LSU head coach Ed Orgeron with his wife Kelly Orgeron.
LSU head coach Ed Orgeron and his wife, Kelly Orgeron, have been through a lot. The couple did not publicly discuss Kelly’s health scare until recently, but Kelly survived a near-death experience in 2017.
Kelly has battled scoliosis throughout her life and has had to undergo multiple surgeries. During a recent procedure, things went badly after her colon was accidentally cut by a surgeon. Kelly is now back at full strength, but things did not always look so promising.
Resiliency is nothing new to Ed’s wife. Kelly’s brother, Scott Owens, recalls his teenage sister shooting baskets while wearing a full-body cast.
“I couldn’t even imagine walking across the room with this body cast, let alone playing basketball,” Scott told Sports Illustrated. “A lot of people would have said, ‘Poor me. Not Kelly. She pressed on strong.”
Learn more about the LSU coach’s wife and kids.
1. The Couple Eloped 2 Months After Meeting on a Blind Date
Kelly and Ed met while he was a member of the Syracuse coaching staff. The couple first met on a blind date thanks to mutual friends and two months later they eloped.
“I’d hired this dietitian to work with my patients, and she and her husband knew Ed,” Kelly told The Advocate. “She told me, ‘I’ve got this friend you’ve got to meet.’ Tyler was 3 at the time. I told her I wasn’t interested,” recalls Kelly Orgeron. “Ed was with Syracuse at the time, and they lost a game so they were going to the Liberty Bowl in Memphis instead of the Orange Bowl in Miami. I went with my friends to Memphis, and they introduced me to Ed. Two months later, we eloped and got married. That was not my normal, nor his. My family thought I was crazy. His, too.”
2. A Doctor Accidentally Punctured Kelly’s Colon During Surgery, Causing Severe Complications
According to Sports Illustrated, Kelly suffers from scoliosis and has had countless surgeries as a result. Kelly underwent surgery in 2017 to rectify an issue with her spine. While conducting the surgery, a surgeon nicked her colon, but this was not discovered until days later. Sports Illustrated detailed the complications.
During the first procedure, a surgeon nicked her colon, something medical staff did not realize until several days later, when Kelly’s stomach grew so swollen that her husband phoned the doctor—he’ll never forget—at 4:30 a.m.
“Come now!” he boomed over the phone line…
Medical staff uncovered the accidental slit in her large intestine and rusher her to surgery, presuming Kelly was developing sepsis, the body’s deadly response to an infection, in this case because of the pin-sized laceration in her colon. She emerged more than four hours later, groggily waking to learn, from her husband, that doctors performed on her a colostomy. In other words, the waste from her intestines would empty into a bag through a hole created in her abdomen.
3. Ed Missed the Birth of Their Twin Sons, Cody & Parker, Due to His Coaching Duties
The life of a coach’s family can be challenging. According to Sports Illustrated, Ed missed the birth of their twin sons, Cody and Parker.
Ed missed the birth of his twin sons, Cody and Parker, and later, he missed a lot more. The family—including Tyler, Kelly’s son from a previous marriage—lived separately from one another for five years during Ed’s time on Lane Kiffin’s staff, first at Tennessee and then Southern Cal.
Kelly admits that the life of a coach’s wife can be difficult at times.
“Family time is so valuable in the coaching world,” Kelly told The Advocate. “Ed tries to give the staff as much time to be with their families as he can because you have such limited time together. You learn to protect that family time, but I can’t imagine any other life.”
4. The Couple’s Kids Either Play Football or Coach
The couple’s children have all followed in their father’s footsteps. Ed and Kelly have twin sons together. Kelly also has a son, Tyler, from a previous marriage. The couple’s twin sons play college football at McNeese State. Cody plays quarterback, while Parker is a wide receiver. Tyler is part of the LSU coaching staff as an offensive analyst.
“They all want to be coaches,” Kelly joked with Sports Illustrated. “I don’t know where I messed up.”
5. Kelly Has a Neck Operation Scheduled
Kelly has been through multiple surgeries, but still has one more to go. According to Sports Illustrated, Kelly is scheduled to have a neck operation to fuse part of her spine to a metal rod that was inserted more than 35 years ago. The operation is part of her ongoing treatment for scoliosis. With all the couple has been through, it gives them a bit of perspective.
“This is not about the naysayers, but, yes, it’s win or lose in this career,” Kelly explained to Sports Illustrated. “Do I listen to the naysayers? Do they really matter? Any time you feel the pressure and things get hard, that’s when you dig your heels in. That’s what I’ve done all my life.”