A genuine question for the unwavering Miles/Crowton supporters

I skimmed a few posts here and will go back later to read them all but if I do that now I lose my track of thought .

My opinion is yes...there needs to be a progress. But what is progress when you come from a NC? Obviously anything less is not moving forward. So we regressed in 2008. 8 wins and a bowl victory. This season we had 9 wins and a bowl loss. Arguably we stayed even. There is a point when you can't blame everything on the immaturity of a team. The way I see it the QB issues will be greatly improved over this season. Experience and maturity will do wonders for Jefferson. Think about this...every QB before him (and Jarrett Lee for that matter) had the luxury of learning from the bench before being given the chance to lead. Both these guys were forced into on-the-job training. Watching Jefferson improve his pocket presence and keeping his turnover ratio down shows me he is learning and will only go up from here.

The general perception I get from people unhappy with this coaching staff is they would prefer for them to fail and see this team fail rather than hope that things will get better and this staff become successful. I support the team 1st and part of that includes the coaching staff. You can be unhappy with results but a literal hatred that comes across sometimes really isn't beneficial to anyone. Complain about the results but pushing it further and wishing for a coaching change is supporting failure for the sake of change. Once we have a losing season for no real reason then I begin clamoring for a staff change but never before.

 

You could put the eight wins per season or you're done clause in the contract right next to the proper hat selection clause and the clause that says if you didn't recruit all the players you win with...you're fired Donald Trump style.

 

Excellent post. It brings to mind an election where the majority of people were clamering for hope and change, where the masses were lead by the media created perception, and change was made for the sake of change.

 

Really? 5-7? Wanna put some money where your mouth is?

Oh...and I'm so sorry I went back and read this whole thread...Man as much as some of these guys slobber over Saban it's a wonder is ding ding is still attached.

 

Better watch it you're gonna get called a Miles simpathizer and a sunshine pumper.

 

The original question I posed is at what point does a regression or lack of progress regarding the team's performance become a reflection of the abilities of the coaching staff, and not simply the result of incompetent or inexperienced players? And how much has to take place before taking action? Here's where we differ, and I could be dead wrong on this. But I think a good coaching staff can take what they have to work with and show measurable improvement in overall performance as the season goes on. Instead, the on-field offensive production by LSU against Penn State was no different than what it was against Washington. That is a serious problem at a time of year when a good team should be playing its best football. The OL still could not run block at all. We had receivers with horrible concentration, and yet again we had a mind-numbing play call during a crucial final drive seal the game for the other team. I'd expect these things to happen in September, absolutely no way in January. For me to believe that all this can be laid at the feet of players is for me to believe that a whole host of highly touted LSU recruits is incapable of learning, improving, and overcoming mistakes, and I just cannot accept that.

This may also come as a shock, but I support Les Miles and want him to succeed at LSU. I want him to become one of the greats before he moves on to other opportunities. I want him to learn and develop and be the best coach he can be. The absolute last thing I want is a .500 or losing season so we can get rid of him. But having said that, there are serious coaching deficiencies on his staff that he needs to recognize. Even without recruiting violations, McCarthy was likely being shown the door by Miles, and he gets big time credit snatching up a coach like Billy Gonzales. I just hope he does everything necessary to put LSU among the elite teams in the country again. We just differ on how far he has to go to accomplish that.

 

If that is the worst I get called this month then I'm doing good.

I understand and agree with your point somewhat but I have to bring up points that were already made here in respect to other coaches. Stoops lost his QB (among others) and struggled. Carroll had to go with an unproven QB, and replenish his starters and struggled as well. Why don't we hold them in the same regard as Miles? By some peoples explanations they too should have had a plug and play playmaker that just took over where the leaving player left with no drop off in performance. What I saw in the Penn St game was a great team beating a fairly good team by 2 points. I'd argue that against PSU if we catch that pass down the middle and it goes for a TD instead of 4 yards and a scramble to stop the clock there would have been faction that said it was a good call because all the sideline routes were covered.

Simply saying they should do this and that from September to November, well, is too simplistic. There are a ton of things that go into setting up an offense or defense in a season and to change a philosophy in the middle of it doesn't happen on a dime. Are there underlying issues that caused the deficiencies in coaching, player development, lack of confidence? Who knows...but I do know that this staff fixed the defensive issues from the previous season. In all of it's warts if we had the offense from '08 and the defense from '09 we would have been singing a very different tune. It's why I'll continue to see next season optimistically instead of doom and gloom.

To sidetrack a little, I don't see it as lack of progression or backsliding. That would have seen us at 7-6 and in the Independence Bowl. For those that argue we were 2-3 plays away from 7-6 I can say we were 2-3 plays away from 11-2. A little luck always happens in a season. LSU beats Bama and we may have a different mindset at Ole Miss causing another win. We can play what ifs all off season but my optimism comes from adjustments the coaching staff makes from year to year.

 

Fair enough. I think the one thing the sunshine pumper and hope-and-change crowds can agree with is that the proof will be in the pudding next season. LSU should be in a position to make a run at the West behind a junior QB, so the expectations will be as high as ever. If Les gets us back to the SECCG and a 10+ win season, then I'll gladly eat my share of crow for reestablishing LSU's position at the top of the conference.