“Congratulations LSU football and especially Coach O! Did NOT see this one coming,” ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit tweeted on Saturday, after a big upset win over Florida for the Tigers. “I’ve been very tough on this team and their passion to play for the LSU brand-glad you shut me up. That’s LSU football-congratulations!”
Little did he know that Ed Orgeron’s fate had already been sealed. He had been in negotiations with the school over his future, and before the Florida game, reached an agreement to end his tenure as Tigers coach at year’s end.
The win came after Herbstreit’s own harsh takedown of LSU’s program. “What I see is individuality,” Herbstreit said on Saturday’s College GameDay, before the Tigers win. “I see guys that quit. I see guys that don’t want to play for the LSU brand. That’s very new. You can go as far back as you want to with LSU – they might not win all of their games, but they’re going to play hard for each other. That’s not the case anymore.”
Even if the writing was on the wall, Kirk Herbstreit was as surprised at the timing of the announcement as anyone. He reacted during an appearance on The ESPN College Football Podcast.
My top performing COACHES from WEEK 7:
1- Ed Orgeron, @LSUfootball
2-Kyle Whittingham, @Utah_Football
3-Mike Gundy, @CowboyFB
4-Lane Kiffin, @OleMissFB
5-Nick Rolovich, @WSUCougarFB
6-Terry Bowden, @ULM_FB
7-Dave Doeren, @PackFootball
8-Jeff Brohm, @BoilerFootball pic.twitter.com/xO2NjHKesM— Kirk Herbstreit (@KirkHerbstreit) October 18, 2021
“Obviously, huge news with Coach O,” Kirk Herbstreit said, via 247. “They bow up and show some passion, show some grit back home. I said on GameDay, ‘Get ready. They can be booed by their own fans. It’s one of those kinds of stadiums where, when it’s going bad, it can get really bad.’ And when it’s going good, they’re backed in a corner, their coach is backed into a corner and they come out swinging, played together — that’s all. If they would play like that every Saturday, we wouldn’t be critical of their program.
“But those kinds of Saturdays have been few and far between over the last couple of years since they raised that trophy at the end of the ’19 year. And maybe a lot of these quote-unquote injuries and opt outs, maybe they got a chance to play some of the younger players — guys who actually wanted to play — and played with some desire and played with some pride. I mean, that’s — when I think of LSU since I started paying attention to college football, I think of LSU, out of all of the programs out there, whether they win or lose, I think of a sense of pride.”
Now, the pressure is on AD Scott Woodward to make a big splash hire and get LSU back to the championship contention that Coach O had them in just two years ago.
“But the reality is they made a decision to move on, and now Scott Woodward’s going to have to go out and find a guy. By the way, one of the elite jobs in the country. Will not be hard to find a great coach. I just hope, no matter who the coach is — first, I love Coach O and hope that he’ll always be welcome there and fans always love him. But I just hope LSU can get back to just playing with a sense of pride to that state, for those colors, for that stadium, just for each other. You’re not going to win every game. But if you just play that way, the way they have for decades, that’s what — whoever the new coach is — he has to get back to, playing LSU Tiger football, and not worrying about NIL or what round am I going to be drafted or opting out or what’s in it for me.”
There are few bigger jobs in all of college football. Woodward certainly has plenty riding on it.
[The ESPN College Football Podcast]
The post Kirk Herbstreit Reacts To Ed Orgeron’s Ouster At LSU appeared first on The Spun.
Leave a Reply