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The College Football Playoff begins Friday, and emotions are running high in many fan bases.
Notre Dame was ranked 10th in the penultimate CFP rankings but missed the playoffs to both Alabama, which lost the third game, and Miami, which was ranked lower heading into tournament weekend but beat Notre Dame during the season, and which seemed to have a head start.
Ed Orgeron didn’t have to worry about his playoff status while coaching LSU to the title amid a perfect season in 2019, but he has an idea of who should be in and out this year.
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LSU coach Ed Orgeron walks off the field with his team before an NCAA college football game against Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky, Saturday, October 9, 2021. (AP Photo/Michael Klopp)
“I don’t think a team that’s down three should be playing for the national championship. Notre Dame should have gotten ahead of Alabama,” Orgeron told Fox News Digital in a recent interview.
Bama has received calls for bias and/or collusion, considering that the playoff game is being broadcast on ESPN and ABC, the same network with which the SEC has a major media rights deal.
“The SEC used to be dominant. But now, the Big 10 and the Big 12 are catching up. They got the national champion two years ago. I don’t know what happened with the SEC and bias, and all that stuff. Is there a chance they’ll get it? I won’t get into that. But I do know this — they’re very powerful,” Orgeron added.
The SEC numbers will still be strong, as Lane Kiffin transferred from Ole Miss to Orgeron’s former LSU in a controversial move. However, Orgeron said Kiffin, his former teammate at Tennessee and USC, made the right move, given he had no other choice.
Mississippi Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin (left) and LSU Tigers coach Ed Orgeron (right) shake hands after a game at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. (Peter Thomas/USA TODAY Sports)
Ed Orgeron offers advice to Sherwin Moore after the saga that left him fired and arrested
“Look, the timing of it, when he did it, that was his choice. But he had to do it at that time to get the job he wanted. The calendar is wrong in college football. I wish they had a rule like the NFL has, which is you can’t talk to a coach until their season is over,” Orgeron said.
As for advice for getting LSU back to the promised land?
“Keep doing what you’re doing. He knows what he’s doing. Recruit and evaluate like he does. He’s the king of the transfer portal. He’ll be able to dominate the SEC like he’s been doing. Keep doing what you’re doing.”
Orgeron last coached in 2021, but his career is certainly not over. In fact, he expects to be out there somewhere soon, likely encountering Kevin.
Then-LSU Tigers head coach Ed Orgeron talks with quarterback Joe Burrow after a win over the Clemson Tigers in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. (Matthew Emmons/USA Today Sports)
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“We’ve been in touch with people. I’m going to take a head coaching job, it doesn’t have to be a head coaching job. I’m going to be a D coach or recruiting coordinator, but the right situation hasn’t come up yet. I’m in a good position where I can get a job, I don’t have to take a job, but if the right situation comes up, I’ll definitely take it and go coach. I think something might open up within the next month, and I’ll be coaching again.”
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