Saints coach Sean Payton made a key and experienced hire in the offseason when landing Ed Orgeron to tutor the defensive line. Orgeron, regarded as one of the top collegiate defensive line coaches over the last two decades, is a Louisiana native and arrives in New Orleans after a stint as the head coach at the University of Mississippi since 2004.

Orgeron enters his 25^th season as a coach and first NFL coaching assignment, with the majority of his experience coming on defense.

During his time in the college ranks – including coaching stops at the University of Miami and Southern California – Orgeron has developed the skills of a long list of highly-regarded defensive linemen. At Miami from 1988-92, he coached eight All-Americans, including NFL first-round picks Cortez Kennedy, Russell Maryland and Warren Sapp. During Orgeron’s tenure with the Hurricanes, Miami won the national championship in 1989 and 1991 and appeared in five New Year’s Day bowl games.

He joined the USC staff as defensive line coach in 1998, was given the added responsibility of recruiting coordinator in 2001 and was promoted to assistant head coach in 2003. While with Southern California, the Trojans won national championships in 2003 and 2004. Orgeron coached one of the nation’s premier defensive lines, including DE Kenechi Udeze – an All-American and first-round choice by the Minnesota Vikings in 2004 – and all Pac-10 selections Shaun Cody and Mike Patterson. In 2005, Patterson was a No. 1 pick by Philadelphia and Cody a second-round selection by Detroit.

Prior to joining the USC staff, he was defensive line coach at Syracuse for three seasons (1995-97), and the Orange played in a bowl game each year (1996 Gator, 1996 Liberty and 1997 Fiesta). He came to Syracuse from Nicholls State, where he was the linebackers coach in 1994.

Orgeron opened his coaching career in 1984 as a graduate assistant at Northwestern (La.) State, his alma mater, and was also a graduate assistant at McNeese State (La.) in 1985, working with the defensive line at both schools. He then served as an assistant strength coach at Arkansas for two years (1986-87). Orgeron worked in private business in 1993.

A native of Galliano, La., Orgeron attended South Lafourche High School with former Saints QB Bobby Hebert, where they were teammates on the Class 4A All-State Championship team in 1977. Orgeron was a starting defensive lineman at Northwestern State for four years and served as captain as a senior. He received a degree in Liberal Arts, and was named to Northwestern State’s Top 100 Players in 100 Years of Demon Football.

Orgeron and his wife, Kelly, have three sons, Tyler, and twins Parker and Cody.