Rebel Ramblings: A look back at Orgeron

When it comes to a head football coach, Ole Miss is becoming about as snake bit as Ed Orgeron's team.

The school came under heavy criticism when it fired David Cutcliffe after going 4-7 in 2004 - his first losing season - and coming off a 10-3 Cotton Bowl season the year before. For the ensuing three years, media questioned his successor - Ed Orgeron - and his ability to lead a major college program. The day Orgeron was fired, the school is now being questioned by some for not giving him another year.

It's almost like a Laurel and Hardy production where Oliver says to Stan - "well, here's another nice mess you've gotten me into."

Anytime there's a coaching change, there's going to be a frayed fan base and that was the situation when Cutcliffe was fired and it's the same with Orgeron's departure.

The major difference in the two departures is that Cutcliffe, by private accounts, was ready to move on and didn't attempt to fight any decision to let him go, even to the point of being uncooperative when it came to making program changes, and basked in the media spotlight as being portrayed as the victim of Ole Miss' poor decision. In contrast, Orgeron was excited about next year and the always positive coach was intent on turning things around in 2008.

He lost that opportunity when he rolled the dice on a fourth and one call at midfield against Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl. Win that game and the administration might be able to fight off big donors who were calling for a change. But with the total meltdown against State that started after the failed fourth and one - the table was set for his ouster.

In some respects, it's hard to blame or be critical of fans who had dropped off the Orgeron "I'm In Bandwagon." His record speaks for itself - 10-25 in three seasons - all unimpressive wins like the seven point win over Northwestern State three weeks ago. Repeated instances of losses in close games, even when the team played well, like it did last year against LSU and this year against Florida. While statistics can be manipulated, it's hard to argue when the team is just about dead last in every category in the SEC.

Orgeron was sometimes his own worst enemy. His team would play poorly and he'd ratchet up even already intense practices to make them more intense, all trying to correct problems. He worked his staff overtime. And, because of the media and fan criticism that he was constantly subjected to, he placed more value on loyalty from his staff when it came to picking coaches than he did on their qualifications - that resulted in two former high school coaches and two former graduate assistants in their first full time job being on the staff, although all four have served Ole Miss well.

Old hands like John Thompson, Dan Werner, and Art Kehoe were always loyal to an old friend, but probably had to wonder exactly what they'd gotten into.

The day before Orgeron was officially announced as Ole Miss' head coach, the California media brought up his past which included allegations of assault and alcohol abuse. The media that cover Ole Miss jumped on the bandwagon and gave it almost as much banter as they did his hiring.

The table was set for the fiery Cajun to put up his defense mechanisms and he did just that. Alcohol-related incidents involving two newly hired assistants just served to fuel the fire and working behind the scenes was the Ole Miss "good old boy" net that came up with the plan to put one of their own - Noel Mazzone, who had left Oxford in 1998 with Tommy Tuberville before being fired a few years later - in as offensive coordinator with a plan that if Orgeron failed immediately, that'd have their guy at the helm.

It created a divide on the staff where the 2005 season and any chance of success went down the drain.

I recall seeing Ed Orgeron on the sideline of the national championship game in 2005 and thinking his fiery demeanor was exactly what Ole Miss needed after six years of the laid back Cutcliffe. A day later, Orgeron appeared on recruiting show and provided terse answers with a few grunts that left me wondering exactly what Ole Miss had hired.

I was lukewarm on Orgeron in the beginning, going so far as to write a column a few weeks before he was hired that questioned his experience. That changed some in the spring of his first year when I spent a couple of hours watching him work an alumni gathering. In a private interview, he was down right charming, charismatic and talked of championships. I was left with the impression that Ole Miss had a coach who would win given time.

In the summer of 2006, we came up with the idea for me to participate in Ole Miss Fantasy Camp as a method to give it some media exposure. We pitched the idea to Orgeron and he loved it. When I walked into the IPF, a booming voice from the head coach, who I'd had little interaction with for almost a year, resounded across the massive facility "Dave." I proceeded to spend almost an hour talking with Orgeron about his program, recruiting, and how he would make Ole Miss an winner. Three days around Orgeron's program even further convinced me that given time and continued recruiting success, he would bring a winner to Ole Miss.

Since, I've had a lot of other encounters with Orgeron in private and at media events. I was always struck by how personable and outgoing Orgeron was privately, and how defensive and guarded he could be in public.

As the losses mounted, it got worse. Criticism mounted on Orgeron this year after the Vanderbilt loss and the atmosphere after the close Florida loss was that it was the Ole Miss football team against everyone else - including media and their own fans. After the Auburn loss, I offered some words of encouragement. He just stared for a second and moved on, almost in a daze.

A few days later, he called and said he appreciated a column I had written, saying it meant a lot to him and his family.

There were clearly two sides to Orgeron, one where he could be charming and personable and another where he felt he couldn't trust anyone except his closest inter circle.

Had Orgeron had more success, many of his problems would have gone away. However, as the losses continued, media and fans piled on. There can be little doubt that last week's "pillow gate" was leaked to the media with an attempt to embellish the incident and portray the program as out of control.

In the end, the Ole Miss administration caved to big donors as well as the thought of how they'd survive another season like 2005-07 if Orgeron continued to struggle. Some fans will find fault in the public endorsement of Orgeron only weeks before his firing; however, the administration had to do that to give Orgeron any chance to win the last quarter of the season. All indications point to no final decision being made until after the Egg Bowl loss, which was obviously the catalyst for the ultimate decision.

There will always be two sides to the Orgeron story - one that portrays him as an inept coach and another where fans think that given time, he could have really been special at Ole Miss. It'll be debated and my feeling is that while Orgeron possessed many traits of a capable coach, his inability of interact with the public and media to build support for his program was his ultimate downfall.

The search is underway. In time, Ed Orgeron will become a distant memory, an experiment gone bad. But he left me and a lot of Ole Miss fans with many fond memories and the thought of what could have been if the circumstances had only been slightly different.

Those opposed to Orgeron have gotten their wish and the media can move on to the next juicy story associated with Orgeron's replacement. But, along the way, fans had better hope that those leading the coaching search can find an experienced head coach who has the ability to pull the frayed fan base together - because if the next head coach comes to Ole Miss with the resistance that Orgeron had to overcome, the next few years are not going to be pretty for the Rebels.