Will anything change for the team moving forward?
“Nothing’s gonna change”, Orgeron said. “We’re going to focus on beating Ole Miss, we’re going to take the same attitude we had going into the Florida week. I just told them how it was. Nobody said nothing. Nobody talked. It was about five minutes. I told them exactly what I told y’all. I understood the expectations of LSU and I knew after the Kentucky game that we were heading down a road that wasn’t positive for LSU. There was going to be a change made and I just felt that.”
When asked about evaluating himself over the last season plus, Orgeron stated that he isn’t the one to evaluate himself. “I let y’all do that. Y’all do it enough. I could care less about it.”
Is there a difference now that the news is public?
“The weight was lifted off of me because I felt like we were gonna win. That was yesterday. I didn’t know everything was going to be finalized, but now, that doesn’t matter. That’s not the way I’m gonna coach, that’s not the way I’m gonna be. I want to be the same guy I was today and be the same guy tomorrow with this football team until my last day here at LSU.”
Will there be a difference in recruiting?
“I’m gonna tell them to LSU. I’m going to still recruit the players, tell them to come to LSU, this is a great place. I recruited them to come to LSU. Why would I tell them any different now? So I’m going to tell them to come to LSU. This is a great place, they’re going to hire a great coach, you can have great success here at LSU. My message to the recruits will not change. I met with two today.”
Will he coach in 2022?
“No. I want to take a little time off. I’m 60 years old. I’ve coached for 37 years. I think I’m going to have enough money to buy me a hamburger every once in a while, maybe a double-meat cheeseburger, croissant. I want to take a little time off to find out what direction I want to be in. You asked me if today I think I’m not gonna coach, that may be different in a month from now, but right now, I want to take a little time off and spend with my kids.”
When it came to coaching in the bowl game, Orgeron simply stated “yes.”
The head coach also wouldn’t give any advice for the next head coach stating it’s “not my job to do that.” It was a very awkward exchange between reporters and both men sitting at the table on Sunday. For now, it will be business as usual while Woodward and leadership begin their search. The athletic director is ready to move in a different direction.