SEC Media Days: LSU Ed Orgeron learning from mistakes at Ole Miss

Ever since the firing of Les Miles last season, the LSU football program has been led by Ed Orgeron. Today, he took the mic at SEC Media Days for the first time since 2007.
Coach O used to reside elsewhere in the SEC West, with Ole Miss where he went 10-25 during his last head coaching stint with the Rebels. Other than his accent you hardly would have recognized him based on his success as an interim coach with the Tigers who went 6-2 with a Citrus Bowl win under Orgeron.
He would later seize the head coaching job for good, thanks in large part to what he learned from his shortcomings in Oxford. Now, Orgeron believes he knows what went wrong and is out to prove he’s a different coach in Baton Rouge. “I went to see different coaches. We dug into watching other people, went to talk to some mentors of mine and here are the two things I came up with. Number one, I was going to treat the team exactly how I treat my sons. No different. And I was going to treat every coach on the coaching staff with respect and let him coach his position as he knew it. Ever since those two minor changes, we’ve been 12-4. So, that’s the difference.”
Orgeron is referring to his overall record as an interim head coach, including his mark of 6-2 when he was leading USC in 2013.
A pair of Tigers got named to the Maxwell Award watch list today. As did three players from the Magnolia State, one from each of the division I schools.
Starting with the Tigers, It’s Derrius Guice and Arken Key, followed by a couple quarterbacks. Those being Nick Fitzgerald from Mississippi State and Shea Patterson from Ole Miss.
Finally, USM’s Ito Smith garners recognition coming into his own as a senior running back for the Golden Eagles. He’s scored at least one touchdown in 17 out of his last 18 games.