Ed Orgeron: Lane Kiffin 'was going to come' to LSU

Sam Cooper
·College football writer
Will new coach Lane Kiffin have success early at Florida Atlantic? (AP)
Florida Atlantic hired Lane Kiffin on Dec. 12. (AP)

It was no secret that Ed Orgeron was eyeing Lane Kiffin to be LSU’s offensive coordinator.

As soon as Orgeron’s interim tag was lifted in November and he officially became LSU’s head coach, many reports emerged that Orgeron wanted Kiffin, who was then Alabama’s offensive coordinator, to run the Tigers offense.

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We learned this week — from both Orgeron and Kiffin — that it was close to happening.

Kiffin, who ended up getting the head-coaching job at Florida Atlantic (LSU hired Matt Canada from Pitt) after his unusual exit from the Crimson Tide, said Thursday on “Sports Talk with Bo Mattingly” that the possibility of linking up with Orgeron, who was on Kiffin’s staff at USC, was intriguing.

“I really think they’re going to win a lot there and do great things, and they got some great players coming back, especially the running backs,” Kiffin said. “So there was an intrigue there, you know, we’ve done these things in Alabama and won and had these unique great players. Derrick Henry winning the Heisman, Amari Cooper setting all the records, and you know, with Derrius Guice easily you could go win another Heisman.“

On Friday night, per The Advocate, Orgeron took it a step further:

“We were looking at Lane Kiffin. He was going to come. He got a head job,” Orgeron told those in attendance at the Northwestern State Legends Gala on Friday.

Kiffin left the Crimson Tide in December and landed the head coaching gig at Florida Atlantic. The Advocate reported about Orgeron’s serious interest in Kiffin after the coach met with athletic director Joe Alleva during his interview for the full-time job on Nov. 25. The two are close friends from their days as assistants at Southern Cal.

Oh, what could have been…

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Sam Cooper is a writer for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!