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Tennessee assistant coach Ed Orgeron was a candidate to be Southern California’s next defensive coordinator but is “not involved” in the process according to Trojans coach Pete Carroll, according to a report posted on a Web site that covers the Trojans.

USCFootball.com speculated that Orgeron may have even been offered the position, vacated by Nick Holt, who accepted the defensive coordinator position at Washington. That, however, is unclear. The Rivals' Web site was not ready to eliminate Orgeron as a candidate despite Carroll’s claim.

Whatever the case, Orgeron appears committed to UT.

The News Sentinel learned today that LSU made another strong run at Orgeron on Jan. 1, a day before he was formally introduced at UT.

A source close to Orgeron told the News Sentinel that LSU offered him substantially more money than UT did.

Tennessee is expected to pay Orgeron about $600,000 annually. The source said Orgeron turned down the LSU offer saying he was already committed to UT.

Orgeron, who was hired as UT’s recruiting coordinator and defensive line coach, gained national acclaim as a recruiter while at USC.

USC defensive backs coach Rocky Seto and linebackers coach Ken Norton Jr. are thought to be candidates to be USC’s next defensive coordinator.

“There’s three real ways it can go,” USC coach Pete Carroll told the Orange County Register.

Seto and Norton are two possibilities. An outside hire, such as Orgeron, former Syracuse coach Greg Robinson or former Washington defensive coordinator Ed Donatell, is thought to be the third.

© 2009, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.