Ed Orgeron’s SEC Media Days Press Conference Recap

Ed Orgeron held his annual SEC Media Days press conference Monday afternoon and went over his usual topics ― his team’s roster, changes to the offense and how he don’t care what we media folk say.

Meet the Newcomers

Orgeron opened his presser by acknowledging the team’s three student-athlete representatives― Joe Burrow, Lloyd Cushenberry and Grant Delpit. He then heaped praise on his incoming freshmen class, anointing Derek Stingley Jr. and Apu Ika as starters already. Orgeron acknowledged several other freshmen, including Kardell Thomas, John Emery Jr. and Trey Palmer as freshmen who will immediately compete for playing time.

Block Out the Noise

Hey you, do you have a Twitter account? Are you concerned about any nasty tweets you might have directed at Ed Orgeron or his players? Fear not because Orgeron can assure you the noise has been BLOCKED OUT. He recalled how the 2018 team blocked out the largely negative noise surrounding the team and went on to have a very successful campaign.

So were you thinking about getting back in the good graces of our fearless leader with some tweets filled with praise and congratulations? Well, you’re outta luck because Orgeron told members of the media the team will continue to BLOCK OUT THE NOISE this season, so that the largely positive projections don’t distract the players from working hard.

“Last year there was negativity. People didn’t know what kind of football team we were going to have,” Orgeron said. “Now this year they say we’re going to have a really good football team. I do believe we’re going to have a really good football team, but we’re going to have to get back to work, back to the fundamentals.”

Joe and Joe

Orgeron called the hire of passing game coordinator Joe Brady as a “game-changer.” He recapped Brady’s time with Penn State and the Saints and spoke highly of how Brady and offensive coordinator Steve Ensminger have worked together.

Orgeron said LSU has officially made the change to a spread offense, which caught everyone so off-guard that when questions rolled around, he had to reaffirm that an LSU spread offense does, in fact, exist.

“We’re going to run the spread offense,” Orgeron said. “It’s in the playbook. I’ve seen the playbook.

Orgeron described it as “Joe (Burrow)’s type of offense,” and called him a dual-threat quarterback. He said the coaches planned to run Burrow more often last year, but weren’t able to due to a lack of healthy backups.

Orgeron then touched on everyone’s favorite never-ending saga ― Myles Brennan’s quest to gain weight. He said Brennan is up to 212 pounds and will play at “significant times” to prepare him for a potential starting opportunity.

The Rest of the Offense

Echoing what many LSU fans felt all 2018, Orgeron said the offensive line needs to improve, but he expressed optimism about returning four starters. He then lauded the wide receiver corps, singling out Justin Jefferson and Terrace Marshall Jr. for praise.

Orgeron called the group of running backs “very solid” and mentioned Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Lanard Fournette and Chris Curry returning with freshmen Emery and Tyrion Davis-Price coming in. He literally only spent several seconds talking about the backfield because it’s LSU, the running backs are good. Ho hum. Let’s move on.

The Defense and Special Teams

Maybe the reason Orgeron moved on from the running backs so quickly is because he couldn’t wait to talk about his secondary, which he called the best group of defensive backs he ever coached in his 35 years. Delpit, Kristian Fulton, Stingley, JaCoby Stevens and Kary Vincent Jr. were all mentioned as players Orgeron expects big things from.

After acknowledging he has no idea how to replace Devin White, Orgeron declared Michael Divinity Jr., Jacob Phillips and Patrick Queen the starting linebackers.

Orgeron then moved on to his bread and butter, the defensive line, which returns four starters. He started off by calling K’Lavon Chaisson LSU’s best pass rusher even after missing essentially all of 2018 with a torn ACL. He then stated the obvious, that Rashard Lawrence, Breiden Fehoko and Glen Logan will all start along the rest of the line.

Orgeron infamously said after the Alabama game LSU needed to improve on the D-line, and he pledged the players would.

“We have our rotation,” Orgeron said. “We’re going to attack up front and make more plays in the backfield.”

Orgeron then took us inside the impossible mission of replacing living legend Cole Tracy. He spoke highly of freshman Cade York and sophomore Avery Atkins as candidates to replace Tracy, but did not mention previous starter Connor Culp.

He finished his roster monologue by reminding everyone that long snapper Blake Ferguson returns along with punters Josh Growden and Zach Von Rosenberg.

Tidbits from the Q&A

-LSU will be 50/50 run-pass

-Joe Burrow will run through a brick wall, so I guess that’s why Myles Brennan needs to be ready

-Orgeron said he will do some D-line coaching himself

-UCF is a good team, but it’s not Orgeron’s place to say if they got “too big for their britches”

-Scott Woodward is the most knowledgeable athletic director Orgeron has ever been around, and knew all of the recruits on LSU’s board

-Orgeron is not a fan of the current transfer portal rules

In Conclusion

“Thank you guys. Geaux Tigers.”

Watch the video here: