Ole Miss fires Orgeron after claiming he'd return in '08
By Bruce Feldman
ESPN The Magazine
Updated: November 24, 2007, 12:36 PM ET
A few weeks after Ole Miss brass announced that head coach Ed Orgeron would be back in 2008, the third-year coach was fired Saturday, ESPN.com has learned.
The news comes a day after the Rebels lost to archrival Mississippi State 17-14, capping off a winless SEC season for the first time in over two decades. The Rebels dominated much of the game, but momentum swung after Orgeron opted to go for it on a fourth-and-1 at midfield in the fourth quarter leading 14-0. BenJarvus Green-Ellis was stopped and the Bulldogs staged a frantic rally.
In three seasons Orgeron's teams won 10 games and had several close losses against ranked teams, but they could never get a big win. His recruiting classes were always highly ranked but the Rebels struggled on both sides of the ball, ranking near the bottom of most statistical categories in the SEC.
Orgeron, who had been Pete Carroll's right-hand man at USC, had continued to recruit well. He had hoped he could get to 2008, when Texas transfer Jevan Snead, a former blue-chipper, would become eligible.But the turn-the-corner win never came.
A week ago, after Ole Miss outgained but lost to top-ranked LSU 41-24, Orgeron and his staff hosted more high-profile recruits than he'd ever had on any weekend during his tenure at Ole Miss. He seemed confident that'd he'd be back for 2008, but one of his assistants pointed out that votes of confidence rarely mean anything.
"They just say those kinds of things so you keep recruiting," said the assistant.
Said Orgeron, "I know we're not out of the woods just yet."
He was right.
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