Ed Orgeron
A gravel-voiced Cajun force of nature who willed his lifelong passion for LSU into a perfect, championship season.
Born 1961 (age 65)·American football player and coach·Birthday: July 27·Baby Boomers
Biography
Ed Orgeron's coaching career is a story of relentless energy and ultimate redemption. Born in Louisiana, his identity was forged by his passion for football and his distinctive, booming voice. His early head coaching stint at Ole Miss ended poorly, casting him as a brilliant recruiter but a questionable game-day leader. He rebuilt his reputation as a transformative defensive line coach and interim head coach at USC, but his heart was always in Baton Rouge. When he got the LSU job mid-season in 2016, it was a dream realized. He then assembled one of the most potent offenses in college football history around quarterback Joe Burrow in 2019. Coaching with raw emotion and unwavering belief, he led that team to a flawless 15-0 record and a national championship, a seismic achievement that made him a folk hero in his home state before the program's subsequent decline led to his departure.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Ed was born in 1961, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Ed Was Born
The biggest hits of 1961
#1 Movie
101 Dalmatians
Best Picture
West Side Story
#1 TV Show
Wagon Train
Ed's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1961Born
Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human in space
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $12,500Min wage: $1.15/hrPresident: John F. Kennedy"Tossin' and Turnin'" — Bobby LewisBest Picture: West Side Story
1966Started school
Star Trek premieres on television
Gas: $0.32/galHome: $14,200Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"The Ballad of the Green Berets" — SSgt Barry SadlerBest Picture: A Man for All Seasons
1974Became a teenager
Nixon resigns the presidency
Gas: $0.53/galHome: $22,600Min wage: $2.00/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"The Way We Were" — Barbra StreisandBest Picture: The Godfather Part II
1977Could drive
Star Wars premieres; Elvis dies
Gas: $0.62/galHome: $31,800Min wage: $2.30/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Tonight's the Night" — Rod StewartBest Picture: Annie Hall
1979Could vote
Iran hostage crisis begins; Three Mile Island accident
Gas: $0.86/galHome: $37,900Min wage: $2.90/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"My Sharona" — The KnackBest Picture: Kramer vs. Kramer
1982Turned 21
Michael Jackson releases Thriller
Gas: $1.22/galHome: $55,200Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Physical" — Olivia Newton-JohnBest Picture: Gandhi
1991Turned 30
Soviet Union dissolves; World Wide Web goes public
Gas: $1.14/galHome: $82,400Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: George H.W. Bush"(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" — Bryan AdamsBest Picture: The Silence of the Lambs
2001Turned 40
September 11 attacks transform the world
Gas: $1.46/galHome: $126,400Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Hanging by a Moment" — LifehouseBest Picture: A Beautiful Mind
2011Turned 50
Osama bin Laden killed; Arab Spring sweeps the Middle East
Gas: $3.53/galHome: $138,400Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Rolling in the Deep" — AdeleBest Picture: The Artist
2021Turned 60
January 6 Capitol breach; COVID vaccines roll out globally
Gas: $3.01/galHome: $298,900Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Joe Biden"Levitating" — Dua LipaBest Picture: CODA
2026Age 65 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Led the 2019 LSU Tigers football team to a 15-0 record and the College Football Playoff National Championship.
- Won the Paul "Bear" Bryant Award as national coach of the year in 2019.
- As a recruiter, he consistently assembled top-ranked recruiting classes at multiple schools.
Did You Know?
He played college football as a defensive lineman at LSU and Northwestern State University.
He is known for his distinctive, raspy voice, which he says is the result of breaking his neck in a bar fight in college.
He worked as a strength coach and line coach at the University of Miami during its dominant era in the late 1980s.
“Go Tigers. Forever LSU.”
