With John Chavis leaving shortly after LSU’s bowl game for in-division rival Texas A&M, LSU was left reeling at what has been their strongest pillar right in the heart of recruiting season. After a multiweek search which included a lot of top shelf names saying no or refusing to interview with LSU, the Tigers finally made their hire. Or rather, hires. Kevin Steele, the current Alabama LB coach and former Clemson defensive coordinator (relieved of duties after giving up 70 points to West Virginia in the Orange Bowl), was brought in to run the defense. Ed Orgeron was also brought in to be the main defensive recruiter and defensive line coach on top of hiring Steele.

Steele is not well thought of in college football. He’s considered a very good recruiter and a bad Xs and Os coach whose behavior towards his players borders on abusive. Nick Saban put up with him for one season as defensive coordinator in 2007 promoting Kirby Smart around him and encouraging him to find a job elsewhere. After Steele failed at Clemson, Saban brought him back in an administrative role (read: recruiting and development) until he needed a new LB coach. This is clearly a second or third tier hire and probably won’t be a long term one. Steele’s behavior just grates on too many people and will be a net negative for Miles and LSU. However, this questionable hire was balanced out by a great hire in Ed Orgeron. Coach “O” as he’s known is considered one of the best recruiters in the country, a good defensive mind and probably extremely corrupt by NCAA rules. Wherever he’s gone, the program sees an influx of Rivals Stars come national signing day and good consistent development of defensive talent.  

The obvious question is: why not just hire Orgeron? He has the experience as a coordinator, will be running defensive recruiting anyways and is more thought of in the SEC community. Is it possible that Miles is hedging his bets here that Steele flames out quickly and can be replaced in-house instead of having another embarrassing search?

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About the author
Jon Fox
Just listen to Radiohead when you read my pieces and we will get along just fine.