the feet of the head coach, Ed Orgeron. A team can’t stop the bleeding on defense with an offense with zero continuity and zero identity.

It has become a matter of when not if that LSU makes a change at head coach. The LSU Tigers Wire staff answers the question of when.

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Ed Orgeron and the LSU Tigers reclaim the top spot of the ‘Misery Index’

‘You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.

One month ago to the day, I sat down to address the latest coaching rumors involving LSU. After a loss to the UCLA Bruins, one USA TODAY Sports columnist threw around the name Jimbo Fisher. At the time I wanted to tap the brakes on any talk of running Ed Orgeron out of town after one loss.

I was wrong.

It appears to be time to hit the accelerator after the last two embarrassing losses by the LSU Tigers. They hadn’t lost at home to Auburn since 1999, and then they did it. The Tigers hadn’t lost to Kentucky since 2007, and then they did that too. Not only losing games but in the manner in which they lost both is the real problem.

As Dan Wolken of USA TODAY Sports wrote in his Sunday column, it is they who are coming for you, Coach O.

The team that catapulted you to the mountaintop is long gone. And your own fans have had enough of how you squandered the momentum from 2019 and brought LSU to a level of mediocrity we haven’t seen in more than a decade.

After LSU’s 42-21 loss to Kentucky, dropping the Tigers to 3-3, this is all now academic. Orgeron is almost certainly going to join former Auburn coach Gene Chizik in getting fired just two years after winning the national title, and the only question is when and how.

The when and how is right. One shouldn’t expect a change this week but one wouldn’t shock me either. The lovable Cajun that came home to win LSU a national championship has become public enemy No. 1. Orgeron takes back the top spot in this week’s ‘Misery Index’.

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As Harvey Dent once said in ‘The Dark Knight’, “you either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.”

Pat’s POV: Welcome to the hot seat Ed Orgeron

After a 3-2 start, it is time for the head coach conversation.

In a response to a question regarding a burned timeout, head coach Ed Orgeron was completely candid. Only one issue, this isn’t the kind of statement you want to hear from your head coach. “We just weren’t very well organized.”

That seems to be the theme of the post-Joe Burrow era in Baton Rouge. A team that is 8-7 following the 2019 magical run to the national championship, they haven’t looked very well organized in the last 15 games. Will that suddenly change? Not likely with Ed Orgeron calling the shots as the head coach.

If there is one thing that Orgeron has been consistent at the last two years is hiring coaches that shouldn’t be in this situation. Daronte Jones and Jake Peetz are calling plays for the team. Jones had not done it in over a decade and Peetz is getting his first shot at being the playcaller. This coming off the heels of the 2020 campaign where Bo Pelini’s defense couldn’t stop a nosebleed and the offense was stagnant under passing game coordinator Scott Linehan and Steve Ensminger.

You really should only get one shot to wipe your staff, Orgeron did that after poor hires following the exodus from the 2019 team. While the coordinators looked to have bad nights against Auburn, this ultimately falls at the feet of the head coach. It is his job to put his team in a position to be successful, he hasn’t done that.

At least with Jones, his unit has performed when called upon since that UCLA debacle to open the season. They have been good, but not great. It is the offense that is ultimately killing this team. Let’s set the record straight, there is no Joe Brady offense. It was a Joe Burrow offense. Without an elite quarterback pulling the strings, that offense doesn’t work near as well.

The offensive line can’t protect the quarterback. The offensive line can’t get any push to allow the running game to get rolling. The run calls are abysmal. While Max Johnson can put up some big numbers, he is inconsistent and misses easy throws. When Auburn made an adjustment in the second half, it didn’t look as though LSU made a counter move. They kept trotting out the same offense that was stagnant in the final 36 minutes of the game.

While making a change at head coach probably isn’t the move at this point in time, one thing is for certain, the coach’s seat is heating up. Orgeron and company need to figure it out quickly because the Kentucky game on Saturday is going to be a dog fight.

LSU among the teams with the most to prove in 2021

LSU is among the teams with the most to prove in 2021.

There is a big game coming up on Saturday. When the schedule first came out, who would have thought about circling the second home game of the season against Central Michigan?

Win this game and the LSU Tigers will head into the SEC opener with a 2-1 record and could be 3-1 before facing Auburn on Oct. 2. Lose this game and it could be 1-3 or 2-2 heading into Auburn. Looks like Ed Orgeron and company have something to prove when they arrive at Death Valley on Saturday.

According to Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report, the LSU Tigers are among the 10 teams that have the most to prove this season.

Why does LSU need to prove something?

One year after going 15-0 en route to a national championship, LSU had one of its worst seasons in decades.

The Tigers went 5-5 last fall with a completely unrecognizable defense. Normally one of the stingiest defenses in the nation, LSU allowed 35 points and nearly 500 total yards per game.

Was it just an off year resulting from a mass exodus of talent to the NFL, or is poor defense the new normal in Baton Rouge? – Miller

It is pretty simple, the team has something to prove after they followed up a season of perfection with a mediocre one. Not to mention with off-the-field issues and a declining product on the field, head coach Ed Orgeron is feeling the heat. Why else would they get rid of offensive coordinator Matt Canada at the cost of $1.7 million? Tack on the $4 million to former defensive coordinator Bo Pelini.

The Tigers are looking to prove that last year was indeed a fluke, however, the early returns are leaning towards the 2019 run being the fluke. There is still time to turn it around, but they need to start showing signs of life in a hurry.

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Are the Tigers showing signs of turning it around?

At least the Tigers didn’t give up 623 passing yards in their season opener this year, but this defense still clearly has a lot of maturing to do in the aftermath of a 38-27 loss to UCLA in which Bruins QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson averaged nearly 30 yards per completion.

Shutting down McNeese State can hardly be considered a precursor for success against the SEC, though it is certainly more promising than struggling against an opponent of that caliber. LSU will draw Central Michigan in Week 3 before diving into a five-week gauntlet of conference foes, starting with a road game against Mississippi State on Sept. 25. That will be the game where we come to a collective decision on whether LSU is competent enough on defense to even compete with Alabama later this season. – Miller

The defense did have a better showing in week two of the college football season but against an FCS opponent. That did very little to give many confidence they can compete with the big boys of the SEC with their defense. Can the unit put together another solid performance against a Group of Five team?

This doesn’t even factor in the offense that has failed to run the ball effectively or even protect the quarterback. They allowed three sacks against McNeese and 16 total pressures this season. The intensity will get kicked up a notch or two in the coming weeks. It is time to put up down on the Bayou or it could be Ed Orgeron next on the chopping block.

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Addressing the latest LSU head coaching rumors

Are we really looking at potential head coaching candidates a week into the season?

Here. We. Go.

After one loss to a Power Five opponent in the UCLA Bruins, we are already in search of the next head coach of the LSU Tigers. Well, at least we have seen the idea floating around.

Blake Toppmeyer of USA TODAY Sports wasted no time in trying to find the next head coach of the LSU Tigers. He brought up the name of Gus Malzahn, who was fired last season by Auburn only to land at Central Florida. He is very familiar with the SEC West but would he jump back into the fight with the Tigers?

The other name he threw out there was current Aggies head coach Jimbo Fisher. Why? Well current athletic director Scott Woodward was at Texas A&M when they hired Fisher to begin with. Also, Fisher was part of the LSU staff under Nick Saban that won a national championship. Let’s be completely honest, Fisher isn’t coming to Baton Rouge no matter how big that check is, Texas A&M can money whip that deal.

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First, Woodward should check on his former employee, Fisher, to see what it would take to get Fisher to leave Texas A&M and return to LSU, where he was an offensive coordinator under Nick Saban.

Fisher signed a contract extension last week that would keep him at Texas A&M through the 2031 season, and his salary will hit $9 million on Jan. 1.

But coaching contracts are made to be broken.

In announcing Fisher’s contract extension and raise, Texas A&M noted that other provisions of his remained intact. And Fisher’s original contract did not include any exit fee should he leave his contract early.

That equates to an open invitation for Woodward to see if Fisher prefers gumbo to Texas barbecue.

If we are going off ties to Woodward, maybe we should look into Steve Sarkisian and see if he wants to exit stage left in Austin? That won’t happen either, he will be in the SEC soon enough. Then there is another former hire of Woodward, how about former Washington head coach Chris Petersen who walked away from the game in 2019.

Petersen seems the likeliest of the three head coaches with ties to the current LSU AD. However, one shouldn’t believe any of them will be coming to Baton Rouge. Before we start the next head coaching search on the Bayou, perhaps they should let the situation around Orgeron play out first.

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If the team struggles to put McNeese State away and loses to Central Michigan in week three, I think you can kick the idea of moving on into overdrive.

Stream this Saturday’s LSU-McNeese State game, plus college football games from the SEC, Big 12, The American, and more on ESPN+

Contact/Follow us @LSUTigersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Louisiana State news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Patrick on Twitter: @PatrickConnCFB

How cool is Dan Mullen’s seat heading into the 2021 season?

After beginning the 2010s in a state of flux following the departure of coach Urban Meyer, the program seems to have found some stability in Mullen.

Florida coach Dan Mullen has been a godsend for the Gators since they hired him back in 2018. He boasts a 29-9 record in Gainesville with three straight New Year’s Six appearances and two wins.

But college football job security can be a fickle thing. Coaches who were once secure can quickly find themselves in danger, and likewise, coaches who were barely hanging on by a thread can become stars. With that in mind, exactly how secure is Dan Mullen‘s seat?

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Well, he’s obviously not going anywhere anytime soon, at least if Florida has anything to say about it. Given the state the program was in when he inherited it, the team would have to take a precipitous downward turn for Mullen to be in any real danger. The biggest threat to his employment at UF is the NFL, who seems to at least feign interest in Mullen each offseason.

In his hot seat determination for all 130 FBS coaches, CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd gave Mullen a score of one, which indicates that the Florida coach is “safe and secure.” The scale ranges from zero (“untouchable”) to five (“win or be fired”).

The “safe and secure” zone comprises a plurality of FBS coaches, with 52 in the section. Twenty-two earned scores of zero, while just three earned scores of five. However, six additional coaches received a score of four, which indicates that the coach must “start improving now.”

After beginning the 2010s in a state of flux following the departure of coach Urban Meyer, the program seems to have found some stability in Mullen. And though the fourth-year coach still has a lot to prove about his team’s ability to compete for national titles, Florida will try to keep him around for as long as possible after he was extended through the 2026 season.

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Is Texas men’s basketball coach Shaka Smart on the hot seat?

Shaka Smart and the Texas Longhorns have lost four of their last five games. Is his job in jeopardy?

After another loss for Texas’ men’s basketball team, it will drop the No. 6 Longhorns record to 11-5 (5-4) after a 10-1 start to the season. Continue reading “Is Texas men’s basketball coach Shaka Smart on the hot seat?”