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60 MINUTES [UPDATED]
Air Date: Sunday, September 20, 2020
Time Slot: 7:30 PM-8:30 PM EST on CBS
Episode Title: (#5301) "The Battle for the Ballot, H.R. McMaster, Coach O and the Sideways Season"
[NOTE: The following article is a press release issued by the aforementioned network and/or company. Any errors, typos, etc. are attributed to the original author. The release is reproduced solely for the dissemination of the enclosed information.]

ON THE 53rd SEASON PREMIERE OF "60 MINUTES" SUNDAY ON CBS: COLLEGE FOOTBALL NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP COACH FORGES AHEAD WITH SEASON DURING A PANDEMIC

LSU Head Coach Ed Orgeron Remains Focused While COVID-19 Rocks the College Football Season

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, Sept. 20 (7:30-8:30 PM, ET/7:00 PM, PT) on the CBS Television Network.

"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 that he tries not 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 10-day quarantine. But I ask them, 'How sick were you?' They 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, and sits down with Orgeron's mother, Coco, over her celebrated seafood gumbo.

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