3. He’s not afraid to mix things up as an interim head coach. It’s worked for him before.
After the Trojans fired Kiffin five games into the season in 2013, Orgeron was elevated to interim head coach for eight games. He led the Trojans to a 6-2 mark over that span and generated a lot of good will.
More than that record, he became known for changing the culture. He would do simple things like cater Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles for his players and have people like
Dr. Dre and Ray Lewis talk to the team.
He gave hand-written notes to every member of the USC band, thanking them for what they do.
Trojans safety Dion Bailey
spoke in 2013 about how refreshing Orgeron was:
He really emphasized that this time around being a head coach he wants to do it the right way, he really learned a lot from his time at Ole Miss, he asked us our input about a lot of things on the team, and he really inputted our input into the schedules and event-planning, things like that. He's always looking out for what's better for us, what makes us comfortable, taking care of our bodies. That really made us appreciate him, and from then on, guys have been behind Coach O and would run through a brick wall for him.
USC athletic director Pat Haden indicated
Orgeron was a candidate in USC’s coaching search, and some thought USC should keep him on, especially after USC beat No. 4 Stanford. But USC hired Steve Sarkisian as its new head coach instead,
much to USC players’ public dismay.
Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images
4. So what changed between Ole Miss and USC? It was intentional.
Below is an excerpt from
a story on a speech he gave at a high school coaches clinicshortly after becoming LSU’s line coach, which was mainly about how different he wanted things to be after Ole Miss:
After he left Oxford, Orgeron said that he dedicated himself to studying as many successful head coaches as he could. What worked for them. What would work for him. A few years later, when things fell apart for Lane Kiffin in Orgeron's second stint at Troy, Coach O knew how he wanted to proceed when AD Pat Haden named him interim head coach.
"We were all separated as a program," he said. "In film sessions, coaches would say ‘well, my unit graded as an A.' A receiver would say ‘I caught 13 passes.' We weren't a team."
It began with a tug-of-war contest in his first meeting after he took over. It progressed to things as simple as cookies in the cafeteria. Movie nights. Music in the locker room. Shorter, less physical practices with clear goals for each day, like "Turnover Tuesday" and "No Repeats Thursday." Guess speakers like Ray Lewis, Marcus Allen and Dr. Dre.
"I don't know who Dr. Dre is!" he proclaimed. "I guess he makes headsets."
Orgeron stressed togetherness for everybody in the program, from coaches and their families through players to trainers, managers and support staff, who were welcome at team functions like dinners and Friday movie excursions to Paramount Studios. Even the marching band.
"I love the music," he said. "I love the band. I love them to come to practice. I love the jock rallies. I love the LSU Tiger Band and the Golden Girls. I love the fight songs," Orgeron said. "Are you kidding me? ‘Hold that Tiger?' Think about it."
In game preparation, he reverted the Trojans to Pete Carroll's "compete every day" philosophy, with an internal focus. The results were a 6-2 run that led many to think he might get the job fulltime.
"Each game is a new challenge -- it ain't about them. It's about us."