Time to grade the Mile's Exam (Long. sorry)

i don't know that we should've blitzed, but if you were in the stadium you could tell that our defense did not know wtf was going on. the guy that caught that ball on 4th and 10 in OT was mccray's man. mccray wasn't even sure if he should be in the game until about 1 second before the snap.

we have not looked that bad in years on defense. i mean it really looked like they didn't care if we won or lost. zenon got "hurt" on one play and steltz went and told him to get up then ran off to be involved in the next play. zenon just gingerly started walking up to the play and then to the sidelines. finally pellini just threw someone in and we ran the play.

but it was sad, really sad, how lost, confused and apathetic we looked on defense.

 

I don't disagree with everything you say...but there ARE some inaccuracies.

You go on and on about how Saban blew teams out...but he was also BLOWN out by those same teams on more than one occasion. Miles has been blown out once. Also, you talk about Miles always playing to the level of the comp...like Troy and UAB and Kentucky (two last minute lucky plays and one loss)...wait...that was Saban. Or Arkansas or Iowa (two last minute BLOWN coverages by "Mr. Blitz no matter what")...wait...Saban again. My point is this...why do an exam on Miles, if the grading curve is Saban? No need for analysis like this. Saban is the coach at Alabama...where he just lost to MSU and UL friggin' M.

Miles DOES blow some teams out. See Miami and ND in bowl games (that's called making proper preparations), and VT and MSU this regular season. VT is a top 10 BCS team, by the way...and MSU isn't the MSU of the past decade. By the way, your boy Saban was TOTALLY outcoached by Croom this year...TOTALLY.

The Ole Miss game last week was not as close as you make it sound. We won by 17...did you know? The Bama game in '05 was against UNDEFEATED Bama...not a poor Bama team. Yeah, it took OT...to beat an undefeated top 5 team in November at their house...so what? And last year, we beat them by two touchdowns. And that "average" UT team last year was also top 10 in November...#8, if I recall...as was Arky IN Arky...#5, I believe...in November again, so not some early season "hype" rankings.

You say you're not "one of those fans that think we should go undefeated every year" or that "10 wins a season isn't good enough", yet here you complain about a coach the doesn't have a single season at LSU without 10 wins. You say you would be happy to "have a shot" at the NC "every now and then"...then be happy! I got news for you...we got a shot next year, friend.

It took 6 OT's in two games to lose our shot THIS year...with "all that talent".:rolleye33: USC has WAY more * power than us, and UF and OU and ND and F$U and tOSU and.........has equal talent to us. You just PERCIEVE our talent to be superior than everyone else, because...well...because you're a fan. We have no more talent than any of the teams I mentioned above...and far less than USC. We have very few 5* players...and our starting QB and RB are certainly not superstars. If I'm not mistaken, our starting RB this year was a TWO star out of high school.

Judge him (Miles) after next year...when the blue chippers HE recruited hit the field. If it's not Perrilloux, then it'll be Lee...along with Williams, Scott, Murphy, and Holliday in the backfield, and D. Byrd, Lafell, and Tolliver at the wide receivers. Then there's gonna be Chad Jones, Phelon Jones, Barksdale, Corley, and other non skill position blue chippers contributing as well. Judge him then...although, sadly...he may not even be here for you to judge...and we can say that whoever's coaching is winning another 10 games with HIS players.:thumb:

 

See the Iowa bowl loss, and the Arky loss in '02 as examples of what happens when you blitz unneccessarily. What we SHOULD have done is COVERED THE FRIGGIN' FULLBACK! That's on McCray, not any coach.

The only play that sticks out to me as a bad playcall was the final play. I don't ever remember needing two yards, and not getting them from Hester. Flynn had tunnelvision on that play...never even looked at another receiver. That's on him...but we should've run Hester. In fact, we probably should've run Hester after the TD in the first OT...just get it over with then and there. Our defense was exhausted and plagued with injuries.

 

One other thing before I take questions...

Ask Nebraska about Solich/Callahan before you start firing the coach, guys. What's the difference? We had success under Saban, they had success under Osborne (WAAAYYYY more than we had under Saban). The successor comes in and wins and wins and wins, but doesn't get a championship, so out he goes after just a short time. Then, well...Callahan happens, and they're kicking themselves right about now, after their defense gives up a BASKETBALL score yesterday...to COLORADO! No, they're not kicking themselves...they're in the early stages of another coaching search.

Think about it...and "Love the one you're with".:hihi:

 

Here's the way I see it. Anyone who has not played football at the Division 1 level, or coached at least at the high school level, is probably NOT qualified to know (usually) if one coach was out-coached by the other. (There are certainly exceptions but unless you have intimate knowledge of the skills and weaknesses of the individual players AND the strengths and weaknesses of the oppositions players, have looked at a helluva lot of film, are an expert in technique of the various positions and how all of these fit into the entire scheme of things, we are all just shooting off our mouths (though it is admitted that this is our right as fans and we stand on the shoulders of giants in doing so).)

However, is seems to me that we can look at those things that a head coach is supposed to do and form some sort of legitimate impression as to how good or bad a coach is doing. I believe that there are three main tasks with which a head coach is charged and upon which he should be judged. Recruiting, assembling a coaching staff, and game preparation. (I'm sure there are others and would appreciate anybody including other major responsibilities.)

So how is Miles doing in these three areas?

Recruiting - I believe the record shows that Miles is at least as good a recruiter as Saban. I understand that recruiting for LSU in Louisiana is easier than say recruiting for Texas Tech in Texas, but nonetheless, Miles has come up with top recruiting classes and there is no reason to think this won't continue.

Coaching staff - Miles has brought in two of the best coordinators in the country. Both have shown themselves very capable at LSU and at other positions with top tier teams.

The posisiotn coaches are more difficult for the average fan to judge. I know next to noting about technique utilized in playing the various positions and this is primarly (along with recruiting) what position coaches are supposed to do.

However, on the defensive side of the ball, we have several players that have been and will be drafted by the pros (on the line, linebackers and DBs) and, although they came to LSU with talent, NO high school player is anywhere close to a finished product and it takes good coaches to develop the individual player's talents... so I'm guessing the defensive position coaches are all somewhere above average.

On the offense, the receivers have certainly improved as the year has progressed, so I believe the receivers' coach must be good. I know less about the quality of coaching at the quarterback or OL positions... if anybody with a football background can comment I would appreciate the critique.

Nevertheless, I believe Miles has assembled at the very least an above average (and possibly a well above average) staff, even for a school the status of LSU.


Game preparation - Miles only other head coaching position was at Oklahoma State. There, with decidedly less talent, he was able to beat Oklahoma 2 times in a four year span (and when Oklahoma was at the top of its game) and came away with the best record that school had for many years before his arrival and better than it has had since his departure. Could just be luck but I believe it is indicative of quality of head coach.

A legitimate comparison can, and should, be made to Saban's record while at LSU. Not counting Saban's first year, his record at LSU was 40 and 12 for a 77% W/L record. Miles so far is 32 and 4 for an 89% W/L record, which is 15% better.

I will not recap the Miles v Saban record against ranked teams, but previous posters have shown that Miles' record is significantly better than is Saban's. In the four Saban years being compared he went to and won two Sugar bowls. In Miles three years he has been to and won one.

One thing that Saban did that Miles has not yet done is win a BCS championship. But, does anybody remember the incredible series of events that were necessary for LSU to get to the championship game? How many old timers remember the board's statistical gurus giving an almost daily update on what needed to happen - the last one being Southern Miss defeating Cal? My point is, not only does it take a really good team to play for the national championship, it also takes a lot of luck.

Does anybody on this board not believe that there are at least five or six teams this year (and just about every year) that COULD have played for the national championship if just one or two plays during the course of the year had turned out differently or just one or two key players had not been injured? How many "blow outs" have these teams had this year compared to LSU? I may be mistaken, but I believe at this level of competition there are several teams that have talent levels comparable to LSU's (including tow or three just in the SEC).

Do we really want to make the mistake of Nebraska four years ago, or San Diego in the NFL last year? Do we really want to get rid of a coach with an almost 90% WINNING record in the toughest conference in the country because he hasn't done something in three years that some really great coaches have done only once or twice in their entire career? How many national championships has Joe Paterno won? Anybody think that in his prime he wasn't an excellent coach? Bobby Bowden? Would you have fired him ten years ago?

My point is that, as with the dog and his bone, we need to make sure we don't throw away a VERY good sure thing for something that might just be a mirage or reflection. I am certainly willing to admit that we MIGHT be able to get someone better than Miles, but the chances are we will get someone no better, and quite possibly worse.

 

I think the players are "up" for the game. I like Miles alot the only thing I wonder about is the seemingly way we come out in every game and have to make adjustments to win. I mean every team makes adjustments but it seems like we have "no plan" for the first half. Almost like, "lets see what they do and we'll adjust to it" Reactionary ball instead of domination ball. Play your game and see if the others can keep up.

It happened in several games this year and yeah it worried me, way too many exciting games. I like dull boring games where we win big time. Yes I know its the SEC but like the dude said, look at all the OTHER SEC games. We're the only ones making this stuff a nail biter in the SEC.

makes me wonder if they watch the films and if they do, is it all fun and popcorn or is there some lead pencils being snapped?

I dunno but someone does and regardless of the record I dont know if my ticker can take another year of nail biters. :lol:

I still think he has 50 times more integrity than Saban does and that is a big part of being a coach unless its changed

 

First of all, gely33,
Please quit mentioning about how Saban has never been outcoached, etc. That guy lost to UL MONROE with ALABAMA. I don't care if he's not at LSU now, he should have beaten UL Monroe even if his whole defensive line was blitzing in wheelchairs. They are consistently one of the worst teams in Division I football and sometimes the absolute worst. I think it's safe to say he was outcoached. Hell, even in our national championship year he got outcoached by Ron Zook. His scheme for that game was better than Saban's. I didn't think Saban got outcoached much, but it happened to him as well.

As for Miles, I like the guy and think he's a pretty good coach with all things considered (recruiting, hiring coaches, winning, etc.) Also, I don't think we've lost to a poor team since he's been here, so that's a positive as well. However, I'm not the biggest fan because of some of the following:

-Charles Scott - 1 carry yesterday against a tired D - That makes no sense to me. We should have been using him as well because he has looked like a beast recently, but barely gets in. When he caught the one pass, he almost took it to the house

-Trindon - I know he was hurt yesterday, but he's almost been wasted this year. He's barely had any touches, yet when he has gotten a touch he's been awesome and electrifying. USE HIM MORE! He's the fastest football player I've EVER seen.

-Offense seriously lacking originality - We had some earlier in the year, but it has vanished game by game.

-Defense - Teams have NOTHING to be scared of with this D. We attacked early on, but now we just sit back and let the QB pick us apart even on 4th AND 10 WITH A NATIONAL TITLE ON THE LINE!!! NO EXCUSE.

-Also on defense, it's apparent to me that we will play guys no matter how tired or hurt they are. I don't think Dorsey is near 100% and if he is, then he is very overrated. He has not had a major impact in the last few games. I'm not sure we shouldn't have rested him at some point or for a previous game. And when our team ran out for the 3rd OT, I knew it was over. They looked defeated and weren't looking at the crowd or anything. You knew they had no juice left and couldn't stop ARK. I would have started putting in a few other fresh guys to help out.

-Special Teams (Punt receiving)- We're not aggresive and rarely even get a return. Yet, there seems to be no real concern about it.

-No sense of urgency - Even yesterday, we appreared way too relaxed when trailing very late. There is faith and then there is stupidity. Calling that crazy screen play to K. Williams was about as stupid as it gets on 4th and 1, and we luckily got it. But that summed it up for me. We were running all over them and we try that play that we haven't run all year with everything on the line? That's using no brains there...
The 2-point conversion was stupid as well. A straight up pass in that situation is a very low % play. We've got Hester, Williams, Scott and a running QB and we didn't use their strenghts at all with the season on the line. CRAZY.

These are big concerns that need to be addressed. We've had wayyyyyy too many fortunate escapes since Miles has been here. You expect some naturally because it's football. But we've hit our limit and finally ran out of fortune. Hopefully, they will try to make some adjustments because we haven't been making any lately.

 

Uuh, ya takin' questions yet?:huh:

 

It is not the end of the year.

His winning percentage is higher than that. You think it's going to drop drastically?

I've said all along that Pelini is a very good DC, but not as great as people thought at times. None the less, our defense is still among the best in the country.

:nope: Lacks strong decision making skills, like going for it on 4th down several times to beat Florida or going for the TD against Auburn. Whether you believe the calls were right or wrong, they certainly were strong.

Saban didn't either. Miles & Saban's non-qualifiers & number of kids kicked off the team are about equal.

False.

And yet that didn't stop Saban from aggressively recruiting him.

The media isn't afraid of Miles like they were Saban. A lot more stuff got swept under the rug when Saban was here. Barrington Edwards shot a girl with a pellet gun & was kicked off the team. You would crucify Miles if it had been one of his recruits & done the same thing.

Perhaps you haven't noticed. The SEC has like 9 bowl teams this year. It's a tough league & games are always close - for every team.

Oh, and I guess bowl-eligible Mississippi State is conveniently ignored here.

What's more important, winning, or dominating? A W is a W. I'll take Miles wins without domination over Saban's losses.

Most teams usually lose that one game. That's why no team has repeated as BCS National Champs.

This was, of course, not good. But I blame Bertman as it was at his request.

:lol: Laughable. We have won our tough games in the 4th quarter due to adjustments.

If our expectation is that we can fire a coach who has won as well as Miles has & hire a better coach, then our expectations are too high. What coach would come to a program that will fire a man with a record such as Miles'? And it's not as if the program has been on the way down like with Coker. Every year our team has gotten better under Miles.

I'd say that the upcoming SECCG truly counts. Why don't we wait & see how he coaches for that one?

 

Everybody comparing winning percentagse between Saban and Miles is fooling themselves. Saban took over LSU at their worst and it took him a couple of years to build the program. Of course his percentage would be lower than Miles. Miles inherited the finished product that Saban started.


Saban = 2 SEC titles and 1 NC

Miles = 0 SEC titles and 0 NC


Under Miles, this team has consistently been undisciplined and unprepared. That's coaching. Period.