Following Northwestern’s decision to fire head football coach Pat Fitzgerald after an investigation into allegations of hazing, the Wildcats are seeking a new head coach.
According to a report from InsideNU, former LSU head coach Ed Orgeron would be interested in the recently vacated role. The report clarifies, however, that the former national championship winning coach has not been contacted by Northwestern.
“According to a source, Orgeron ‘would have interest’ in Northwestern’s opening,” reported Bradley Locker of InsideNU.
However, longtime college football writer Bruce Feldman of The Athletic, who has known Orgeron for decades, refuted the report.
“Spoke to Ed Orgeron,” Feldman tweeted Wednesday night. “There is no truth to the report that he has any interest in the Northwestern coaching job nor has he heard from anyone at Northwestern.”
Orgeron, 61, last coached for the Tigers in 2021. He won a national championship with the program in 2019 before he was dismissed two years later. He did not coach during the 2022 college football season. Orgeron had been in Baton Rouge from 2016–21, and had previously been head coach at Ole Miss (2005–07) and served as the interim head coach at USC for most of the 2013 season.
While Northwestern irons out its future, former defensive coordinator David Braun has been acting as the team’s head coach. It’s possible the Wildcats will roll with an interim head coach in 2023, which could potentially end up being Braun.
Fitzgerald had been the head coach at Northwestern for 17 seasons, having taken over the role back in 2006.
