NATCHITOCHES – Although tickets are selling fast, there's still room at the Natchitoches Events Center for Friday evening's appearance by LSU football coach Ed Orgeron as the featured guest at the Northwestern State Legends Gala.

Tickets are $50 for the Legends Gala, which begins with a 6 p.m. social hour with cocktails, dinner, silent auction. A post-dinner 7 p.m. program showcases Orgeron as the featured speaker. A VIP Cocktail Hour at 5 is sold out.
 
Orgeron was a standout defensive lineman for NSU from 1980-83, then began his coaching career with the Demons in 1984. He played for head coaches A.L. Williams (1980-82) and Sam Goodwin (1982-83) and after he earned teammates' vote as the permanent defensive team captain, Goodwin brought him on as an assistant coach for 1984.
 
The sixth annual event, benefitting the Demons Unlimited Foundation, will be staged in Natchitoches for the first time, said Dr. Haley Taitano, executive director of the DUF and associate athletics director at NSU. 

Commemorative shirts that include a unique design spotlighting Orgeron will be on sale with more than two dozen silent auction items up for bid.

One of the top items available will be a one-of-a-kind football helmet with NSU and LSU logoes, signed by Orgeron.
 
Details on the various event participation levels are available at NSUDemons.com/LegendsGala. Sponsor packages range from $500 to $2,500 including various benefits and access.
 
Taitano is available for additional information by calling 318-357-4278 or at blounth@nsula.edu via e-mail.

Goodwin, the winningest coach in Demon football history, will be joined by other great figures in Demon lore. NFL veterans Petey Perot and Gary Reasons, along with record-breaking tackler Gordon Boogaerts and NSU icon Johnnie Emmons, all have previously been spotlighted at the five previous Legends events and will be part of the festivities this time. They'll be joined by 2011 NCAA women's discus champion and Academic All-American Trecey Rew-Hoover, a 2016 Legend honoree.
 
Orgeron, a 1984 Northwestern State graduate, was named LSU's coach Nov. 26 after leading the Tigers to a 5-2 record as interim coach over the final two months of the 2016 season. His Tigers blasted Missouri, Ole Miss, Arkansas and Texas A&M by double-digits and dropped close contests to Southeastern Conference Championship Game participants Alabama and Florida by a combined 16 points, battling the Crimson Tide scoreless in the first three quarters and falling a yard short of beating Florida.
 
Orgeron was 6-2 as interim head coach in 2013 at Southern California, and was head coach for three years (2005-07) at Ole Miss, where he arranged to play his alma mater in 2006 and 2007 guarantee games.

Noted as one of the most successful recruiters in college football in the past two decades, Orgeron served two stints on staff at USC, and made his name as defensive line coach at Miami from 1988-92. He also coached at Arkansas and Syracuse, and with the New Orleans Saints in 2008.
 
The Larose native, who teamed with fellow Demon Legend Bobby Hebert to help South Lafourche High School win the 1977 Louisiana Class 4A state championship, earned a spot on NSU's Top 100 Demons of The Century roster chosen during football's 2007 centennial celebration. He was the first recipient of the Joe Delaney Memorial Leadership Award for Defense in 1983, voted by teammates as a permanent team captain.
 
A 1984 liberal arts graduate of NSU, Orgeron began his coaching career by helping Goodwin's Demons win the Gulf Star Conference championship.