Earlier this year, LSU announced that Ed Orgeron will not be the head football coach of the LSU Tigers next year. In fact, Orgeron will not coach in LSU's bowl game either. Here is a look at the LSU football program since 2008 (the first year that of complete data I have). This time period only covers the last ten seasons of head football coach Les Miles (2008-2016), and Ed Orgeron (2017-2021). After the figure below is a more detailed look at the LSU Tiger football program during head coach Orgeron's tenure based on the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model using data provided by www.cfbstats.com. (The vertical school color bars represent seasons where head coaches changed).
Ed Orgeron [contract]
2017
LSU finished the regular season at 9-3, and were bowl eligible, and
were defeated by #27 ranked Notre Dame (3-28) to finish 9-4 overall. The Tigers
played against an “average” strength
of schedule (SOS), meaning that the Tigers SOS was within
plus or minus one standard deviation of the "league" average SOS. LSU's
best
regular season victory was against #13 ranked Auburn (27-23)
and their worst
loss was to #21 ranked Mississippi State (7-37). LSU was the #17 ranked team overall, with the #59 ranked
offense and the #5 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.
2018
LSU finished the regular season at 9-3, and were bowl eligible, where they
defeated #9 ranked UCF (40-32) to finish 10-3 overall. The Tigers
played against a “much tougher” strength
of schedule (SOS), meaning that the Tigers SOS was lower than
two standard deviations of the "league" average SOS. LSU's
best
regular season victory was against #5 ranked Mississippi State (19-3)
and their worst
loss was to #44 ranked Texas A&M (72-74). LSU was the #27 ranked team overall, with the #46 ranked
offense and the #25 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.
2019 [National Champions & SEC Champions]
LSU finished the regular season at 12-0, and defeated #7 ranked Georgia in the SEC championship game by a score of (37-10). LSU was selected as one of the four teams to play for the national championship, where they defeated #18 ranked Oklahoma in the National Championship semi-final game (63-28) and then defeated #2 ranked Clemson in the National Championship game by a score of (42-35). LSU finished at 15-0 overall. The Tigers
played against a “tougher” strength
of schedule (SOS), meaning that the Tigers SOS was between one and two standard deviations below the "league" average SOS. LSU's
best
regular season victory was against #3 ranked Alabama (46-41). LSU was the #4 ranked team overall, with the #1 ranked
offense and the #67 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.
2020
LSU finished the COVID-19 shortened regular season at 5-5, while playing against an “average” strength
of schedule (SOS). LSU's best win was against #16 ranked Florida (37-34) and their worst
loss was to #90 ranked Mississippi State (34-44). LSU was the #71 ranked team overall, with the #29 ranked
offense and the #122 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.
2021*
LSU finished the regular season at 6-6 and Orgeron was fired. LSU played against a “much tougher” strength
of schedule (SOS) up to end of the regular season. The Tigers best victory was against #25 ranked Texas A&M by a
score of (27-24) and their worst loss was to #47 ranked Kentucky by a score of (21-42). LSU is currently the #76 ranked team overall, with the #82 ranked
offense and the #69 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.