According to reports, USC assistant head coach/defensive line coach, recruiting coordinator, and former Ole Miss head coach Ed Orgeron will be named the Trojan's interim head coach after Lane Kiffin was relieved of his coaching duties early Sunday morning. The coaching change comes just hours after a 62-41 loss to Arizona State in which the Sun Devils matched the most amount of points scored against a USC team.
Athletic Director Pat Haden has yet to address any permanent head coaching ventures and will most likely do so at his press conference later today.
Orgeron, 51, and who is in his 10th year overall at USC, looks to put a struggling Trojan team, who is 3-2 overall, 0-2 Pac-12, in the right direction. The team is unranked, has lost seven out of it's last 11 games, and has been faced with uncertainty after a 2012 season in which USC became the first team to drop out of the top 25 after starting the year ranked No. 1, not to forget that Sun Bowl debacle against Georgia Tech.
He served as the defensive line coach and assistant head coach at USC from 1998-2004 before a 3-year head coaching stint at Ole Miss from 2005-2007. Orgeron returned to the Trojan coaching staff with Kiffin in 2010 after being on his staff at Tennessee.
If there is something that Orgeron has been known for besides his colorful and animated personality, it has been his ability to recruit and his promotion comes at a crucial time in the college football recruiting season. In 2012, Sporting News selected him as the nation's No. 2 recruiter and Rivals.com named him one of the nation's Top 25 recruiters.
With news of the Kiffin canning, 4-star linebacker Derik Calhoun decommited from USC according to Rivals, and it is going to be important for Orgeron to make sure that the school does't lose any more high-profile recruits.
While the Kiffin firing comes at a good time for the team, who has a bye this week and does't play until Oct. 10 against Arizona at home on a Thursday night, Orgeron has his work cut out for him.