Ed Orgeron has returned to LSU just five months after pocketing the final installments of a massive $17 million buyout. The mere $100,000 hire has turned heads since its announcement, and now ESPN insider Pete Thamel has weighed in.
Pete Thamel Breaks Down LSU Hiring Ed Orgeron
Thamel appeared on the latest episode of the “College GameDay Podcast” and clarified that Lane Kiffin’s move to weaponize Coach O for pennies on the dollar is an absolute masterclass in exploiting modern college football rules.
“The Coach O (Ed Orgeron) hire to me is very wise because he can go recruit,” Thamel explained, breaking down the tactical reality of the hire. “The recruiting rules have changed. You still only put your 9-10 position coaches on the road.”
Thamel is referencing a massive, recent shift in NCAA governance regarding support staff. Historically, off-field analysts and special assistants were restricted from hands-on instruction and off-campus recruiting trips. Under the current rules, however, those archaic restrictions have vanished.
Kiffin still faces the structural limit of having only 10 designated primary position assistants on the road at a given time. But by sliding Orgeron into a hyper-flexible special assistant slot, LSU has essentially engineered a loophole.
Thamel points out that Coach O fills an immediate financial necessity for an athletic department currently spending at an unprecedented clip. To pry Kiffin away from Oxford, LSU had to dish out a staggering seven-year, $91 million contract. Combined with the soaring overhead costs of the modern NIL landscape, the Tigers desperately need to refill the war chest.
“He can also raise money, you know what I mean?” Thamel noted.
“Like for instance with Coach O, you know what I mean? Like that kind of thing. And as we know the way LSU is spending, there is a need for some capital being driven there.”
For Thamel, the sheer spectacle of a fired coach returning to his old stomping grounds as a low-level assistant perfectly encapsulates the unique, lawless charm of the sport. It’s a phenomenon that simply couldn’t exist anywhere else in the sporting landscape.
“So yeah, it’s college football, man. You can’t make it up,” Thamel said.
“There’s no Coach O in the NFL, you know what I mean? Like you can’t do that. And the internet then was very excited about his return.”
Orgeron also knows exactly what SEC championship-level defensive line play looks like, and his raw, high-intensity coaching style is expected to immediately inject some grit back into a defensive unit that has lacked an edge in recent seasons.
Currently, PFSN’s CFB Playoff Meter gives the Tigers a 39.2% chance to make the College Football Playoff.
Read More: ‘I Have To Get on His A*s Sometimes’ : Pete Golding Fires Back at Lane Kiffin’s Ole Miss Comments
