Let’s flash back to Ed Orgeron’s introductory press conference as LSU’s permanent head football coach.

During his remarks, Orgeron stressed that he would hire the best offensive and defensive coordinators in the country. Orgeron already had that defensive coordinator on staff – Dave Aranda. Orgeron was able to keep Aranda on the staff.

The offensive coordinator situation turned out to be a little more involved. There is little doubt that Orgeron had his eye on Alabama offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin, with whom he had worked at Southern California.

However, Orgeron’s plans went awry when Kiffin was named the head football coach at Florida Atlantic. It must be pointed out that Kiffin won 11 games this season as FAU won the Conference USA championship.

Now, Orgeron needed to come up with a blockbuster replacement for Kiffin. Armed with a lot of money, Orgeron settled on Pittsburgh offensive coordinator Matt Canada.

Canada had an impressive body of work, capped by a season in which the Panthers scored 40-plus points in a victory against national champion Clemson. Throughout his career, Canada had utilized a variety of offensive schemes although most involved numerous pre-snap shifts.

Orgeron knew that the LSU fan base wanted a splashier offense after years of coach Les Miles and his run-oriented attack. The hiring of Canada would probably appeal to Tigers fans.

However, there were two possible problems with Canada. First, Canada had been at four schools in the prior six years – an obvious red flag of his inability to work smoothly with the head coach. Second, Orgeron had no prior relationship with Canada as he had with basically all of his previous hires.

It didn’t take long for these issues to surface for Orgeron at LSU. Before the end of September, Orgeron wanted to make some changes in the offensive game plan. Orgeron wanted to reduce the complexity of the offense. In other words, he desired fewer pre-snap motions – Canada’s calling card.

Everyone knows what happened in the game against Troy. There were no first-half shifts and the Tigers scored no points. Those motion were back after halftime, but a LSU rally came up three points short.

But, the game plan was not the only problem for Orgeron. Reportedly, the manner in which Canada developed the offense’s strategy was different from what Orgeron liked. This point of contention prevented Orgeron and Canada from developing the proper chemistry.

Director of Athletics Joe Alleva conducted a meeting with Orgeron, Canada and Aranda following the loss to Troy. The message was simple – everyone needed to be on the same page for the season not to deteriorate.

LSU won six of its next seven games, but there was no repairing the Orgeron/Canada relationship. It became obvious by November that Canada would not be back with the Tigers in 2018. Nothing official has come from LSU, but multiple sources are indicating Canada is done.

Give Orgeron credit for making the move now. The hiring of Canada was a mistake, so he ended his tenure quickly. The dismissal of Canada is going to cost LSU a significant amount of money as he is owed $3 million over the next two years. But, a head coach must be comfortable with his staff members.

Orgeron can be criticized for not knowing about Canada’s management style before hiring him. The pressure of bringing in a big-name offensive coordinator may have influenced Orgeron in the wrong way.

So, Orgeron’s first major hire did not work. However, it is more important that his next offensive coordinator have a successful run. The next coordinator will have a new starter at quarterback, an unproven wide receiver group and no Leonard Fournette or Derrius Guice at running back.

Tight ends coach Steve Ensminger, who was the interim coordinator after Miles was fired in 2016, is definitely a candidate. However, one would expect Orgeron to look at other possibilities for this critical choice.

Orgeron has indicated that his preference on offense is pro-style. Hopefully, Orgeron learned that having the right person – meaning the proper fit with him – in that position is far more important than what plays are called. The length of Orgeron’s LSU tenure depends upon this personnel choice.