One of the difficulties CLM has, and always will have as long as he is at LSU is that he followed CNS. The MNC gave Nick "gravitas" that CLM will perhaps never achieve, unless of course he wins the MNC with "his" talent. 10-1, SEC West champs, playing in the SECCG....... all with CNS talent. His detractors will say, and will always say, "with that talent he should have gone 13-0!" His supporters say, "Preseason top 3 doesn't gaurantee a spot in the Independence Bowl, much less a winning season; just ask Tennessee." I sometimes think CLM is trying so hard to be so politically correct as to appease and collify even his most outspoked detractors that he winds up saying nothing at all. He's not a stupid man; during his career he's seen mere mortals follow coaching gods, and seen the result, on the field and off. Add to that the sports adage of not providing any bulletin board material or motivation to the upcoming opponent and you get the type of responses from CLM that leave you scratching your head. Is the jury still out? You bet..... If what he has done up to this point is any indication then the future is bright. He and his staff are doing well on the recruiting trail and he seems to make a very positive impression in recruit's homes, with their parents, and coaches. All in all, a commendable job. The nagging concern that I have is this....way back in the day, my old coach used to say, "when you score, act like you've been there before." It's increasingly apparent that many of our fans haven't been there before. Unreasonable expectations, no margin for error, undue criticism, however unfounded seems to be the order of the day for the chosen few. :lsup:
Communication skills are important, but never judge a man by how well he can or cannot speak. I knew a lot of Marines in my day that had difficulty speaking in certain situations, however they had more leadership capacity in their little fingers than most do in their whole body. I've also known a few that could spin a good yarn, but weren't worth the money it cost to train them. Talk is cheap. Like a lot of you, I think it is to soon to judge Coach Miles completely, but there is something about the guy that I really like.
:rofl: Man, I'd give my left arm to see that! Like on 'Win, Lose, or Draw', with him pounding the paper with the marker, emphatically circling and recircling the same thing. God, that would be hilarious!:rofl: I think the successful but less-than-stellar performance of the football team this year has reinforced people's discomfort with Miles' tentativeness. Kinda like how he barely ever says anything at all, the football team goes and there and does barely enough to get by. It's almost like his speech and their play mimmick one another. I mean, would we really be talking about this had this team lived up to its potential and dominated it's opponents like it should have? And when people see the team playing with a lack of discipline, it's easy to point to him not throwing a hissy fit on the sidelines as a characteristic indicative of apathy. We're used to seeing players get their heads ripped off when they screw up, whereas Miles kind of seems to barely even notice. But I don't put much stock into that. There have been many very successful coaches with a very calm sideline demeanor. And remember, Saban's teams weren't exactly the pinnacle of perfect discipline on the field.
They will "maintain" the program like i maintain my toilet... keep it clean and smelling nice, but not putting more in then they could get out of it. To keep a program at the top you need a force at head coach. Not a figurehead that bows and curtsies (sp?) to everyone in the AD and Board.
True... BUT, what gave us the right to expect LSU to dominate all of our opponents? Let's face it, our preseason expectations were set too high based off of hype, not previous accomplishments & proven success by these players. This seems to be a reoccurring problem around here, where people expected more based off of hype & haven't let it sink in that the media was wrong about LSU.
He's definately got a speech impediment, anyone who hasn't been around someone who has that same type may not hear it...he's also has trouble hearing, which works in with that speech problem, that's why he's always asking people to repeat a question while looking up right at him - so he can see their lips to help decipher what they say. But that's not all of it, it's several things as everyone has pointed out. He's trying to keep his emotions under wrap because he got ridiculed at OSU for it. He's trying to pick his words carefully to not give out too much info for a voracious fanbase and other coaches too. He has to pick his words for emotion and info and other things, all in the other context of him having trouble pronouncing certain sounds (footall is one of them heh). All in all, it's a big mish mosh of issues, which make him come across as losing focus or being incoherant or football ignorant..which he certainly is not.
Parso, what exactly has Les Miles done, to deserve your undying loyalty? Pellini's defense carried us this season, while our offense sputtered most of the time. JR improvised us into alot of last minute wins. The talent was there to be and could have been a well oiled machine, yet we (at 10-1) haven't impressed anyone.
Which means you think we'll be a top 15 or 25 caliber team, but not one of the top programs in the country?? That's what I'm getting from it - is that right? I think you might be giving Saban too much credit. LSU wanted to be a top teir program, so they put the money into it that needed to be there. Saban may have been the starting point for a lot of things, but it ultimately happened because LSU supported it. Now if it's true that Miles is a "pawn", perhaps they would prefer to have more of the decision, but that doesn't mean they are going to stop putting what's needed into the program to make it the best.
Well, it really seems like that dominance was prevented by playing mistake-prone football. Take away a costly penalty here and there, some key fumbles, dropped passes, dropped interceptions, and the complexion of the entire season changes. Teams didn't really 'play us close' this year, we let them keep it close by continually shooting ourselves in the foot. I literally have never seen one team be it's own worst enemy so many freaking times. If the team had played to the level that their experience allows, not one single person in their right mind would be spouting off any of this bullsh!t about AU being the best team in the SEC.
Emerett wanted a strong athletics program, which is why he hired Saban, and said, turn it around. Emerett left, and Saban shortly after, so what keeps LSU from fading back to the days of Archer, DiNardo, Hallman all over again. Emerett was the catalyst, and Saban had the tools. Now we have the Board, Skip and Les Miles...
