Here’s why I don’t feel uneasy ·Defense is covered – we have a good DC and O is letting him run his show ·Offense will be better; maybe a lot better. Probably not as good as defense, but definitely improved. O acknowledges he needs a guy for offense like he has on defense. he has a philosophy, but I feel confident he will get an OC to match that philosophy and let him run his show with minimal interference. Like he does with Aranda. · Recruiting is covered – after 3 months of chaos we are still #5 in 247 composite rankings. O is the Dave Aranda of Louisiana recruiting · Game Day Coaching/culture change – yes the Florida loss hurt, and the team was sloppy, but the last drive was a thing of beauty – up until the last play. Getting the team up to dominate Arkansas and TAMU after tough losses showed me something. The TAMU win was especially impressive to me; a key rival, on an away game, on a short week, at the end of a tough month, resulting in a big win. · Relationship building with Alumni/within the department/with fans – this is often unappreciated but very important to success. Relationships keep the background static and distractions to a minimum after losses. O did this in the months leading up to the decision and paved his way to still get the job after the Florida loss. So does all of this add up to guaranteed playoffs or NC next year – of course not. But I certainly don’t see a catastrophe unless you call 9-3 or even 8-4 a catastrophe for the first year after a coaching change. He’s going to make mistakes. But I love that he’s as passionate about LSU as anyone on this board; no matter how much you bleed P&G. I feel like LSU winning is more important to him than his ego. He is going to give it his all – and so will his team. I can’t wait to see what that looks like.
