Les Miles

Ok, so which game this season does Miles go all conservative and we end up losing a game we shouldn't. I like Les Miles, i think he is a good coach, and he represents LSU better than most, but every year since he has been here, there are games that we have lost we had no business losing.

05 Tennessee - we give up towards the end of the 2nd quarter, go all conservative and let Rick Clausen live out his dreams in Tiger Stadium.

06 Auburn and Florida - we had no business losing to Auburn that year, one of the most talented teams in the nation couldn't get in the endzone.

07 Kentucky and Arkansas - no way either of those games should have been lost, especially the Kentucky game, Charles Scott dominates then we dont see him in the 2nd half until the 4th down play. Arkansas he wasn't really conservative, it was a shootout, but we still had no business losing that game.

08 Take your pick, i think we realistically could have won any of those games we lost last season, should have won vs. Arkansas, Alabama, Georgia, Ole Miss pretty much killed us and we were taken out of that game early, and Florida we were in that game until midway through the 3rd.

I do not like Nick Saban and i would never defend him, but alot of LSU fans say that Nick always loses a game he has no business losing, UAB, ULM with bama, Miles has done the same thing, and we tend to play down to our opponents.

I hope this year is different, and please don't mistake this as me saying Miles is a bad coach, or i want him gone because that is not the case.
:geaux:

 

You know, you make some good points here. I also always here that argument that Saban lost games we had no business losing, but you give great examples that it was not just him. Maybe it's just football with young players, despite how talented you are, you lose some you should have won. Look at USC - irregardless how much we dislike them and the pathetic conference they are in, they had no business losing against Oregon St., or Stanford, etc. Is Pete Carroll a bad coach, too, because of those games?

I agree with the coaching "conservatism" in those games you mention, esp. the Tenn and Kentucky games. Those were f!!! frustrating games.

 

not at all and i don't think Miles is a bad coach either, i just think that sometimes miles' conservatism and his loyalty to certain players, and being bull headed loses us games every year we should not lose.

 

you can also look at games that we "never shoulda won" and did because miles has cajones to takes risks that will not only lose the game, but WIN the game.

 

very true. but what gets me is how can a guy with as big a pair that miles has, go completely conservative at times, and even take control of the offense away from the coordinator?

 

Using the argument about talent level on a team, then every coach in a top program loses games to teams they "shouldn't lose to." The reason Saban is held up to a high standard for losing to lesser teams is because for so many years, both fans and media alike have been telling us he's the greatest coaching genius since Bear Bryant while Miles was a mediocre coach winning with Nick's leftovers.

I think you also have to put losses in proper perspective, while not relying on them as excuses:
'05 Tennessee: Um.....Katrina anyone? Only a week prior?
'06 Auburn: The most atrocious officiating I have ever witnessed as a football fan in any game.
'06 Florida: Muffed punt/kickoff leading to Florida scores. Jamarcus fumbling on the UF 1-yard-line and turned over to Florida. Sometimes you just have horrendous luck.
'07 Kentucky: More of a defensive breakdown than anything else, and the offense felt flat.
'07 Arkansas: More flat offense and a very beaten up defense.
'08: A train wreck in progress and there's no way to slam on the brakes.

 

05- katrina or not we let Rick freakin Clausen, a guy who wasn't good enough to cut it on our squad, bring the Vols back from 21 down in 2 quarters at home. One more time RICK CLAUSEN!!!

06- i give you both of those.

07- Charles Scott dominated the first half, and then was no where to be found in the 2nd until 4th and game.
Arkansas, defense did break down in that game, i give you that one too.
08 - I agree with you on that but we were still in every game we lost, and lost due to bonehead play calling, playing players that had no business playing, turnovers, and penalties. Who's shoulders do those mistakes fall on?

 

here is my take and it partially comes from what i saw when miles was at osu.

not all of the time, but alot of the time miles goes conservative when he doesnt have (for lack of a better way of putting it) full faith in his team. just as when he makes the brass balls calls, he has full faith in his team to be able to pull off whatever he asks.

the team was mentally and physically exhausted. imo, miles may have gone conservative because he didnt think the team had it in em to do anything else. to say they were running on fumes is an understatement.

everyones. coaches and players both. again it is my personal opinion that miles played some games conservative because he didnt have full faith in his team to execute.

i think the real mental killer for the team was the bama game. they gave it everything and almost knocked the gumps off their perch. however, the pick sixes were the direct difference in a win and a loss and the team knew it. i really saw a mentality change that seemed to say "why the f are we even trying?"

 

I don't know what you want me to say. Coaches are human beings, like the rest of us, as are their coordinators, assistants, and position coaches and make the same mistakes in judgment as the rest of us. Except when we screw up, it isn't in front of 90,000+ people in a stadium and a national TV audience. In a given situation should you rely on your own instincts or depend on the judgment of your coordinators? If Les hadn't done the former we lose to Florida in '07. Coming off an NC, should I try to completely revamp my defense after losing my DC, or should I promote position coaches familiar with the system to minimize shakeups? Decisions that look like no-brainers at the time can turn out to be disastrous later. Sometimes those promoted position coaches turn out to be in way over their head. That's the game of football, and that's life. Hindisight is always 20/20 and Sunday morning quarterbacking is the easiest thing to do.

Has Miles' style cost us games and championships? Maybe, maybe not. I will say this: if it was Saban handling Katrina with his authoritarian style and obsession with order, we don't make it back to the SECCG that year. We have a NC winning coach. Would I trade him for Carroll, or Saban again, or Meyer? No, because all those coaches also have their own issues and personality quirks. You live with the good and the bad until the bad outweighs the good, and this far into the Les Miles era, we are far away from that point.