Ed Orgeron has labeled Mondays as “Tell the Truth Monday” throughout his coaching tenure. And, boy, did LSU’s lame-duck coach tell some truths this Monday.
The Tigers (4-4, 2-3) did not play last week, offering an opportunity to “self-scout.”
The findings?
“We’re too predictable by formations,” Orgeron said. “We’re too predictable on first down. We are very, very predictable on defense. We need to have more variety on first down. We give them the same looks over and over again. There’s not much disguise.”
Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?
If there’s any wonder why Orgeron won’t be retained after this season, the LSU coach’s self-evisceration is the ugly truth. This team has warts, and this staff hasn’t covered them. Injuries to LSU’s most talented players made matters worse.
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Here’s another truth: LSU is fixin’ to get trounced by No. 3 Alabama (7-1, 4-1) on Saturday (6 p.m. CT, ESPN) in Tuscaloosa, in what will be the latest reminder of how quickly college football coaches not named Nick Saban can go from being the mayor to the garbage man.
Two years ago, LSU beat Alabama 46-41 amid an undefeated national championship season, and Orgeron proclaimed his program’s staying power.
“We’ve finally got the tools that we need to beat those guys,” Orgeron told reporters after the game. He used more colorful language in a locker-room celebration that was captured on video.
Then those tools departed, and Orgeron failed to adequately replace them. He’s 9-9 since that national championship season.
MORE ON LSU FOOTBALL:Who are the injured Tigers who might return vs. Alabama?
But at least Orgeron is carrying himself with dignity as he finishes his tenure.
Florida coach Dan Mullen is making a wild and unsightly charge to the head of the pack of floundering coaches.
The Gators won the SEC East last season. They challenged Alabama in the 2020 SEC Championship and again in September at The Swamp. That feels like so many moons ago.
Florida is 4-7 in its last 11 games, struggling in recruiting, and every time Mullen addresses reporters, his testiness and ego get in the way, and he makes a stupid comment that further fuels fan frustration.
Asked Monday whether Florida’s recruiting approach needs tweaked, Mullen snapped that he does recruiting in the offseason. Well, that explains why Florida’s 2022 recruiting class is No. 22 in the 247Sports Composite rankings, while Georgia’s is No. 1, and Alabama’s ranks No. 2.
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Georgia’s Kirby Smart and Saban don’t see recruiting as a seasonal endeavor.
Next, let’s check in on Clemson coach Dabo Swinney, who joins Saban as college football’s only active coaches with multiple national championships. Swinney’s Tigers are 5-3 and unranked, having failed to recover from quarterback Trevor Lawrence becoming the No. 1 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.
Compared to LSU, Florida and Clemson, Alabama’s teeter this year is small potatoes.
Smart and Georgia look like the immediate threat to the perch that Alabama and Saban have claimed for more than a decade. Georgia’s long-term outlook under Smart looks bright, too. Of course, you could have said the same about LSU and Orgeron two years ago.
Shoving Alabama aside for a season en route to a national championship is a difficult but manageable task for some programs. But avoiding a tumble after climbing to college football’s peak is a feat few coaches have achieved during Saban’s rule at Alabama.
“I think that you have to try to avoid complacency,” Saban said Monday, when asked how he’s sustained success. “When people have success, sometimes they get a little complacent.”
Ten Crimson Tide players were drafted last spring. Nobody reloads like Alabama, but nevertheless, a backslide occurred.
Alabama has displayed an uncharacteristic amount of general sloppiness and breakdowns in the secondary this season. The defense’s production hasn’t matched its talent, and Evan Neal is the only offensive lineman performing to Alabama’s standard.
And yet, Alabama enters November with a legitimate chance at the College Football Playoff, while Orgeron has a pink slip waiting for him at season’s end.
Saban not only posts great seasons more frequently than his peers, he avoids the type of woeful seasons that dragged down Orgeron and are chinking the armor around Mullen and Swinney.
Along with a self-scout, Orgeron scouted LSU’s upcoming opponent.
His assessment?
“They’re very good – as always,” Orgeron said.
Blake Toppmeyer is an SEC Columnist for the USA TODAY Network. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer. If you enjoy Blake’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY NETWORK: Ed Orgeron gave brutal assessment of LSU football before Alabama game