On Sept. 29 after USC lost 62-41 at Arizona State to fall to 3-2, Lane Kiffin was fired as head coach of the Trojans.
On Thursday, Kiffin weighed in on who should be his replacement.
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Speaking on a sports radio talk show on 710-AM in Los Angeles, Kiffin said he endorsed Ed Orgeron.
Lane Kiffin on 710-AM says #USC should hire Ed Orgeron: ``That's easy. That's already done. It should be Ed Orgeron.''
— InsideUSC (@InsideUSC) November 21, 2013Orgeron was bumped to interim coach from assistant head coach — that also included being recruiting coordinator and defensive line coach — when Kiffin was let go in the middle of his fourth season with the Trojans.
USC has shown marked improvement under Orgeron. In his first game, the Trojans beat Arizona at home. The lost at Notre Dame the following week, but rebounded with consecutive wins against Utah, Oregon State, Cal and No. 5 Stanford. They play at Colorado on Saturday before closing the season against rival UCLA.
“Ed has done the Pete Carroll thing to the fullest,” Kiffin added.
USC is reportedly setting its sights high on finding Kiffin’s permanent replacement. While Orgeron wouldn’t fall into that category, it doesn’t mean he’s not in the discussion.
He’s been an assistant at most stops, but was head coach at Ole Miss from 2005 through 2007. But the Rebels went 3-8, 4-8 and 3-9 for a 10-25 three-year mark that included just a 3-21 record in the SEC.