A clear, early sign of Orgeron's passion for the chase came in the pre-Pete Carroll era at USC. Back in 2000, after USC fired head coach Paul Hackett, Orgeron continued to recruit even though the Trojans program was leaderless. One day, Orgeron showed up a local high school at the same time as UCLA assistant Gary Bernardi. "What the **** is he doing here?" Bernardi asked a high school coach within earshot of Orgeron. "He doesn't even have a ****in' job." Orgeron wanted to tear Bernardi's head off, but instead he just gritted his teeth. A few days later, after he was hired as the new Trojans head coach, Carroll named Orgeron his recruiting coordinator and asked him which area he wanted to recruit personally.
"I want Bernardi," Orgeron answered.
Orgeron wanted to recruit the San Fernando and Santa Clarita schools, traditionally UCLA strongholds, just so he could go head-to-head with Bernardi. And from that day on, Bernardi never beat Orgeron for single player. Two years later, UCLA canned Bernardi.
that's badass