Louisiana State University head football coach Ed Orgeron says the reigning national champions are ready to play during this unprecedented season. This week, the gravel-voiced coach said that most of his players have had the virus. Orgeron tells Jon Wertheim his job is to coach, virus or no virus. Wertheim profiles Orgeron on the 53rd season premiere of 60 Minutes, Sunday, September 20 at 7:30 p.m. ET and 7 p.m. PT on CBS. "We have a protocol here. I follow it. Whatever it is they tell me to do, I do, and then I coach," says Orgeron. The team tracks players' temperatures, administers regular COVID-19 tests, isolates those who test positive and quarantines anyone who comes into contact with the virus. Still, Orgeron remains focused, "I know there's a lot of stuff going on out there. And, look, I understand but for right now, my job is to coach this football team," he tells Wertheim.
He says he tries not to think about his 2020 campaign being stopped in its tracks by the impact of the virus. "Yeah, I don't let it enter my mind. No. But I know it could happen. I know at LSU, we've prepared these guys to play, we didn't blink. We're ready," says 'Coach O.' He firmly believes football should go on, "I think football is good for everybody," he says. "I've seen them practice, and not get sick. I've seen them get sick. Last a couple of days, and come back. You know, they have their ten-day quarantine. But I ask them, 'How sick were you?' Said, 'Coach, I had a little cough.' So I think that the young players, when they do get sick, get over it quick." Wertheim travels down the bayou to Lafourche Parish to find out more about the place that molded the native Louisiana coach. Wertheim also sits down with Orgeron's mother, Coco, over her celebrated seafood gumbo.