Years ago I was regularly interacting with diehard Texas, USC, Oklahoma, FSU, USM fans every Saturday. I gained a really good insight into the West Coast/PAC-10 perspective and also got a lot of information regarding the Big 12. The conversation came up about Les Miles. LSU had hired him and I read Texas, OU, and even OSU fans didn't like nor think much of Miles. My buddies explained the reason was Les is rather quirky, and that OSU fans felt spurned (logical), Texas fans thought he was a buffoon (hard to argue given his lovably Les moments), and OU fans? They hated him cause he beat them half the time. Big Game Bob wasn't such a big game coach anymore.. and Texas while loaded wasn't always in the title picture even then with Mack.. I said I thought Les compared favorably as a cross between the two and I feel that even moreso now some ten years later. He's got the ability to recruit and develop talent consistently that Stoops had. He's very loyal to his assistants and promotes from within similar to Stoops. He sometimes is too loyal to his assistants like Mack was when they were clearly not performing (Stud anyone?).. but he's been able to target and rectify those deficiencies except really at QB. Anyway, I felt then and I feel now if you can compete for the National Championship as a perceived contender every year AND then actually play for the title once every four years with an occasional disappointing year every four to five years or so then you're doing it right. That was, to me, a realistic position for a program such as LSU that does not have the legacy of OU, the stature and funds of Texas, nor the history and location of USC.. I am hardly underselling LSU, but the program is right now in its golden age whereas those other schools have had multiple eras of such success. So.. compete for the title in the championship game every 3-5 years, be a legitimate contender every single year, and maybe an off year once every 3-5 years to me would equal a top notch performance by the program's players and coaches and support staff. Why do I say that? Wouldn't an LSU fan given the stature of the program and shouldn't every LSU fan instead expect to play for the title every year? No. Rarely does this happen. It did for Alabama, and to some degree USC, but look at the coaches and let's be honest the programs themselves. Those are two schools that can each make a case they are the most storied program ever. I'd like to see my Tigers continue such success that they are able to make such an argument in my lifetime and have it be reasonable. Look, as good as coaches are these are kids playing a game. Saban didn't will his team to beat LSU.. Sims performed. He made the plays. Same thing two years ago. Tyrann got himself suspended and wasn't on the field to stop Yeldon and that screen play instead a freshman makes a mistake. That's not the coach. Players decided those games. Saban backed his way into the title game when Oklahoma State was more deserving. Nick is the best coach in college football and still he lost the big game. He was outcoached at home by Miles in the game of the century. Tangent on OSU being "more deserving" in my view: (OSU's only loss was 1. On the road 2. Thursday night short week 3. against a terrible team 4. OSU jumped out to an early lead like 17-0 much like LSU-Tennessee's Monday nighter cause of the hurricane with Rick Clausen 5. Iowa State makes a comeback but like that Vols game OSU was emotionally spent because 6. a plane crash killed coaches and members of the athletic department and Stillwater is a small tight-knit community -- the stadium holds more people than live in town and lastly 7. OSU kicked a last second field goal that to this day looked good to me on TV but was called no good .... Alabama lost at home and didn't win their conference. They backed in. They were probably a better team than LSU that year, but in the game that was supposed to decide it all LSU won, having to beat a team as good as you are maybe even slightly better twice is tough in any pro sport let alone collegiate athletes trying to do it.) . So very few teams compete for the title in successive years or multiple times in a couple years span. If they do often it is a combination of having incredible talent and coaching (Alabama and USC had both) but also a lot of fortuitous bounces of the ball. Remember USC needed the Bush Push? Etc. So LSU is generally mentioned as a contender yearly.. occasionally they've had a terrible year by Tigers standards. Remember the co-defensive coordinator debacle? This past season was so close to being so much more, but in all they finished right around where most expected before the year given the losses to the NFL. And they've competed twice under Miles in his 10 years for the National Championship taking it home once. That's not a bad record, but it is maddening how we sometimes get there. Stoops has a knack for losing to inferior teams once a year. Mack Brown was not a big game coach he was more a cross between a Minister, a Politician, a Father Figure, an Expert Handler of Egos and a walking and talking model for nice guys can finish first and that integrity isn't just a word but as a coach he left a lot to be desired. Texas finally moved on because Mack wasn't getting it done on the field, but they've been in steady decline and who knows if Strong can right that ship considering he's got every booster of the program thinking they're the Admirals and he's just the current Captain. Stoops is still at OU because they realize what they have is maybe not the best, but he's pretty damn good and they remember what it was like when that wasn't the case. Could they do better? You can always find the next great coach. Is it more likely they would or rather that they would find someone who would come in and be a Larry Coker.. success off the establishment and finally when his fingerprints on the program start to show you realize oh boy the ship is taking on water and it's going to sink if you don't start bailing the water out now.. but then more holes spring up and you toil away in mediocrity continuously bailing out water staying barely afloat but you're not going anywhere. LSU is in that predicament. Look at the coordinators for LSU's titles.. Muschamp was just fired by Florida. Pelini was just fired by Nebraska. Jimbo has had success at FSU, but boy let's see how things looke in 5 years given how he's handled Jameis the inmate certainly seems to be running that asylum. Still, he's had success, but he's also not in the SEC West. If this FSU team was in the SEC West, I don't think they better LSU's record this year. Gary Crowton.. okay quit laughing. I think we all know he was a one trick pony. The fixer upper coach. He can be great and breath fresh air and new life if given a talent-rich offense that was previously a stagnant offense lacking creativity, but it doesn't last and he is terrible at developing players and he doesn't make adjustments to his obvious tendencies. So he's a band-aid type coach. Look at Miles' replacement at OSU. Grantland just did an article on the fact that Gundy might be the worst most successful coach in America and that the more control Gundy has had at OSU as the head coach the worse the team has gotten. That the coordinators that have left like Holgersen were what made that team go.
Les has been the constant. He's gone to two title games with two completely different sets of coordinators. That shows you it isn't the assistants that got them there or even Saban's leftovers. Now, is Miles on the decline? Perhaps. Maybe he's entering that Mack Brown stage where you never beat your rival OU as Saban has owned LSU lately and the end is nigh.. Or maybe in the next two years LSU once again makes the title game with experience all across the board for these young Tigers that gained valuable experience against the best division in football college or pro. Once more the fate of this team remains the central position of any football club and that is at quarterback. Miles has two years to find and develop and capitalize on the right guy under center and if he is able to do so he'll likely find himself once again every 3-5 years making a title game appearance and maintaining his program's status as a perennial contender. If he fails to do so, well, he'll find himself on the hottest seat in the South. LSU fan expectations are at times unrealistic and almost always extremely high and that's a good thing. Hiowever, it is vital we temper those expectations with the cold, hard reality that LSU is not Larry Coker's Hurricanes or the Nebraska team post-Solich's firing or Michigan, USC, Penn State...the list goes on and on. There's a reason OU keeps Bob Stoops. There's a reason Alabama gave Saban the moon to get him to Tuscaloosa and are willing to build rockets to Mars if need be to keep him there. Ohio State sold their souls to remain competitive opting to dismiss character and integrity for wins and recruits by hiring the shady Urban Meyer. Kansas State had to go back to Snyder to become relevant again. There are far more Curley Hallman's applying for your vacant coaching position than there are David Shaw's for example. So be careful what you wish for when you want Miles gone. You just might get it. Do you trust the LSU sports administration to replace him with a better head coach when for 10 years now we have all seen the problems on offense and no one in that sports administration has pulled Les aside and demanded he fix the QB woes? I believe there's a better coach than Les Miles out there and one that would love to lead LSU. I'm not so confident in LSU getting it right with a new guy when the current guy's flaws are glaring and yet they still glaringly exist. Miles has his flaws with clock management and offensive predictability and inefficiency, but there is no finer leader of men, no better recruiter, and no more likable face of an institution than Les. The only place he will embarrass you is on the football field, yet he'll also put you in the mix far more often than not. And with the proper perspective, that is a tough act to replicate and follow let alone exceed.
Its tough to get it right with a new hire but it can be done. Miami won 5 national championships in a relatively short period of time with 4 different head coaches. It depends on who is doing the hiring. Joe Dean made a mockery out of it and ended up with Archer/Curley/DiNardo because he was a tightwad. You get what you pay for. But you have to shop wisely. Joe Alleva gets a lot of heat from the fans but I don't see that he has done a bad job. I don't see much good that he has done either. Did he hire Cutcliffe at Duke or was that after he became LSU's AD?
Les has been remarkably consistent here. Folks can whine and complain all they want. His record in the toughest division of the toughest conference in college football is impressive. But at the end of the day, the real list of 4-6 or 7 coaches that we'd enjoy as upgrades/replacements, are NOT available. So, if Les were to leave (take Michigan job) we'd really be looking at a sitting HC at a mid-tier FBS school or a "hot" coordinator. And either way, we won't know what we have until maybe a couple of years down the road.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3155086 Alleva is credited with hiring Cutcliffe December 15, 2007 but he was introduced as LSU's new AD on April 4, 2008.. Hard to know what role he actually played in the hire and he never oversaw him lead the program.. here's his coaching hiring in football at Duke in 10 years.. he hired 3 guys but one was Cutcliffe so he really only hired and worked with 2 head coaches in 10 years.
Its hard to blame anybody for bad football coach hires at Duke. Its Duke. Hire a bad basketball coach to replace Coach K and they will high you from the highest post on Tobacco Road.
@Brian I'll be honest, I didn't read the entirety of your posts because they were very long. However, with that avatar, I strongly encourage to post on a much more regular basis.
