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Coach Orgeron Talks Coaching Future With ESPN's Colin Cowherd

By Evan Budrovich
The HERD

The ESPN crew rolled out its operation for Homecoming weekend on campus. It all began with the nationally-syndicated HERD program starting at 7 a.m. PST from the Hahn Plaza, which rests directly next to the honorary flag poles that every Trojan fan kicks before heading over to the Coliseum.

After visiting the USC Annenberg School of Communication Thursday night amongst his week-long tour of Los Angeles, Cowherd directly addressed the coaching situation while making his own bold predicition for Saturday night's game.

The USC campus came out to support the cause, much like last year before the Trojans lost to a Notre Dame squad that clinched its berth in the national championship game that night. But the mood turned much more lively once interim coach Orgeron rolled up ready to speak some football.

Listen to the full audio here: Coach Orgeron

Orgeron addressed the questions in his classic Cajun fashion, showing extraordinary support for his program and players.  Describing what he calls the best coaching job in all of football (coach speak to an extent), Coach Orgeron showed tremendous gratitude for all the help and support he has received along the way these past two months.

"I thought the next time I have a team, I'm going to treat them like my sons--we're going to have fun like a family," says Orgeron, who is serving in his 11th year at USC.

To that point, Orgeron has already been seen investing back into his players. Whether its In-N-Out Burgers deliveries, Roscoe's team dinners, movie nights at Sony Studios or even hand-written letters for the Spirit of Troy Marching Band; coaches are trying to bring a Pete Carroll like atmosphere back to the football program.

Crediting his personal transformation from monarch to delegator from previous experience at Ole Miss, Orgeron mentioned how he has allowed his coaches to do their jobs properly on a daily basis. These same concerns were mentioned by former coach Lane Kiffin during his exclusive interview on Cowherd's syndicated program Thursday.

The Trojans are suddenly gaining national attention for their recent run under the interim coach (4-1), and some conversation is brewing about retaining Orgeron as the full-time head coach following this season.

USC Athletic Director Pat Haden will certainly try his hands at big name hires like Kevin Sumlin, James Franklin and even Jack Del Rio but watching this current regime work its magic on the players has been very positive as well.

So that being said, Cowherd dove into some of those possibilities  that could unfold down the road and the Trojans current coach addressed the chain of command on campus in classic Orgeron fashion, putting his players first.

"This is all about them, whatever happens to me as the head coach is extra," Orgeron said, responding to Cowherd's rather poignant question, especially if USC continues to pile up the victories this season. "We are just gonna take it three games at a time. I think everything's gonna work out the way it should."

The Stanford Cardinal (8-1, 5-1) arrive to Los Angeles coming off their most impressive victory of the season, overpowering then-second ranked Oregon 26-20 in Palo Alto. USC will certainly be up to the test led by the conferences second-best rush defense and will try to defeat Stanford for the first time in five years.

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