No offense but I think you are being ignorant to the other factors that were taking place. As was said before, I think that no reporter in the world would have stopped Miles from making a choice to return to his alma mater and the chance to bring glory to his hometown. What I do think kept Miles at LSU would be the fact that he knew Lloyd Carr would be breathing down his neck; it would have been Miles as a facade at Michigan with Carr really calling the shots behind the scenes. Another reason would be that he knew the amount of freedom and recruiting he can pull from a state that has no other pool to compete with. Look at it this way, LSU in national prominence is, for the most part, guaranteed year in and year out. Michigan has the history but they are, obviously, in a rebuilding decade. Stay in BR and remain a consistent "god" or leave for Michigan and take a gamble. I don't think Herbie, nor the fact that it was the night of the NC, that stopped him from going. Most of those kids were seniors and were going to fight no matter what; Miles would have been able to reason his way into going to the team.
see i have to think that the story breaking had something to do with it, maybe he didn't say "i'm staying because herbie says i'm not" but i don't think his mind was made up totally, i think he was still weighing the pros and cons, and that might have been the straw that broke the camels back.
he changed his mind because he didnt want the issue to decrease the chances of his team, no, his players from winning the NC. and he gets more props for that than just about anything i can think of.
The National Championship was not really on the table when the game was played, the SEC championship was. It took just the right losses around the nation for LSU to end up in the BCS game.
Of course it was a reason, it forced him to make his commitment earlier than he had wanted. If he had already made his decision, why not get rid of the media chatter and added pressure on himself and his team before the two biggest games of his career? Obviously because he was still weighing his decision, not waiting on some reporter to break the story to "make a fool of". He had a choice before the SEC championship: make some Saban-like vague comment about his future (More media chatter and rumors, Herbie would think he was right), or make a firm commitment one way or the other. Based on the factors at the time, he chose LSU, and there was much rejoicing...yaay. If he didn't have to make that commitment then and there, no one can say what factors would change before he made his decision later in time, or which way he would have chosen. He could have made the same decision, or he could have not. But because of Herbie's ****up, he made the right one at the time. So yes, it was definitely a reason. Plus Herbie got totally shown up! Win-Win! :milesmic:
I think this is EXACTLY right. I think LM was leaning toward Michigan. However, when Herbie found out and leaked it, I think Miles did a 180 degree and stayed. He would have looked like an azz and it would have affected the teams play in postseason. This is a widely held belief by alot of people. Miles is a MICHIGAN man, he's quoted as saying it on more than one occasion. But more than being a Michigan man, he's a straight shooter that does the right thing which he has proven on more than one occasion, most especially the Perrilloux fiasco.
You gotta be kidding me...its just ridiculous to think a REPORTER has anything to do with a coach making a life changing decision like that. Herbstreit had as much an influence in CLM's decision as I did...the only thing he may have made him do was announce it earlier than intended. After all, CLM had much bigger things to worry about at that time than announcing to us his career move.
I don't think it was the deciding factor for Coach Miles, but it was the deciding factor in the timing of the annoucement. And it was absolutely magical, too, as if it propelled a down-trodden team (the Arkansas loss/probable loss of playing the NC, injured starting QB, talk all week of Miles to Michigan) to victory in the SECCG. Then, as if that weren't enough, the TWO teams we needed to lose that night, did. The rest is LSU history.
