ED ORGERON FORMALLY INTRODUCES NEW LSU COACHES TOMMIE ROBINSON AND MICKEY JOSEPH

BATON ROUGE – LSU head coach Ed Orgeron formally introduced the two newest additions to the football staff – Tommie Robinson and Mickey Joseph – on Thursday morning during a 30-minute news conference here at the LSU Athletic Administration Building.

Robinson, who comes to LSU from Southern Cal, will serve as assistant head coach, recruiting coordinator and running backs coach, while Joseph, a native of New Orleans who joins the staff from Louisiana Tech, will coach the wide receivers.

The following is a transcript from today’s press conference:

LSU COACH ED ORGERON
Opening Statement on Tommy Robinson…
It’s a great day for LSU. I want to introduce you to two great families, two wonderful men, two wonderful husbands, and two great football coaches that have come to LSU. We did extensive research and these were the guys that we wanted to hire. We got the guys that we want here at LSU that will help us build championship football teams. The first guy I’d like to introduce will be our assistant head coach, our recruiting coordinator and our running backs coach. I’ve known him (Tommy Robinson) for a while. Tommy is well respected amongst his peers. He is known as the top running backs coach in the country. Tommy was recently named the Pac-12 Recruiter of the Year. He is the No. 2 ranked recruiter in the country. He’s going to be a tremendous asset to our running backs as running backs coach and to our recruiting as recruiting coordinator. Dave Aranda is our associate head coach and Tommy is our assistant head coach. I will lean on these guys on a daily basis for advice for running our program.

LSU RUNNING BACKS COACH TOMMIE ROBINSON
Opening Statement
“I would like to start by saying thank you to Coach Ed Orgeron. It’s an honor for me and a pleasure to be at LSU. This is a true honor for me to have an opportunity to work for Coach Ed Orgeron and be a part of his staff. He is an outstanding football coach, leader of men and he’s a good man. I could echo the same things he said about me about him. It’s an honor for me to be a part of this staff. When we got together and talked about it I knew it was going to happen but we had to work the details out. I am so excited and so happy to be here. I would also like to recognize my wife who is here with me, Mrs. Lartonyar Robinson. She has been my rock for about 24 years and she is standing beside me now. I’d like to recognize her. I am excited about this opportunity and where LSU is right now and where Coach Orgeron has the program. I am excited about moving forward. Today is my first full day here and I am just excited to do a little offense this morning and a little recruiting this morning. At 10 a.m. we came over here to do a little press conference. It’s been really fast. I got up this morning at about 5:30 ready to go. It’s been a fast morning and quick morning. I am just ready to move forward.”

On the sell from Coach Orgeron to join the staff…
“The sell was Coach O. He has given me an opportunity to be the assistant head coach and recruiting coordinator. It’s something that I want to do and look forward to doing. At the end of the day it was always about him. He is a true friend of mine. I have been coaching football for almost 32 years now and in 2013 I had the most fun I have ever had coaching football and that was with Coach Orgeron. I can sit here and tell you a bunch of things, but at the end of the day the sell was Coach Ed Orgeron.

On his recruiting philosophy…
“I don’t think there are anything utopias in the world. I don’t think anyone has all of the answers. In recruiting my philosophy is work. It’s just hard work. Find out what it will take to get the kid and go get the kid. It’s through work. Do our homework and do a great job of evaluating the kid and going out and developing a relationship. There is no secret dust or magic dust. There is no secret potion in recruiting. I think it comes down to work. We have enough here to sell at LSU. This is a place you can go recruit kids throughout the country. If we work hard and put forth the effort then we will be fine and go get kids.”

On his first coaching job in the SEC…
“This is my first time ever coaching in the SEC. I grew up in the SEC and Alabama. I am looking forward to this challenge. We all know the strength of this conference. Everyone in this room knows it. Throughout the coaching world it’s a challenge. I am looking forward to it.”

On what he knows about Derrius Guice and the rest of the backfield…
“I don’t know a lot about Derrius Guice. When we were at USC, Coach O and I, we were down here and I was at another school recruiting. I remember Coach O telling me about Derrius. He said, ‘T-Rob you need to come look at this kid Derrius Guice’. I really don’t know a lot about him. I’ve had a chance to coach at a lot of schools and when I go into a different school and different situation I don’t want to know too much about the kid. I want to formulate my own opinion and do it myself. I don’t want to know too much about them. I’m going to do my research and homework on Derrius Guice. I know the kid is a good back and probably one of the best backs in the country. At this point it’s all I know and all I want to know.”

On his philosophy about running backs…
“You adjust to the situation. When Coach Orgeron was the head coach at USC the first game against Arizona I rotated five backs. Coach Orgeron told me, ‘Coach, you know your kids and who deserves to play and what it takes to win the game. Play the kids the way you want to play them’. I had five kids who deserved the right to play and I played all five of them. After the game it was unheard of to play five backs in a game that came down to the last minute. I have been in a situation where I had a featured guy. I have been in situations where I rotated two or three. Every situation is different. It’s according to who you have and what the kid shows in practice. If a kid shows that he deserves to play and I feel confident he will help this team win then I will find a way to play him. I don’t have a ‘philosophy’ if you will. I just adapt and adjust to whatever the situation is and what presents itself.”

On if he has spoken to Matt Canada…
“Matt and I have talked. We spoke and actually my wife and I along with he and his fiancé had dinner last tonight. We bounced around stuff philosophy wise and just got to know each other. We talked a little philosophy but we just tried to get to know each other. Matt has a system and he’s been very successful with it. We will come in and learn the system. We will do the things that he has been successful with and inject some things here and there. He seems to be a really good guy. I didn’t know Matt before I got here but have heard a lot of good things about him. I am looking forward to working with him. When I was at USC, we played Penn State in the Rose Bowl and one of the games that we studied was the Pittsburgh-Penn State game. Pitt actually beat Penn State. We did a lot of study on that game and that was Matt’s system. We talked about that a little bit.”

On if he wants to work them in slow because of workloads…
“Part of what I have done in the past is finding out what the kid is able to handle and what he is capable of doing. When I find that out and get a feel of that then I will know how much to put on him. That’s a growing process for me as a coach. The kids know where they are. I need to know how much they can handle. One thing for sure that will happen is we will not have a guy out there that can’t help us win. At the end of the day it’s about the team. I bought into the ‘one team one heartbeat’ philosophy.”

LSU COACH ED ORGERON
Opening Statement on Mickey Joseph…
“I’ve known Mickey for 30 years. We’ve crossed paths on the recruiting trail and at coaching clinics. We are tied together. I feel like we are brothers and a family. Mickey is a Louisiana legend and one of the best players to come out of Louisiana. He is from New Orleans, Louisiana. People respect him from around the state and around the country as a football coach and a great recruiter. He is going to do a great job for us. He is going to bring a wealth of knowledge to our staff. He has coached every position, including the offensive line. I am very impressed with that as a quarterback. He is going to do a great job of recruiting the city of New Orleans and the river parishes. He is already making phone calls and making connections that he already has. He is going to be a tremendous asset to our football team. He is also going to be a great mentor to our young men.

LSU WIDE RECIEVERS COACH MICKEY JOSEPH
Opening Statement
“First of all I want to thank God for taking me and my family through this journey. It’s been a rough road. College coaching is a tough job. I first want to thank my wife Priscilla Arzaga Joseph. I just want to thank her because she has been there. To be married to a football coach you have to be a special woman. I want to thank Coach Orgeron. I have known him for a long time. He has been recruiting my family and he recruited my cousin Derick to Syracuse. He has been a part of my family for a long time. I also want to thank Coach Pete Jenkins. My mom really loves PJ. At 6 o’clock this morning she called me asking if Pete was still on the staff. I have known Coach Orgeron and Coach Jenkins for a long time. At the end of the day, LSU is the top job in America. When he gave me the call it was a yes. I wasn’t worried about everything and told him I got his back. I told him I wanted to be loyal and do whatever you ask. It’s our blood, sweat and tears. We are family and we are brothers. That’s one thing I am looking forward to working with coach. I also want to thank my brother Vance and cousin Terry for encouraging me through this journey. It’s really not easy to be a college coach so you have to have a lot of sidekicks to help you out.”

On his thoughts about bridging the gap with the perceived issues in New Orleans…
“First of all, I have strong relationships with those coaches in New Orleans. I have been recruiting New Orleans since 1999. I either grew up with those guys or mentored the guys along the way. I have spoken to those guys and there was never a meeting discussed about a boycott. Those guys are in it for the kids. The meeting was going to take place because what they are trying to do is educate each other about the recruiting game and also how to get some financial help to get the kids to these camps. There are a lot of kids in New Orleans that cannot afford $35 or $40 to get to a camp. They were getting together to try and get grants written. Once negative things got written it got carried on. It was never going to be that after talking to those guys at the respective high schools.”

On staying in the college game unlike his brother…
“Vance and I took two different paths. I really enjoyed the everyday life with the student-athlete and grooming young men when they leave here. I take pride in it, and I am here to set examples. I am here for them and stir with them. I tell the truth and I am a straight shooter. I really enjoy watching those kids come as freshmen, play their last games, and walk across that stage with a degree. I know at the end of the day they need that degree to be successful in life. I had a chance to probably go with Vance to Denver but I elected to stay in college because I think that is my calling. It’s where I want to be.”

On his skill as coaching wide receivers coach…
“It’s is a very talented group and we have a lot of toys to play with. Wherever I have been my kids always buy in. It’s about them buying in. It’s about doing the research on them about where they’re from. In terms of receiving skills, it’s all about technique. When you are playing in the SEC, that guy across from you will have just as much talent as you have. It comes down to technique and whether they know what they are doing. It’s about getting them in the meeting room and taking it to the field and working on technique. It’s the little things that win college football games. That’s what we will work on. We will try to get them to be the best receiver they can be. They are not going to be out there if they can’t help us win.”

On growing up as a kid and leading to coaching…
“I was the boss. When I got into coaching, Vance was playing pro ball and Terry was playing college baseball. They always asked questions about coaching and I told them I enjoyed what I was doing. Vance left a good job in Denver to become a graduate assistant at Colorado. Terry was playing AAA baseball with the Iowa Cubs and got out to be a high school coach. I think it was our calling. Our calling was to be in the game because at the end of the day we were going to have to take the helmets off. This is the way that we give back to what people have done for us. Coaching these kids and loving them to be the best person they can be.”

On his experience as leaving the state and now trying to keep them in state…
“My mom can be the biggest recruiter because she can tell you the benefits of staying in state. If my dad had listened to Pete Jenkins then I would have been a Tiger. My mom was on board when Pete came in. The thing about being home is that with a high school kid, 95 percent of them when they leave that locker room go home to a family. When you leave the state and go away from home there is no one there when you leave that locker room after a game. I did that for five years and that was one of the reasons I wanted to come back to the state of Louisiana and coach football. That was one of the reasons I took the job at Grambling, took the job at Louisiana Tech and now am at LSU. I can tell kids sometimes leaving home is not always good. If you have to go out of state and bring them home then the state of Louisiana is a good place to be.”

On the benefits of coaching every position…
“When I got into coaching it was with my high school coach Hank Tierney. He always told me that if I want to be a football coach then I have to be a football coach and can’t just be a running backs coach or quarterbacks coach. You have to know the whole scheme and what everyone was doing. I pride myself on knowing the scheme and what everyone has to do. At the end of the day I just preach to the kids to do their job. Just being recruited coming out of high school is totally different now then back then. It’s different with social media. I tell kids you have to want to go somewhere who wants you. You have to be celebrated and not tolerated. If we identify you then we will celebrate you. You have to make sure that when they pick a school that they pick what’s best for you. Have some input from your family but you have to walk that field and those hallways.”