LOS ANGELES -- Ed Orgeron expects the Coliseum to be "rocking" a week from Thursday when USC returns to the field to take on Arizona, he told FOX Sports Radio's "Petros and Money Show."
If it's not because of the fans in the stands, it will certainly be because of the players on the field. Energy and enthusiasm is what the interim head coach expects to infuse into this team between now and when the Trojans return to the Coliseum.
"Some programs are built on energy and enthusiasm," Orgeron said. "Some are not. Lane (Kiffin) was a more conservative guy. A very, very good coach and he wanted things done his way and that's the way you want to do it as a head coach. Those will be some of the things that will be different in my program.
"Everybody's got to coach their style and my style is energy and enthusiasm and we're going to coach like that and I plan us to play like Trojans -- to compete (and) play with energy and enthusiasm."
No one will mistake Kiffin for being a rah-rah guy, while Orgeron is as fiery as they come. That's part of the reason he was selected by athletic director Pat Haden to be the caretaker of the program for the next eight weeks.
He has 27 years of coaching experience under his belt and continues to bring a level of excitement every single day. Haden watches him during and is "blown away" by the passion he brings every day.
"That passion that Ed had coaching defensive linemen through that same stupid bag drill he's done for 27 years, it's just incredible," Haden said. "That energy. That passion. The love for the game. The love for the university, it means a lot to us."
Eleven of Orgeron’s 27 years in coaching have been at USC. Now in his second stint, he's been an assistant under three different head coaches -- Paul Hackett, Pete Carroll, and Lane Kiffin -- and is now is running the show at USC for the first time.
It's an opportunity he cherishes at a place he says "everybody wants to be at."
In the Carroll fashion, he says the best players will play.
"I don't care who it is," Orgeron told Petros and Money. "I want the best player that performs on a consistent basis on the field to be playing. We need to use a rotation but if a guy is not good enough to be in the rotation I'm not going to put him in."
Unlike Kiffin, Orgeron won't be calling any plays. Offensively, that task has been passed off to offensive coordinator Clay Helton, who ran the offense during spring drills.
"I'll be out there hi-fiving the guys, getting the crowd fired up and being the head coach and I love it," Orgeron said. "It's a new day. We’re looking forward to it."
