What record would you be satisfied with next year? With Miles (or whoever) comming in, expectations are high - what record will satisfy you enough to not want him fired? I say 3 losses max... With all of our returning talent, we shouldn't lose that many and if he losses more than that it doesn't seem to me he would be able to ever bring LSU to the greatness we are capable of. A friend of mine says he'll be unsatisfied with anything other than a SEC championship, which I think might be a bit high for a new coach. What do you think?
I don't really care about the record so much just that we are competetive in our games. If Les Miles has half the offensive mind as he is supposed to have and most of the defensive staff is retained, next year may surprise some people.
I think our record next year will depend on the productivity we get from the QB position. We appear to be loaded at just about every other position, particularly the "skilled" positions. Sure we've got some holes to fill (Spears, Webster, etc.) but we appear to have the depth at those positions. If JR can progress and perform up to the level the so called experts say he is capable of I think we'll be fine.
Anything worse than a 8-3 and Bertman and Miles are in the middle of PR disaster and worse yet declining ticket sales. Bertman has done a lot of good for LSU but the "Les Miles Disaster" will leave a lasting stain on his record in many fans' opinion. Not mine but alot of the fans I have talked to. Heres to hoping Les Miles doesn't fall flat on his face. I don't think he can even fathom the amount of pressure he will be under to perform at LSU compared to a basketball school.
I think anything less than 8 will not be accepted as "well it's just his first year, players need to have time to learn the system, etc". Records should not be the sole factor in how success is measured, but often it is. Being competitive and always playing hard is very important. You would like teams that see us on their schedule say "oh $hit! and not "yessss!". With all that said, let's say a team plays hard and is competitive but loses every game by scores of 7-6, 10-7, 7-3, 14-10, etc. or say 42-40, 35-33, 28-27, 40-36, etc. and goes the entire year 0 - for, a coach is still judged by his record.
With our talent returning, I'd say that anything short of another New Year's day bowl, would be a disappointment. I think, at the least, a Cotton Bowl appearance should be in our reach. But I'm not over-looking the fact that I'm sure we'll go through some growing pains--no matter who the new coach is--with reguard to our guys learning a new system. No doubt they'll be a few games next season that are going to be closer than what they would be with a year of execution under their belts.
The schedule next year is very favorable. They are still completely loaded on the offensive side, and Russell looked like he may have come into his own yesterday. If he pans out to what everyone thought when he was recruited, next year could be very sweet once again.
We play our three hardest games at home, tenn, auburn, fla. Worst case we should lose 2 out of 3. Ole Miss, Ala. and Arky on the road, should at most lose 1 out of those 3. I see 8-3 as worst case. I'd be happy with 9-2, ecstatic with 10-1. I think Russell will do his part. Coaching will need to do their part, 9-2 is attainable. 7-4 would be a real disappointment given the talent.
Everybody relax and back off of the expectations now. Coach Miles is not going to set the world on fire next year. He is in his first year, and he didn't exactly set the world on fire at Ok St. The best we should hope for is 8-3. 7-4 is not out of the question.
