Six football seasons ago, Ed Orgeron was out of work, spending his Friday nights sitting in the stands of Mandeville High School (Louisiana) watching his son Parker play. On Saturday afternoons he’d turn on the television. “Sitting on the sofa at my house,” Orgeron said. “I remember watching SEC games, going, ‘I know I can compete with these guys given the right place.’ ” He’d once been head coach at Ole Miss, but he won just three SEC games in three seasons. He’d essentially been retired into Southern football lore as a colorful character who couldn’t coach a lick. He’d...
