Louisiana Supreme Court awards Ed Orgeron's ex-wife $8 million in dispute over former LSU coach's buyout

The Louisiana Supreme Court ruled Friday that former LSU coach Ed Orgeron owes his ex-wife Kelly nearly half of the buyout he received from the school.

In a 5-2 ruling, the court said Kelly Orgeron should receive $8.13 million from the buyout since the two were married when Ed signed his contract extension with LSU in January 2020. Orgeron was rewarded with a new contract just after the Tigers went undefeated throughout the 2019 college football season and won the College Football Playoff.

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Ed Orgeron filed for divorce six weeks after he signed the extension, though the contract was not officially approved by the school’s board until divorce proceedings had begun. Orgeron received nearly $17 million from the school when he was fired.

The supreme court’s decision reversed a 2024 lower court ruling in favor of the coach. Three judges who ruled on the case were temporary replacements because of recusals.

“The lower courts failed to recognize that even if the employment agreement could be considered a ‘new’ obligation rather than a fulfillment of the requirements of the binding term sheet, because it was made effective during the existence of the community, the contract is a community asset in which both husband and wife have an interest,” Judge Jefferson Hughes wrote for the majority in the ruling. “Property acquired during the community is presumed to be community property.”

Orgeron became LSU’s coach during the 2016 season after Les Miles was fired and led the Tigers to a 6-2 record after taking over. After 19 wins over the 2017 and 2018 seasons, LSU went 15-0 in 2019 with an offense led by Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson and Clyde Edwards-Helaire that scored over 48 points per game. Burrow won the Heisman after the Tigers dismantled Georgia 37-10 in the SEC championship game.

Things went downhill after that season, however, after the Tigers had five first-round picks in the 2020 NFL Draft and 14 overall. LSU was just 5-5 in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season and went 6-6 in 2021 as the school announced midseason that Orgeron would not return for 2022 after a 3-3 start. Since he was fired at LSU, Orgeron has not held a formal college football coaching role.