Ed Orgeron is back in Baton Rouge as LSU and its former head coach finalized a deal late on Wednesday, May 20.
Orgeron joins head coach Lane Kiffin's staff as a special assistant to recruiting and the defense for the Tigers. The two previously worked together at USC and Tennessee, and they also coached against each other when Orgeron was at LSU and Kiffin was at Ole Miss.
For head coach Matt Campbell and Penn State football, the Orgeron hire couldn't have come at a worse time.
Four-star edge rusher Abraham Sesay is the Nittany Lions' highest ranked target. Sesay is ranked 27th nationally, sixth at his position, and third out of recruits from Pennsylvania, per 247Sports Composite rankings. Rivals Industry Rankings lists Sesay as a five-star recruit at No. 31 in the country, No. 5 at edge rusher, and No. 3 from his state. He totaled 13 sacks as a junior in 2025.
Oregeron might just help LSU pluck Sesay right from Penn State's hands.
Four-star edge rusher Abraham Sesay scheduled to visit LSU, Lane Kiffin, and Ed Orgeron on May 29
Sesay has five top schools in the mix, including the Nittany Lions and Tigers. He's also considering Notre Dame, Florida State, and Duke.
Penn State is the only team Sesay has yet to schedule an official visit with. On May 29, the Class of 2027 edge rusher will be in Baton Rouge just in time for Orgeron to work his recruiting magic. He visits the Blue Devils (June 5), Fighting Irish (June 12), and Seminoles (June 19) the following weekends.
The next best edge rusher that the Nittany Lions have a fighting chance with is three-star Ifeanyi Emedobi, and that's where their list currently ends. Four-star edge James Pace III, the second highest ranked target, knocked Penn State out of contention and kept his decision between an in state option (Maryland) or the SEC (Tennessee, Georgia, and South Carolina).
Making matters worse, the Nittany Lions' Class of 2027 is without an edge rusher. While they have defensive linemen (Stanley Montgomery and Carter Blattner) and a linebacker (Blake Betton), their defense is skewed towards the secondary largely due to the recruiting work of assistant head coach and cornerbacks coach Terry Smith.
Notre Dame was the top team leading Sesay's recruitment, a familiar foe for Penn State this time of the year. Now with Orgeron with the Tigers, though, Campbell has to be wary of another recruiting powerhouse stealing an in-state recruit as LSU works on moving up the ranks and adding to its current five-player Class of 2027.
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