LSU Tigers

LSU's loss to Alabama shouldn't disqualify Ed Orgeron from keeping the head coaching job

Published Nov. 15, 2016 3:16 p.m. ET

Dieter Kurtenbach

It was no-good and ugly. It was a slugfest between two 300-pound heavyweights, pounding each other with bare-knuckled right hooks while never losing their footing. It might have been the most Alabama-LSU game that ever Alabama-LSUed.

It was also a 10-0 Alabama win, as LSU's offense averaged 2.45 yards per play.

This anemic, predictable, and unproductive offense is not a new problem for LSU — in fact, it's the reason that Ed Orgeron is the interim head coach of the team. Les Miles refused to adapt his offensive ideal — a power run game — and in a down year for his offensive line, it stopped working. Against Alabama, this one-track offense's problems are only going to look worse.

The LSU offense wasn't going to magically work upon Orgeron's promotion — the Tigers weren't going to change their fate overnight. It's going to take a new offensive staff, with a new scheme, and time to implement the changes the LSU power brokers believe need to be implemented.

But there's no reason that Orgeron can't be in charge of that staff.

Orgeron would have put himself in tremendous standing to land the full-time job this offseason if he had beaten Alabama Saturday night, but just because he didn't beat the Tide doesn't mean that he should be disqualified from landing the full-time job.

Look at how LSU played Saturday — they were overwhelmed by the incredible, perhaps all-time great Alabama defense, but they continued to take their beating while showing plenty of heart along the way. On the defensive side of the ball, you couldn't ask for anything more, save for a shutout — that was a championship-level effort.

Orgeron inherited some incredible talent, and he has the team playing with inspiration and drive. That will go a long way, but you need more than that against Nick Saban's team. LSU didn't have the horses or scheme to beat the Tide Saturday night and that's not Orgeron's fault.

Da Coach O can provide both a modern offensive scheme and elite talent to LSU as the team's full-time head coach, though.

He's one of the nation's best recruiters and his love for LSU and the state of Louisiana would keep the Tigers at the top of the recruiting rankings for as long as he has the job.

He's also cheap, especially compared to the offensive minded head coaches that have been attached to the LSU vacancy.

If LSU wants Tom Herman to come to Baton Rouge and implement his offensive gameplan, it's going to cost them as much as $6 million on his salary alone. Orgeron will probably work for two-thirds of that, leaving a big pile of money to maintain elite defensive coordinator Dave Aranda and to recruit a big-time, big-money offensive coordinator (perhaps Herman's OC, Major Applewhite), too.

LSU's options after Orgeron and Herman seem slim — if UCLA coach Jim Mora is a viable candidate for the job, that shows how weak the market is.

Keeping Orgeron and many of the solid members of the Tigers' staff is the most prudent and logical way to restore LSU to National Championship contention. This isn't a team in complete disarray — it's still one of the nation's better programs. Bringing in a new coach would be the equivalent of tearing down a house that only needed a new kitchen. You might be able to build a nicer house, sure, but it's going to be expensive and you run the risk that it won't be.

For Orgeron, every game is an audition, and while the box score might indicate he bombed his most important stage time, the performance on the field told a different story Saturday.

There is no way to get rich quick in college football — it takes a process to win championships, and when you're able to stand toe-to-toe with Alabama for three quarters, the process is working. That's a juggernaut team and most would wilt under their pressure. LSU's process is by no means complete — the hardest parts are yet to come, but the Tiger power brokers shouldn't let their idea of perfect get in the way of the good.