Before LSU head coach Ed Orgeron became the main man in Baton Rouge, he actually played football in the purple and gold. The coach from Larose, Louisiana, once played defensive lineman at Louisiana State University in 1979 before transferring to Northwestern State University.
The rest of Coach O's football career is well documented, of course. He worked his way through the ranks as an assistant coach at top-notch programs like Miami, Syracuse, USC, Tennessee and in the NFL with the New Orleans Saints. After a dismal tenure at the helm of Ole Miss, he made his way back to USC and eventually LSU, where the SEC head football coach took Joe Burrow and the Tigers to a College Football Playoff national championship in 2019.
Orgeron has lived and breathed football since he was born.
It turns out his kids are the same way. Cody and Parker may even be better players than their father ever was.
Who Are Ed Orgeron's Kids?
Lsu HC ed Orgeron and family pic.twitter.com/0hY5b79313
— Lyons Yellin (@LyonsYellin) November 26, 2016
RELATED: Ed Orgeron's Salary Makes Him King of Louisiana
Orgeron met his future wife, Kelly Orgeron, at the suggestion of a mutual friend at the 1996 Liberty Bowl. Coach O was at the time Syracuse's defensive line coach and, after a loss to the Miami Hurricanes, was sent to play in Memphis, Tennessee. Kelly made the one-hour drive to meet him and it turned out to be quite the blind date. They married two months later.
Orgeron and Kelly welcomed twin sons into the world on Feb. 9, 1998. Cody and Parker Orgeron aren't the only sons they have, though. Kelly had another son, Tyler, from a previous marriage. He goes by Tyler Spotts-Orgeron and is older than his two step-brothers.
Cody, Parker and Tyler are all either playing or coaching football, which means Coach O's legacy will assuredly continue on if and when his time at LSU is up.
Cody Orgeron: College Quarterback
CODY ORGERON CALLED GAME ?pic.twitter.com/K6LCOUIsJu
— PFF College (@PFF_College) February 14, 2021
Cody Orgeron might be the most gifted player out of the siblings. After playing his football at Mandeville High School in Mandeville, Louisiana, and leading the team to a 10-4 record and throwing for 2,200 yards and 27 touchdowns, he committed to play under center at McNeese State University, the school Orgeron was a graduate assistant at in 1985.
As the Cowboys' starting quarterback in 2019, he completed 58 percent of his passes for 2,628 yards and 24 touchdowns. McNeese State, which plays in the Southland Conference, finished an up-and-down season at 7-5 with Cody under center. Then in 2020, he threw for 1,560 yards and 10 touchdowns in seven games.
What's wild is that Cody didn't pick up football until his senior year of high school.
Cody originally played football until seventh grade, but gave it up in favor of tennis. He watched his mom, Kelly, star on the court as a USTA state champion in Arkansas and Louisiana and then became pretty nifty with the racket himself in high school.
"I would go and watch my mom and her friends play doubles and stuff...they had a lot of fun and I enjoyed watching it. I picked up a racquet when I was out there with her, and it just felt right. I fell in in love with it and ran off with it for a few years," Cody Orgeron told The Advocate.
While his father deep down likely wanted him on the gridiron, he told his sons to play whatever sport they desired.
"I sat there and I found a new love for tennis," Ed Orgeron told The Advocate. "I saw the competitiveness in him."
LSU plays McNeese State this Saturday
McNeese St's QB is Cody Orgeron... LSU Head Coach Ed Orgeron's son pic.twitter.com/urDZnVaE5n
— PFF College (@PFF_College) September 7, 2021
Ed's son Cody Orgeron is now the starting quarterback for McNeese State. He will face his dad and the LSU Tigers at Tiger Stadium Saturday night in a week 2 matchup of the 2021 college football season.
Parker Orgeron: Wide Receiver Turned Coach
Parker Orgeron fell in love with football and stuck with it.
At Mandeville High School, he became the team's No. 1 wide receiver. He caught 58 passes for 845 yards and 14 touchdowns his senior year and wrapped up his prep career with 2,083 yards and 31 touchdowns. Parker was instrumental at convincing his brother to join the team in 2015 for his senior year.
"It was really my brother and my dad, but it was Parker the whole time," Cody Orgeron told The Advocate. "Parker played quarterback a few games as a junior and he was always telling me, 'C'mon man, we need you...I know you can do it.' He was always in my ear about it."
Parker earned a three-star rating from 247Sports and headed to McNeese State to play with his brother on the same football team. He was a steady receiver for the Cowboys from 2016-18.
While his Dad's LSU team was beating FCS foe Southeastern LA...
His son Parker Orgeron was doing this for @McNeeseFootball ?pic.twitter.com/w6TVkmRxy3
— NCAA FCS Football (@NCAA_FCS) September 9, 2018
His best season came in 2016, when he tallied 373 yards and a touchdown on 29 receptions. A concussion cut his collegiate career short and forced him to the sidelines, and he became a student coach for McNeese State in 2019 and then served as an intern of player development at LSU.
Could he be the heir to the LSU football throne?
Tyler Spotts-Orgeron: On The LSU Sidelines
Tyler Spotts-Orgeron didn't star on the gridiron, but he always knew he he'd been on the sidelines with his stepdad. He even added his last name to the end of his.
He is much older than his two step brothers but has already dipped his toes in the coaching pool. Tyler graduated from LSU in 2018 and served as an analyst for the LSU football under his dad.
All of Ed Orgeron's sons may be destined to coaching football. Kelly has already joked that about the idea.
"They all want to be coaches. I don't know where I messed up," Kelly Orgeron jokingly told The Advocate.
The Orgeron family may be the next great football coaching family. The Bowdens have nothing on the Bayou Brothers. Let's hope we get to watch dad coach against one of his sons for a national title one day. For now, let's let Ed Orgeron worry about beating teams like UCLA, Florida and Alabama.
This post was originally published on June 8, 2020. We brought it back before Cody Orgeron and Ed Orgeron went head-to-head at Tiger Stadium.
MORE: Ed & Kelly Orgeron Built a 23-Year Marriage Before Splitting Up
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