Previously departed Ole Miss coaches are continuing to meet up in Baton Rouge as Lane Kiffin rounds out his inaugural assistant coaching pool ahead of his first season at LSU.
Kiffin, who was the head coach at Ole Miss for the past six years before an ugly break-up ahead of this past season’s College Football Playoff, announced Wednesday that he is bringing aboard Ed Orgeron as a special assistant to recruiting and defense.
“I’m excited to bring Coach Orgeron back to LSU,” Kiffin said in a statement. “He brings us tremendous value with his ability to recruit elite players nationally, but especially the impact he can have for us recruiting the great state of Louisiana.”
Like Kiffin, Orgeron was the head coach at Ole Miss but not with nearly as much success. Orgeron led the Rebels from 2005 to 2007, compiling a 10-25 record with no bowl appearances. Kiffin, on the other hand, was 55-19 in Oxford from 2020 to 2025, breaking a long list of program records in the process.
Orgeron’s pinnacle came after Ole Miss when he led LSU to a national championship in 2019 – the last time college football’s biggest trophy was hoisted in Baton Rouge, something Kiffin bounced from Oxford to try to repeat. Orgeron compiled a 51-20 record as the Tigers’ head coach before being fired after a 6-6 campaign in 2021.
A native of Larose, La., and a former defensive lineman who played at at LSU before transferring to Northwestern State in Natchitoches, La., Orgeron is expected to focus his recruiting efforts on players in his home state.
“Coach O understands my expectations and commitment to being a championship program,” Kiffin continued. “I look forward to seeing him with recruits and his intensity working with our defensive players.”
It won’t be the first time Kiffin and Orgeron have coached together as Orgeron was on Kiffin’s staff at both Southern California and Tennessee.
Orgeron is the latest coach with experience at Ole Miss that Kiffin has added to his inaugural LSU staff. He took nearly his entire offensive position coaching staff with him to Baton Rouge, including offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr.
On the flip side, new Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding swiped Frank Wilson, who was LSU’s running backs coach and interim head coach after last season’s firing of Brian Kelly.