Nothing warm and fuzzy about Rebels’ Orgeron
July 28, 2005
Cecil Hurt
Tuscaloosa News
There is no way of knowing what the future will hold for Ed Orgeron, but it’s probably fair to assume one thing: He’ll never be a secret witness for anyone.
Orgeron, the new head coach of the Ole Miss Rebels, met the assembled mob of reporters at the SEC’s annual Media Days on Wednesday -- and met them head on. His personality, which has been the object of much speculation, was blunt and honest. He came across as the sort of guy who, instead of reporting a rule-bending rival to an NCAA investigator in a hushed whisper, would just challenge the rival to meet him in the nearest parking lot.
It would have been easy for Orgeron to slip quietly into Hoover on Wednesday, utter a few platitudes and then head back to Oxford. Instead, he seemed to bristle at one reporter’s suggestion that he was “flying under the radar screen" by appearing on the same day as high-profile head coaches Steve Spurrier, Urban Meyer and Phil Fulmer.
“Not at all," Orgeron said when asked if he felt overshadowed.
“I respect those guys, but that’s why we put on the cleats and helmets."
If nothing else, Orgeron represents a 180-degree turn in personality in the Ole Miss coaching chair. His predecessor, David Cutcliffe, was a solid tactician and a friend of the Mannings, two qualities that helped net four bowl bids in the last five years at Ole Miss. However, he also had the personality of a tackling dummy, which is probably a big reason that he couldn’t survive a sub-.500 year in 2004.
Orgeron changed all that, at least. He came in breathing fire, although he says stories about an over-the-top first meeting with his team, in which garments were torn and manhood was challenged, are “part true and part myth." He doesn’t deny that he grabbed the team by the metaphorical (if not actual) lapels and shook them a few times, although he says that throwback style will work, especially at a Southern school.
“I think the players love it," Orgeron said. “I think they invite it. Most kids in the South were coached that way in high school. Most of them love it, and the ones who don’t love it are going to learn to love it.
“Change is good for young men. I came here [from the staff at two-time national champion Southern Cal] with immediate credibility. It didn’t take long to connect with the football team because I gave them very few choices. I demanded that they were going to do things the way I wanted them done."
There is more than one way to coach a football team. Mike Price, for instance, had instant success when he introduced his warm and fuzzy “player’s pal" approach at Texas-El Paso last season. El Paso, though, is not the Southeastern Conference. For the most part, SEC fans -- football fanatics in a conservative part of the country -- like to hear the kind of hard-nosed rhetoric that Orgeron delivers. Ole Miss fans, who at one time were disappointed that they couldn’t land a Butch Davis or Rick Neuheisel to replace Cutcliffe, seem enamored with their new head coach.
Of course, he has to win, which has been the hurdle in Oxford for a long time now. The Rebels remain the only school in the SEC West not to participate in the SEC Championship game since its inception in 1992. Orgeron didn’t duck questions about that, either.
He said that Ole Miss has better talent than Pete Carroll’s staff inherited at Southern Cal “at some positions." He admitted that wasn’t the case at some other positions, including quarterback. Micheal Spurlock, who flamed out famously in his attempt to follow Eli Manning in 2004, appeared at Media Days with his coach and seems to have the starting position in hand. Orgeron, however, noted that the Ole Miss depth chart is “etched in sand," adding that he “wasn’t going to try and have his quarterback win games by himself."
“If we had [USC Heisman Trophy winner] Matt Leinart back there, then we would do that," Orgeron said. “Maybe we have that guy, but we don’t have him right now."
For the time being, Orgeron’s Rebels will be picked in the lower half of the Western Division, expected to battle Arkansas and Mississippi State for fourth place. One thing is certain, though -- no matter where the Rebels wind up, Orgeron won’t be hard to find.
Cecil Hurt is sports editor of The Tuscaloosa News. Reach him at cecil.hurt@tuscaloosanews.com or at (205) 722-0225
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