Ed Orgeron Ed Orgeron ( born July 27 , 1961 ) is an American football coach who is currently serving as the defensive line coach / recruiting coordinator for the USC Trojans . Orgeron previously served as the head football coach of the Ole Miss Rebels from 2005 to 2007 . Prior to that , Orgeron was one of the highest paid assistant coaches in college football , with an annual salary of $ 650 , 000 . Playing career . Orgeron attended South Lafourche High School in Galliano , Louisiana with former Michigan Panthers , New Orleans Saints , and Atlanta Falcons quarterback Bobby Hebert . Orgeron and Hebert played on the school ' s Class 4A state championship team in 1977 . Orgeron then signed to play college ball at Louisiana State University , but he transferred to Northwestern State University after one practice . He is of Cajun descent . Coaching career . Orgeron returned to the college ranks in 1994 at Nicholls State University before moving to Syracuse University in 1995 , where he met his wife Kelly in 1996 . Before being hired by Mississippi , he was the defensive line coach and assistant head coach for the University of Southern California ( USC ) where he played a key role in Pete Carroll ' s Trojans winning the Rose Bowl and Associated Press National Championship in 2003 and the Bowl Championship Series National Championship in 2004 . He joined the USC staff in January 1998 under the coaching regime of Paul Hackett , and was retained by Carroll when Hackett was fired in 2000 . Under Carroll , Orgeron took on the added responsibility of recruiting coordinator for the Trojans in 2001 , and was then named assistant head coach in 2003 . In previous years , Orgeron was an assistant at the University of Miami , where he coached eight All - Americans , including NFL first rounders Cortez Kennedy , Russell Maryland and Warren Sapp . During his tenure at Miami , the Hurricanes won the national championship twice ( 1989 and 1991 ) . Orgeron was the National Recruiter of the Year in 2004 , also the same year he was hired at the University of Mississippi ( Ole Miss ) after the school ' s firing of David Cutcliffe . Mississippi years . Entering the 2005 season , Orgeron had hoped to run a USC - style offense , but was met with limited success . Mississippi ' s ( Ole Miss ' ) offense finished the season ranked 111th out of 117 Division I - A teams in total offense , 115th in scoring and 116th in rushing . Though Orgeron ' s defensive experience , along with returning LB Patrick Willis , helped the Rebel defense in 2005 , the offense always seemed to produce more interceptions than touchdowns . As a result , the 2005 Mississippi football team struggled and finished the season with a record of three wins and eight losses , the worst for the Rebels since 1987 . In response to the results of his first season , Orgeron fired offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone , replacing him with former University of Miami offensive coordinator Dan Werner . Also , Orgeron hired Art Kehoe , the longtime offensive line coach from the University of Miami . Werner and Kehoe had just been fired from Miami . In 2006 with the new offensive coordinator and offensive line coaches , Mississippi finished ranked # 108 in scoring offense , # 111 in total offense and # 112 in passing offense . Orgeron ' s second recruiting class in February 2006 was successful by acquiring the written pledges of a national Top 15 signing class for the Mississippi football program . He followed that with the 32nd ranked recruiting class in February 2007 . Record . At Ole Miss , Orgeron recorded only two wins against teams with a winning record ( the 2005 and 2007 Memphis teams , which both finished at 7 - 5 ) , lowest among then - active SEC coaches . Until the 2007 season , he enjoyed the public support of The University of Mississippi ' s chancellor Robert Khayat and other administrators with oversight of the football program , including Athletic Director Pete Boone . In a November 2006 article in The Clarion - Ledger , Khayat said of Orgeron and of the poor record since he was hired ( 7 – 14 when that interview was conducted ) , " I think Coach Orgeron inherited a very difficult situation . . . I am 100 percent behind him , and I think that people ought to understand that he has a big challenge . " In 2007 , Mississippi finished the season 0 - 8 in the conference and 3 - 9 overall . It was Ole Miss ' s first winless campaign in the SEC since 1982 . On November 24 , 2007 , after blowing a 14 - point fourth - quarter lead to in - state rival Mississippi State in the season ' s last game , Orgeron was fired as head football coach of Mississippi . He was replaced by former Arkansas head coach Houston Nutt who had resigned from Arkansas three days after Orgeron was fired . New Orleans Saints , Tennessee , and USC . On January 23 , 2008 it was announced that Orgeron had been hired as the Saints new defensive line coach . On December 31 , 2008 , Orgeron accepted a position with the University of Tennessee Volunteers football program under new head coach Lane Kiffin . In his role with the program , he was the associate head coach , the recruiting coordinator and the defensive line coach . Orgeron left Tennessee to return to USC with Kiffin on January 12 , 2010 . In media . Orgeron appears as himself in " The Blind Side " as Mississippi ' s head coach , and takes Mike out to dinner .