A Title Today, a Pink Slip Tomorrow

He walked around the field with a beaming smile as the purple and gold confetti rained down — an overjoyed coach who’d endured countless hardships to reach the pinnacle of his profession.

But less than two years after leading LSU to a college football national championship and the greatest season in school history, Coach Ed Orgeron will be out of a job at the end of the year.

Some will say his dismissal was overdue and others will question whether it’s fair to part ways with a national champion so soon, but the reality is that Orgeron is hardly alone in getting a pink slip shortly after hoisting a trophy.

He’ll join Kevin Ollie (UConn Men’s Basketball), Gary Kubiak (Denver Broncos), Doug Pederson (Philadelphia Eagles), Joe Maddon (Chicago Cubs) and Tyronn Lue (Cleveland Cavaliers), among several others, as coaches in the last decade to win a championship and be let go within five years.

While it’s hard to pinpoint one commonality for each, it seems abundantly clear that the patience of athletic directors and front office personnel is shorter than it’s ever been. A championship today can mean very little years, or even months, later.

For Orgeron, the root of his downfall seems to be, at least in part, complacency.

According to a blistering piece in The Athletic, football became secondary to him after the championship. He lost staff to other jobs, skill development within the program deteriorated, he seemed distracted by off-the-field matters, and the continuity of a program that had reached unparalleled heights entirely dissolved.

Regardless of our profession, it’s remarkably challenging to sustain success. The inclination after a major accomplishment is often to celebrate for too long, to exhale, to get bored, to refuse to adapt to what's ahead.

For every Bill Belichick, there are dozens of past head coaches who are now assistants. For every Nick Saban, there are hundreds whose greatest victory is long in the rearview mirror.

After all, once we reach the mountaintop, where else is there to go?

But the difference between short-lived triumph and sustained greatness is often a love of repetition and an internal fire to find an even higher mountain to climb.

Being transcendent requires maintaining humility no matter the level of past achievement. Being transcendent requires adapting, knowing that the standards and expectations are even higher after success. Being transcendent requires having an unquenchable thirst to prove yourself time and time again.

Ultimately, champagne today very rarely leads to more champagne tomorrow.

The next drink is too often a bitter, sobering taste of reality.