When Ed Orgeron was an assistant coach at USC back in the early 2000s, there was one particular recruit that got away – but he Orgeron tried absolutely everything.
In an interview with the Dan Patrick show, Orgeron recalled his recruitment of Adrian Peterson – the top overall prospect in the 2004 recruiting class.
This Adrian Peterson recruiting story from Coach O is some of the wildest stuff Ive ever heard pic.twitter.com/HEHvTIfYDl
— Chase Snyder (@ChasingSnyder) February 11, 2022
According to Orgeron, he had a great relationship with Peterson and his mother and Peterson loved USC head coach Pete Carroll and the program. In most situations, he likely would have been a Trojan. But Peterson's situation was a little more nuanced.
Peterson's father was incarcerated in Oklahoma. If Peterson went to Oklahoma, his father would be able to watch his games on television from prison. If he went to USC, that would not be the case.
It was a challenging and unique situation, but Orgeron did the only logical thing: he tried to get his father transferred across state lines to a prison in Los Angeles.
"Yeah, I tried," Orgeron said with a laugh. "I competed. I competed. Couldn't get it done, but I competed."
Ultimately, Peterson signed with Oklahoma and had three 1,000-yard rushing seasons with the Sooners before he was selected with the No. 7 overall pick in the 2007 NFL Draft.
Source: @ChasingSnyder
