Ed Orgeron
Ed Orgeron kept LSU a national power for 6 seasons.
Career arc
His real stature score, season by season, across every program he’s coached — so a stretch that stays in one tier the whole way can still climb or sink on the line, not just flatten out. Node color marks the tier reached. Which program a stretch belongs to is carried by the shaded lane behind it.
Reached Blue Blood in his 4th career season — faster than 43% of the 100 FBS coaches who have ever reached Blue Blood (rank #52 of 100 by seasons-to-arrival).
Style position and drift
Where each stint’s offense sat between run-first and pass-first, and how far it moved from one season to the next. The band is that stint’s real season-to-season range, not a fixed-width box.
Season-to-season pass-rate range for all 258 FBS coaching stints with at least three covered seasons, 2014–2025.
The big-game ledger
How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.
13–10 against his rivals. Winless in 3 tries against Houston Nutt.
Coaching career
2nd-best LSU tenure of 16 by the numbers.
Performs about as expected for his recruiting talent, on both sides of the ball.
Succeeded by Brian Kelly (2022–2025).
| Season | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record & result | |||||||
| Record | 6–2 | 9–4 | 10–3 | 15–0 | 5–5 | 6–6 | |
| Postseason | W CFP | L bowl | W bowl | CHAMPION | — | L bowl | |
| Recruiting rank | #2 | #7 | #15 | #5 | #4 | #4 | |
| Style — pass rate | |||||||
| Pass rate | 39.4 | 34.8 | 40.7 | 52.5 | 53.8 | 49.9 | |
| Coordinators | |||||||
| OC | Cam Cameron | Matt Canada | Steve Ensminger | Steve Ensminger | Steve Ensminger | Jake Peetz | |
| DC | Dave Aranda | Dave Aranda | Dave Aranda | Dave Aranda | Bo Pelini | Daronte Jones | |
| Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile | |||||||
| Offense | 80 | 83 | 53 | 100 | 37 | 37 | |
| Defense | 93 | 61 | 89 | 83 | 15 | 81 | |
| Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script (2021+ only) | |||||||
| 1st-down pass% | 36.0 | 29.6 | 40.6 | 60.7 | 49.7 | 48.0 | |
| Red-zone pass% | 26.9 | 21.9 | 26.9 | 48.5 | 43.0 | 54.1 | |
| 4th-down go%opp. territory | 15.4 | 11.4 | 16.7 | 20.6 | 29.4 | 45.2 | |
Barely touches the portal — recruits and develops his own.
Brings in smaller-than-position-typical players than most.
Recruits older, more experienced transfers than most.
54 NFL Draft picks: Deion Jones (2016), Jerald Hawkins (2016), Rashard Robinson (2016), Jalen Mills (2016), Vadal Alexander (2016), Leonard Fournette (2017), Jamal Adams (2017), Tre'Davious White (2017) + 46 more
3 player-seasons honored (All-America / national award): Derek Stingley Jr. (2020), Cade York (2020), Zach Von Rosenberg (2020)
7th-best USC tenure of 17 by the numbers.
Succeeded by Steve Sarkisian (2014–2014).
7 NFL Draft picks: Robert Woods (2013), T.J. McDonald (2013), Matt Barkley (2013), Khaled Holmes (2013), Marqise Lee (2014), Marcus Martin (2014), Devon Kennard (2014)
15th-best Ole Miss tenure of 17 by the numbers.
Followed David Cutcliffe (1998–2004) · succeeded by Houston Nutt (2008–2011).
6 NFL Draft picks: Chris Spencer (2005), Marcus Johnson (2005), Rick Razzano (2005), Tre' Stallings (2006), Patrick Willis (2007), Trumaine McBride (2007)
Defining games during this era
2019 NCG · LSU 42, Clemson 25In this company
Other coaches who reached Blue-Blood-or-better at multiple programs: Nick Saban, Urban Meyer, Lane Kiffin.