LSU, Orgeron to part ways following 2021 season

Though this felt like a long time coming, it once seemed like the perfect marriage. Orgeron, from Larose, Louisiana, coaching for his hometown team, LSU, the team he started his college career playing for. A multitude of investigations and lawsuits off the field plagued Orgeron over the past two years, and following another mediocre start to the 2021 season, the two sides have agreed to part ways following the 2021 season.

2019 was Orgeron’s football nirvana. LSU broke every record en route to a National Championship. LSU’s recruiting classes were as good as anyone in the nation’s, and it seemed to everyone that this could be the berth of a college football dynasty in Baton Rouge. Things, obviously, went sour, and they went sour quickly.

LSU and Ed Orgeron were under Title IX investigation due to both the school and Orgeron ignoring rape accusations against Derrius Guice. Ashlyn Robertson was one of two women who accused Guice of rape, and in this specific incident, Orgeron allegedly failed to report the incident, and his involvement in this is particularly grotesque. He was added as a defendant to the lawsuit in June earlier this year.

Guice is not the only former LSU player who is being investigated on accusations of rape during Orgeron’s tenure. Former quarterback Peter Parrish is also linked to the Title IX investigation, and the details can be seen here:

Orgeron is no stranger personally to misconduct with women. In 1991, a woman filed a court-ordered restraining order on Orgeron, citing multiple instances of attacks. An article today from Brody Miller of The Athletic details all that went wrong at LSU, and the only person Orgeron can blame is himself.

With a history of violence and inappropriate behavior towards women checkering his past, it’s no shock that Orgeron handled the rape accusations against Guice the way he did. He didn’t just mishandle the situation, he habitually made life hell for seemingly any woman he came into contact with. His neglectful behavior and victim shaming of Ashlyn Robertson led to further harassment from Guice. Guice harassed her at parties and went so far as to tell Robertson that he had “a gun with her name on it”.

This, however, was not enough for Orgeron’s dismissal prior to the season. Instead, it took a 4-3 start to the season for LSU to finally negotiate a buyout with him.

As for the job, it’s likely going to be the most sought-after head coaching vacancy in all of college football come this offseason.