On Ed Orgeron

[GalensGhost 0]

Note: I found this on another board. The author of this article gave permission for it to be reprinted on any rival message board since it cannot be found elsewhere online. If the moderators need documentation, I can provide it.

I will refrain from comment initally and allow each of you who takes the time to read this to make your own observations. I have a few and will share them with you after an appropriate period of reflection. Select portions are highlighted for your reading pleasure.

The colum:

Maybe Ed Orgeron is smarter then we think.

The embattled Ole Miss football coach has come under much fire and criticism lately for his antics on the field, and his team's performance, or lack thereof, off it. Newspaper columnists and sports talk radio hosts from across the south have fueled the debate of whether Orgeron is in over his head in Oxford.

Ole Miss has had at least a dozen players quit during Orgeron's nearly one-year reign of the Rebels, including seven from his original signing class. Now, there is talk of assistant coaches either being fired or quitting following the Rebels disappointing 3-8 inaugural season at Ole Miss.

I spent Sunday afternoon talking to an unnamed assistant coach at another SEC school, chatting about the upcoming SEC championship game in Atlanta, recruiting and other items. Before he hung up, he said "watch out for Ole Miss."

I immediately asked him to say that again. "Watch out for Ole Miss," he said again.

As I sit there almost dumbfounded over his remark, I wondered if we were talking about the same Ole Miss I saw lose to Vanderbilt, Wyoming, Arkansas and Mississippi State in uninspired losses this season.

Before I had a chance to answer, my friend added some more though to his original comment.

"I know a lot of the fans over there are on him and the program now," he said. "But, this is exactly what Ed wanted to happen, and exactly what he predicted would happen.

My bewilderment grew even more intense.

This assistant coach went on to describe several factors that are causing other coaches around the league to sit up and take notice.

He also added one thought that makes a lot of sense.

"If we weren't worried about what he was building at Ole Miss, none of us would be talking about him."

His points are valid. Lately, Orgeron has come under fire from various college football coaches, calling into question his ethics and coaching abilities. When a story broke two weeks ago about a member of Orgeron's staff calling a member of the Tulane football staff to inquire about the future of the Green Wave program after the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina, Tulane coach Chris Scelfo criticized Orgeron for raiding his program even though Orgeron never asked the Tulane assistant coach specifically about any players, rather just to say

we're here if you need us.

Ole Miss athletic director Pete Boone later admitted it was his suggestion that Orgeron contact Tulane since word on the street was the Green Wave athletic program would be dissolving in light of major financial losses from the hurricane.

Southern Mississippi head coach Jeff Bower also took aim at the Rebel program and Orgeron, calling the call to Tulane "unethical and classless".

Orgeron took on the tough job of rebuilding an Ole Miss program that wasn't necessarily void of talent like some have suggested, rather void of the caliber

of talent Orgeron had grown used to having at other stops such as Southern Cal, Miami and Syracuse.

His prowess on the recruiting trails has already paid off for Ole Miss with numerous highly-touted recruits looking hard at the Rebel program, some even already adding their names to the fold.

What Orgeron has done at Ole Miss was something no other coach has had the guts to do according to this impartial SEC assistant.

"Ole Miss is one of those programs that has always been satisfied with status quo," he said. "They have never wanted to make the commitment to be a consistent contender for the SEC title. Now, they have".

He may be right.

Boone and Ole Miss chancellor Robert Khyatt made a noticeable push to improve the football program several years ago when Vaught-Hemingway Stadium was expanded from 42,000 seats to its current capacity of 62,000. Then, a drive was started to build a new indoor practice facility, which was completed last year and is widely considered the best in the SEC and one of the top facilities in the nation.

Then, with everything in place, a coach was needed that had the gumption to push the players, and the fans, to the next level. Enter Ed Orgeron. His brash south Louisiana style was easy to fall in love with, but yet also rubbed some fans the wrong way. Orgeron did exactly what Khyatt and Boone asked he brought new life and vigor into the program, firing up fans across the state during the summer speaking tour. He also warned anyone who would listen that the talent level in Oxford was not up to snuff if a conference title or even a national championship would be expected.

It's amazing to me that some of their fans want to fire Ed after one year, the SEC assistant said. "The best thing that could happen for all of us around the

league is for them to do that. We would love for them to fire Ed. He's on his way and give him two to three years, and they are going to be at the top of the

division.

Fans, no matter if they support Ole Miss, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida or whatever team it may be, want immediate results and instant gratification. It doesn't happen that way. And, it won't happen that way at Ole Miss.

Ed Orgeron hears the jeers, the angry fans, the complaints, the calls for his head, but it does not affect him. And, he won't let it affect his program. The SEC is concerned over the rise of the Rebel program, if only the Ole Miss fans believed, too.

About the writer: Scott McKinney can be heard each weekday on WTKE 98.1 FM The Ticket from 6-9 am on The Morning Wrap and from 4-6 pm on Southern Sports Tonight. He can also be seen each Saturday during college football season on the Jefferson-Pilot Cooper Tires SEC pregame television show in over 40 cities across the South. He can be reached at southernsportstonight@yahoo.com

[Boonan 0]

Well about the only thing I can respond with is let's wait and see what happens.

[AUTaxMan 0]

The "unnamed assistant coach" is probably from Mississippi State.

[auskull 239]

Gotta be Ed....

Now maybe they'll keep him after the same losing season next year---waiting for the future domination of the West, after all, this so called assistant (Ed himself) must know something we didn't see this year.

[mayonaise 0]

yeah right. Whew I'm scared of the Rebels now!

Another horrible piece of journalism. Gimme a break.

[abrnfanatc 6]

The only thing that it seemed that he has done this year is bring a little life to their defense. How MSU scored 35 on them, I have no idea, but otherwise their D has improved greatly over what they had previously. That being said, I don't know of any offensive skill player that would want to play for him.

[Guest Tigrinum Major]

No one outside of Sly Croom and Rich Brooks are concerned about Ogeron.

Croom is concerned because he is hoping the guy stays so the Bulldogs will have an easy time in the Egg Bowl.

Rich Brooks is concerned that if O is fired after one year, he will go back to being teh conference's worst coach.

All the other coaches hope he stays and drives the program into the ground. Hmmm, it was such a short trip.

[GalensGhost 0]

No one outside of Sly Croom and Rich Brooks are concerned about Ogeron. 

Croom is concerned because he is hoping the guy stays so the Bulldogs will have an easy time in the Egg Bowl.

Rich Brooks is concerned that if O is fired after one year, he will go back to being teh conference's worst coach. 

All the other coaches hope he stays and drives the program into the ground.  Hmmm, it was such a short trip.

202785[/snapback]

whaaaa-POW!

Was that the sound of a whip cracking?

Upon further reflection, I am just going to leave this column alone. It speaks for itself.

[AUslug 1]

I'm sure the coaches at LSU, Auburn and Alabama are really scared of that sleeping giant in Oxford. Whoever this "unamed assistant coach" is should put down the glue he uses for his "model airplanes".

[quietfan 233]

I have no problem with Ole Miss moving into a perennial third place in the SEC West (with us and LSU in 1st & 2nd, respectively, of course). I like 'em better than MSU, Arkansas, or Bama. Much as I hate it, though, I don't see them moving ahead of Bama as a permanent power. Even Shula is better than Orgeron.

[TigerOne 1,147]

not so fast my friends,

I agree that Ole Miss has a long way to go, but if we have learned anything is to not take things for granted. When Pat Dye came to Auburn it was similar, he ran off people, instilled discipline built new facilities, "my way or the Highway"

mentality. Any program is capable of winning, (Vandy over Tenn, anybody see that coming) so the warning is, always be prepared for your opponent. Auburn

is a big target, a signature win for anybody, so don't think we can't be beat.

If this article is true, Ole Miss will be a well conditioned team and will beat

some teams they probably shouldn't. The same can be said about Arkansas

and Miss St. I would hope that CTT and staff are concerned and worried about every team we play. Kentucky is probably a team this past season we took too lightly. Where the team falls in the shedule can also be a big advantage.

The point being, play like it's uat every game and we will win.

[Guest Tigrinum Major]

I have no problem with Ole Miss ...  I like 'em better than MSU, Arkansas, or Bama.

202928[/snapback]

Ole Miss is a smaller, more pretentious version of Alabama. You like 'em because they are not a threat to Auburn, I surmise. Make no mistakes, the only reason we don't hate them as much as we hate Alabama is proximity and lack of relevance.

[quietfan 233]

I have no problem with Ole Miss ...  I like 'em better than MSU, Arkansas, or Bama.

202928[/snapback]

Ole Miss is a smaller, more pretentious version of Alabama. You like 'em because they are not a threat to Auburn, I surmise. Make no mistakes, the only reason we don't hate them as much as we hate Alabama is proximity and lack of relevance.

202935[/snapback]

Well, actually, in my case, it's merely personal--I have a very close friend whose a big Ole Miss fan and I guess some of her enthusiasm has rubbed off on me over the years.

On the other hand, there's always been something about Arkansas that has rubbed me the wrong way. I don't think it's merely because of them beating us several times, but I can't really put a finger on why otherwise.

I'm rather neutral on MSU...although I hate the cowbells, and they hate us for getting the NCAA to come down on their cowbells. [Was it Pat Dye or Shug Jordan that blew the horn on their noisemakers?] I'd love to see Sylvester Croom beat Bama a few times just because of the furor that would ensue!

[AUesquire 1]

A few short years ago, AU/Cold Piss was on JP and they were hyping this as the coming out party for Mold Miss. They were coming off probation, back to "Full strength" and Auburn was coming in to town coached by their despised ex-coach, CTT. They were saying this was the biggest game in recent Ole Siss history and the campus was "CraaaaazY".

Funny thing, though. As the game got under way and Auburn proceeded to wax dat' a$$, it became blatantly obvious from the TV shots that the end zone seats were only HALF FULL.

Look, Skoal Miss will always be Troll Piss. They may become "Competitive" every few years and may occasionally rise to an Independence Bowl caliber program. They don't have the facilities to consistently attract top notch recruits and the state of Mississippi certainly is not a hot bed of recruiting. AU and Bama dip in to the state every year and pluck enough guys to keep them down. And to be perfectly honest, I think many potential stud recruits would consider Fold Chris if their battle cry didn't include the waving of 10s of thousands of rebel flags.

[DCWarEagle 0]

I have no problem with Ole Miss ...  I like 'em better than MSU, Arkansas, or Bama.

202928[/snapback]

Ole Miss is a smaller, more pretentious version of Alabama. You like 'em because they are not a threat to Auburn, I surmise. Make no mistakes, the only reason we don't hate them as much as we hate Alabama is proximity and lack of relevance.

202935[/snapback]

Well said. I have a relative and a good friend who went to Ole Miss, so I sometimes passively root for the team so they will be happy, but many of the Ole Miss folks I have met have been stuck-up snobs w/o much reason to justify their opinions of themselves. And lots of them are very fair weather as fans. It is easy to root for (or at least not against) b/c they are usually not much of a threat, but if we had to live with them and they were good, they would be a huge pain in the butt.

[GalensGhost 0]

I have no problem with Ole Miss ...  I like 'em better than MSU, Arkansas, or Bama.

202928[/snapback]

Ole Miss is a smaller, more pretentious version of Alabama. You like 'em because they are not a threat to Auburn, I surmise. Make no mistakes, the only reason we don't hate them as much as we hate Alabama is proximity and lack of relevance.

202935[/snapback]

Well said. I have a relative and a good friend who went to Ole Miss, so I sometimes passively root for the team so they will be happy, but many of the Ole Miss folks I have met have been stuck-up snobs w/o much reason to justify their opinions of themselves. And lots of them are very fair weather as fans. It is easy to root for (or at least not against) b/c they are usually not much of a threat, but if we had to live with them and they were good, they would be a huge pain in the butt.

202994[/snapback]

Ole Miss is Alabama without the tradition and without the history. Their fans are pretty much carbon copies of bama fans.

The only team I dislike more is Bama.