Ed Orgeron, regarded as one of college football's premier defensive line coaches, was named the 35th head football coach in the history of the University of Mississippi on December 16, 2004. He also serves as defensive coordinator of the Rebels. Orgeron, who took control of the Ole Miss football program after serving the previous seven seasons as defensive line coach at the University of Southern California, played a key role in Pete Carroll's Trojans winning national championships in 2003 and 2004. He joined the USC staff in January of 1998, took on the added responsibility of recruiting coordinator for the Trojans in 2001, and was then named assistant head coach in 2003. USC's 2002, 2003 and 2004 recruiting classes were ranked among the nation's Top 5, with the 2003 and 2004 groups listed by many as No. 1, Orgeron was named the 2004 National Recruiter of the Year by The Sporting News and Rivals.com. In 2003, Orgeron guided USC's highly-regarded "Wild Bunch II" defensive line (ends Kenechi Udeze, Omar Nazel and Frostee Rucker and tackles Shaun Cody and Mike Patterson) as the Trojans led the nation in rushing defense. Udeze was a consensus All-America first teamer and a NFL first round pick, while Udeze, Cody and Patterson all earned All-Pac-10 first team honors (the most defensive line first teamers from any league school since Washington State also had three in 1994). In 1998, Trojan defensive tackle Ennis Davis was named to the All-Pac-10 first team. During his seven years at USC, the Trojans played in the 1998 Sun Bowl, 2001 Las Vegas Bowl, 2003 Orange Bowl, 2004 Rose Bowl, and 2005 Orange Bowl. Orgeron, 43, has 20 years of coaching experience. Prior to joining the USC staff, he was defensive line coach at Syracuse for three seasons (1995-97), and the Orangemen played in a bowl game each year (1996 Gator, 1996 Liberty and 1997 Fiesta). He came to Syracuse from Nicholls State, where he was the linebackers coach in 1994. He was also the defensive line coach at Miami for four seasons (1989-92), where he coached eight All-Americans, including NFL first rounders Cortez Kennedy, Russell Maryland and Warren Sapp. In 1988, he was a graduate assistant at Miami, working with the defensive line. During his tenure at Miami, the Hurricanes won the national championship twice (1989 and 1991), finished second in the Associated Press poll once (1988) and third twice (1990 and 1992), while appearing in five New Year's Day bowls (1989 Orange, 1990 Sugar, 1991 Cotton, 1992 Orange, 1993 Sugar). Orgeron got his start in coaching as a graduate assistant at Northwestern (La.) State, his alma mater, in 1984 and was also a graduate assistant at McNeese State in 1985, working with the defensive line at both schools. He then served as an assistant strength coach at Arkansas for two years (1986-87) as the Razorbacks participated in the 1987 Orange Bowl and 1987 Liberty Bowl. Orgeron worked in private business in 1993. After compiling an outstanding prep career in football, basketball and track at South Lafourche High School in Galliano, La., Orgeron went on to become a four-year starting defensive lineman at Northwestern (La.) State, captaining the Demons as a senior. He received his Bachelor's Degree in Liberal Arts from Northwestern State in 1984. Orgeron, who was born on July 27, 1961, and his wife, Kelly, have three sons, Tyler, 13, and 7-year-old twins Parker and Cody. |
|
|||||||||
