All the negativity from the negatigers and inexcusable booing of kids who are barely shaving has the potential to hurt LSU in the recruiting wars. When you have the star running back talking about the crazy amount of negativity one can extrapolate that he is not speaking from a vacuum and that other players feel the same way. Thats NOT good. Absolutely no way anybody can spin that as a good thing for recruiting. Nor is it good to have threads dedicated to firing Miles and talking about who the replacement might be. Think the other coaches won't be whispering about that into LSU recruits ears? "Pssssst...I know you like Les, he's a great guy, but you know he might not even be at LSU when you get there. The fans hate him. Check out some of the tiger fan websites." Recruits surf the net just like us. They see all the crap in forums and its a safe bet it turns some of them away. If they are among the top recruits in the country they'll be courted by multiple top programs. If the news/forums for these other schools are all rosy and LSU's is full of negativity....well figure it out.
I think the ESPN announcers are hurting recruiting more than "negatigers" on a message board. Kids (and their parents) can take the situation however they choose. "I'll get unfairly criticized" or "it's a chance to contribute immediately." It can be spun either way. Any recruit seriously interested is going to have a chance to communicate directly with the coaching staff and have their respective concerns addressed. As much as I want to kick Miles in the bawlz after last week, I don't think recruiting is going to take a major nose dive any time soon.
If the coaching staff is more concerned about what's posted on internet forums than they are about fixing the play on the field and on the egregious sideline issues, then I sincerely hope that no poor high school kids commit to that sort of stupidity. There's a really full plate for the staff just dealing with the things than they can and should control without worrying about things they can't like what we post here. Miles should be spending every waking moment he's not coaching reading a book on game and clock management and not reading here. Every program has it's great points and it's problems. Ours can't be hidden, they're on display every Saturday. There's quite a few other big time programs with issues of their own to worry about like USC, UNC, ND, etc, etc. So maybe these sensitive recruits will determine that their problems are worse than ours and come here.
Although I agree that the negativity can have a negative effect on recruiting, for all the reasons the OP mentioned, there's a few ways to fix it...and it ain't up to the fans. In this order... 1) Win. 2) Fix the issues with the offense. 3) Quit looking stupid on national TV. That's that.
+1 They got themselves in this, they need to get themselves out of it. I am not going to shed a tear for someone making $3+ mil a year that really can't even manage his one of very few responsibilities when they are on the field.
I think we are way too full of ourselves if we believe that posting concerns or "negative" opinions is detrimental to recruiting. So, if you're successful in stoping the negative comments on the board, how are you going to stop the television commentors, the newspaper writers, and the fans in the stands who boo, which I absolutely do not condone? Let's put responsibility where it lies. A large majority of those responding on another post regarding recruiting made the observation that recruits come to LSU because it's where their heart is and not because of who the coach is....if that's the case, then a few negative posts after that embarrassing event on Saturday shouldn't be an issue. If I was a recruit and watched the coaching mistakes over the last two seasons and all I saw on the forums were positive statements, I would wonder what the hell is wrong with those people.
What the hell is a negatiger anyway. I believe everyone in here bleeds purple and gold, or they wouldn't even be looking at it. How does it hurt to make suggestions on how to improve a situation. Of course we joke along the way but that is just to keep things interesting. I mean seriously, look at my avatar. I'm pretty sure les and gary are a bit smarter than ren and stempy (I think). Do we really influence recruitiing? I doubt it. In fact, I'm not sure I want a kid that determines which institution to attend based on what he reads on a message board...
