I really am astounded and am not sure what to think. Here's an article that talks in detail about why Ciron Black was not drafted. It refers to him being both overweight and having serious knee problems. This is the first I'm hearing of this. :huh: LSU football: Tigers have 15 players picked up by NFL teams | - NOLA.com What in the world is going on with the LSU coaching staff??? First of all....(if the article is true)...LSU has major problems with the strength and conditioning staff. I wasn't too worried about Patrick Peterson's cramping in the Alabama game because it could have been due to a one time event like a virual infection or too much late partying the night before. But for a conditioning and strength coach to have an offensive starter who won the award for the best offensive lineman in the SEC one year to become so overweight and out of shape to drop him from a projected first round pick to undrafted free agent status is more than mind boggling. Secondly, if a head coach allows a starter to play on the first team all year long with severely injured knees that hamper his effectiveness to the point that they cost him his career, that coach has no business coaching at all at any level. The health and safety of the athlete is all important. And on a less important level, why in the world would an out of shape player with sore knees start over someone else who's healthy and in shape? The best and healthiest players need to be on the field. Before some of you become unglued, let me repeat that I don't know what to think about these reports. I'm assuming that the reports of serious injuries to both of Ciron's knees are accurate and that could be a big assumption. But I do believe that the the lack of conditioning that the NFL teams picked up on is true and accurate. Ciron wasn't the only LSU player that performed poorly in the strength and conditioning area of the combines....Chad Jones could not do very many bench press reps...I think there were quarter backs that did as many as him.
Learning about Ciron's knees is disturbing and I was very disappointed in his combine performance. But it would certainly go towards explaining why Ciron looked off this year, as opposed to the last three. Must be some kind of chronic problem. I would be worried about the training if it was across the board, but obviously some guys did the work and tested out well. Look at Hawkins, Danny, Al Woods, etc. Perhaps Chad just really pulled a Big Lebowski after the season was over? And maybe it will be a good thing ultimately. Current LSU players should be able to look at this and use it for motivation to work the program. Seems to be another case of Miles being too lenient on his players.
its tough to blame moffitt. he was once often praised. so i think its more likely that everyone was wrong about him before or he is not to blame about these few players now. i doubt he has changed all that much. i was shocked with cjones's bench performance. that makes no sense to me. he absolutely had to know what he could do and that such a abysmal performance would affect his stock. either he is stupid or he really, really wanted out of lsu. wrt ciron, specific injuries are complicated. its not always clear-cut what to do. is it better to play at 80% all year with hopes of slow recovery or to have surgery that will ensure you miss half the season and you may never recover to the 80%.
I know Moffitt was here under Saban, too, and there were knocks on guys like Bradie James when he went to the Cowboys with regards to his strength and conditioning. I still think more of it has to do with internal motivation of players, and this is a concern of mine with Miles, though the guys returning from the '03 NC team came into the fall fat and out of shape then, too. And that was under Saban. So, is it Moffitt?
this wont be the first time this year conditioning was questioned. it wasnt just the bama game and patrick peterson. we had guys cramping up all year long in virtually every game when other teams didnt. as far as the knee thing, speculation on that is just that.... speculation. we dont know how bad something was, or even if it was something that was bad all along or progressed. that is one thing i cannot see anyone on this staff doing - ignoring an injury. coach miles has always seemed concerned for the welfare of his players and i just dont see him, or anyone else on staff, allowing something catastrophic to happen to one of the kids, or jeopardizing their health in any way. as dude said, something chronic may be going on, and sometimes those things can sneak up on you and turn it into something big and thats how you find out there has been a problem (spoken from experience).
This. And the whole thing begs another question: If it is Moffett, why did the conditioning go from reasonable well to crap for last year?
I know Ciron walked off the field alot this season apparently hurt, but always came back. Hell he and Barksdale were limping off in the Auburn game, pretty much all game. Steve brings up an interesting point, are we just playing these guys into the ground? Kind of like a high school, or college baseball coach using a pitcher every other day and ragging his arm out.
It can be that way. Sports are about winning, as we've all been reminded on this board, especially when many complain about a 9-4 season with a coach making over three million a year. The players, at least some, may have been pushed too hard. Every coach can be found guilty of this at one time or another, but I don't think Miles would "use and abuse" at the level of the coaches from the salt tablet days.
There were a couple of us that had a debate about this very topic a little while back. I think this sheds a little lite that we need to work on our S and C program. Like it or not we may not have a strong of a S and C program as we have been thinking we have.
