Ed Orgeron is interested in the Kansas job
Ed Orgeron is interested in a chance to turn the Kansas football program around.
The former USC interim coach and Ole Miss coach has been out of coaching since he wasn’t hired as the Trojans’ full-time coach for the 2014 season. He wants to get back in, and expressed his interest at a Little Rock, Ark., Touchdown Club meeting where he spoke at.
Kansas? You bet he’s interested.
“It’s a Power Five (job),” he told USA TODAY Sports. “(Mark) Mangino went 12-1 and went to the Orange Bowl. It’s in a great conference. His staff proved that you can do it.”
And if the program is mired at the bottom of the Big 12? So what?
“It’s a challenging job,” he said. “But most jobs you get, there’s gonna be some things you’re gonna have to fix.”
Orgeron had things to fix at USC when he became the interim coach in 2013. He took over after Lane Kiffin was fired following a September loss to Arizona State. Orgeron relaxed the atmosphere at USC and the Trojans went 6-2 while he was the coach. He didn’t coach the bowl game after the team hired Steve Sarkisian as coach.
He’s been spending the time off in Lousiana with his family. He compared not getting the USC job to a death in the family.
“Really, not getting the job for me was like a divorce or a death in the family,” Orgeron said. “It was something you’ve kind of just got to get over, you know? I am now, in a positive way — but it just took a little while.”
He was the coach at Ole Miss from 2005-2007. He took over after Ole Miss went 4-7 in 2004 under David Cutcliffe and was 10-25 in his three seasons there. The job at Kansas, where Charlie Weis went 5-22 in over two seasons, is a tougher turnaround than Ole Miss is, but Orgeron has been open about how much he’s learned since his time with the Rebels. (The Jayhawks are 10-41 since Mangino’s departure.)
“I believe I put my résumé out on the TV those last eight games,” he said of his time at USC. “They know who I am and what I’ve done.”
While Orgeron may not be an up-and-coming coach that Kansas could be looking for, the Jayhawks could do far worse. Someone with the recruiting ability of Orgeron would be a big plus at Kansas, and if last year is any indication, he’s good at changing the culture of a program that’s become morose. Kansas needs that.
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
