Father vs. son: Meeting of Orgerons will help turn LSU's home opener into a special evening

Sep. 10—In 3 1/2 decades as a football coach, Ed Orgeron had never received a call from the quarterback of an opposing team the week of their matchup.

Until this week.

Not only did LSU's head coach take that phone call Monday morning while watching tape of his team's next foe, but the subsequent conversation on Tuesday came with an equally-unusual request.

"Hey Dad, I only get four tickets," said Cody Orgeron, who was calling from Lake Charles. "Can you help me with tickets?"

Ed Orgeron could only laugh during his weekly news conference when he told reporters about talking to his son, Cody, who'll be the starting quarterback for McNeese State when the Cowboys come to Tiger Stadium on Saturday night.

While relatives on opposing sides that are playing each other usually cut all lines of communication at midweek, or even earlier, Ed Orgeron made it clear that wasn't going to happen this week.

"That's my son; I text him three or four times a day," he said. "Me and Cody are best friends. That ain't never going to stop."

When the younger Orgeron makes his 25th career start for McNeese on Saturday, he will be outnumbered by his father and siblings three to one.

Cody's twin, Parker, and half-brother, Tyler Spotts-Orgeron, are members of LSU's behind-the-scenes ops staff under their father.

With his dad and two brothers on the other side of the field, Cody Orgeron, a third-year starter, knows he's going to be at a bit of a disadvantage.

They obviously have the book on him even though he didn't start playing competitive football until he was a senior in high school in 2015.

Not only that, but he knows he'll have to put aside his personal feelings because of the uniqueness of the matchup.

"It's definitely difficult going in there," Cody Orgeron said. "I've got both my brothers on the sideline, my dad. I feel like it's me against the whole fam.

"I wouldn't want it any other way, I live for stuff like that," he added. "You dream of moments like this as a kid, and it's finally here."

McNeese State sports information director Matthew Bonnette said research shows the last father/head coach vs. son Division I matchup came back on Sept. 18, 1982.

San Jose State and head coach Jack Elway upset Stanford and his son, star quarterback John Elway, for the second year in a row 35-31. They also met in 1979 and 1980, but son got the best of dad those two times.

The difference there was Jack Elway was an offensive-minded coach.

In Saturday night's game, Ed Orgeron, a former defensive lineman who has coached on that side of the ball his entire career, will be trying to unleash his defense on his son.

"It is challenging, but I'm going to coach the way I know how to coach," he said when asked if it would be difficult to tell his defenders to get after the quarterback. "I may tone down a couple of words I use because it is my son. Besides that, Cody knows we're coming.

"We're hungry ... we're coming, and McNeese is in our way. He understands that."

Ordinarily, it might have been a little easier to enjoy a unique matchup. But LSU's 38-27 setback against UCLA last Saturday night means the Tigers won't be in reunion mode against the Cowboys.

McNeese will also be looking for a win after dropping its opener 42-36 to Division II power West Florida.

In that one, Orgeron connected on 30 of 48 passes for a career-high 361 yards and two touchdowns. He also had 35 rushing yards and a score in nearly bringing his team back from a 16-point fourth-quarter deficit.

"First of all, the game is about LSU players," Ed Orgeron said of Saturday's matchup. "We've got to win the game."

That doesn't mean he isn't fiercely proud of his son — like most fathers.

"You think about Cody, he walked on at McNeese," Orgeron said. "He was the sixth-string quarterback standing in line. Now, he's one of the few players left in that class.

"He earned a scholarship. He graduated, he's going to get his graduate degree. We're proud of him. Cody has always been a late bloomer."

Cody Orgeron knows many of LSU's players since he works out at the school's indoor facility during the summer.

While he's been in Tiger Stadium to watch games many times, he knows this one is special.

"I've always dreamed about playing in Death Valley, and obviously, it's a unique situation playing against my dad," he said. "At the same time, it's just another football game. It's 11 on 11 and we go out there and fight and compete and let the best man win.

"I really think my Dad is going to tell them to get after me," he added. "There's no hard feelings. It's the game of football. ... It's his job to do it and it's my job to execute. I expect them to come at me full speed, and I'm ready for it."

"Playing against Cody's going to be pretty cool; he's going to be talking some smack," Ed Orgeron said. "I know he'll come to the sideline and talk a little smack.

"He knows all our players. He's excited to play in Death Valley. Once the game starts, it's going to be competition and we've both got to do what we can to win the game."

Even though his dad attended all of McNeese's games during their COVID-delayed 2020 season this spring, Cody Orgeron knows he wasn't there to scout him.

"I think he really came here as a dad, just in support of his son," he said. "He wasn't really game-planning or scheming to see our tendencies and stuff. He's the best dad a kid could ask for."

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