when jessica simpson asked if buffaloes had wings she lost any chance of becoming an honorary mensa member. les miles lost his right to be mistaken for a great coach on more than one occasion. he had arguably the top program in the country when he took over and will likely be fighting hard not to go .500 or so this year. it took les quite awhile to persuade many into finally believing he actually knew what he was doing. I think those initial doubts have been validated. He is so often lost on game-day it does not warrant mentioning. A program of this level looks to be beyond his reach. a good man, yes. a good coach, not so much. (i should have said great but Ill leave it) At least not on this level.
I would have to wholeheartedly agree. Ole Miss game did irreparable damage and I came to the same conclusion as you. Great and honorable man. Lots to like about him. I hope he proves myself and a lot of other doubters wrong this season and turns it completely around.
I cannot argue with most of your opinion, tirk, but fighting for a .500 record? I hope this will be one of those rare occasions I can win an argument with you.
well just pray russell shepard can disguise a lot of ills. something he should have been doing last year.
I'm hoping Shepard will be a weapon this year, and I hope that JJ has matured. But I truly think we improve over last year, as I expect our defense to be even better this year.
it will be hard not to improve across the board from last year. Although it probably won't show in the win/loss department. And its somewhat irrelevant anyhow. Its down to brass tacks now. Moral victories or marked improvement won't suffice. Les has to win to regain any confidence amongst the masses. And its the masses who decide his fate. 8-8 the last 2 years in SEC is mediocre at best. Certainly for 4 million dollars a clip and one of the highest paid staffs in D1 football. You get a pass for one maybe two years but that 3rd time may be the charm. The biggest worry it seems is the average sec teams are on the way up while we are either stagnant or declining in most areas. This goes for offensive line, defense and especially qb play. Neither resemble anything close to sec championship caliber despite these top recruiting rankings. So is it coaching, player evaluation or player development? Could be all 3. its certainly coaching and development. I am unsure about player evaluation. Coaching across the board in the SEC has vastly improved the last couple of years but thats not the case here. And I don't see Les changing his philosophy anytime soon, either. That philosophy often looks like confusion*. *aka chinese fire drill, chaos theory, clusterphuck.
Tirk, anything less than an appearance in the SECCG, and I'm not a happy camper with Les Miles, either. And since the East should be weaker than the West, I would expect to win in the SECCG (if we should get there.) If we look like we have the past two years, we will NOT get there. I'm hoping for the best. I know you don't like Miles, while I do. I'd hate to think that one must be a @$%# to win as a football coach.
I hope you have to come eat these words later this year. No offense, but I will personally dig this thread up after win #7 and ask you to recant. This should happen in late October/early November.:thumb: - I assume you're considering the schedule, but to think that the team isn't going to improve is hard for me to grasp. The team was 9-4 last season, with losses to PSU, UF, and Bama. We were in every one of those games to the end, and this with no OL play and subsequently no running game and poor QB play. The Ole Miss game is hard for me to forget too, but I do believe Coach Miles learned from it, and will make every effort to improve "in game" management skills, or delegate them. Either way, I don't care...as long as it gets fixed.
im pretty sure i will have beaten you to it. there will be no one happier to do so than myself if so. - no im considering the SEC mostly. as i said i think its impossible not to improve though it wont show in the record. there's a lot to fix from someone who didnt really know anything was broken. last year was our best offensive line heading into our opener per his observation. and shepard couldnt be taught 3 plays in almost a calendar year. color me skeptical. the ole miss game was just a microcosm of it all. it encapsulated everything we feared and what the opposition knew.
