Ok, I would prefer this not turn into a huge debacle where the Miles bashers insist that Miles is the worst coach this side of their autistic pedophile pee-wee assistant while the supporters continually defend Miles with stats while conveniently ignoring our drastic decline in performance over the past few years. All I really want to know is, what do you think caused the change? Thinking back to 2007......our playbook was, in my opinion, phenomenal. We ran bubble screens and shovel passes, beautiful play action passes, a great variety of running plays, even a few fake punts, and one of the best fake field goals EVER. Our playbook was varied, wide open, intelligently called, and very effective. Miles came to be known as the "Mad-Hatter" for his gambles, showing that he believed in the talent and the skill of his team to turn the odds in his favor even when we needed to go 5 for 5 on 4th downs, or throw a last second pass to win the game. That is all completely gone now and I don't understand why. Its almost like we are being coached by a completely different person. So, what happened? Where did that confident, gunslinger, kill-em-all spirit go? We are just as, if not more, loaded with talent as we were back then. What do you think caused the change? Was it the QB mess? Is it Crowton? Where did it go and what do we need to do to get it back? Jester
Sorry, I have no answer or opinion to give, but this is a great question. I am all ears for responses.
Why does it always have to be the coach? In the years that LSU had a strong quarterback and a strong defense, LSU did extremely well. When we had a weak quarterback we did less well. In one year we had a weak quarterback and a weak defense and still managed 8 wins in the SEC, which is way above average.
That is exactly what I didn't want to happen......have someone charging up to defend Miles. I'm not bashing Miles. I'm merely saying that there has been a clear and obvious change in our team, easily distinguishable from simply poor QB performance, and which has been recognized by anyone who follows LSU football. I'm just curious as to the cause of the change, which I feel has been detrimental to our performance and has hindered us just as much as our deficiencies at QB and on defense. Its not about wins or losses. Its the change in attitude and the huge change in our offensive playcalling. Crowton was here in 2007, so obviously, somewhere along the line, there has been a big change in offensive philosophy. Its like they saw the success we had utilizing our talent and having variety on offense and then said, "Nah, lets not do that anymore, we need to chop this offense down to 3 or 4 running plays between the tackles, a play action or two, the option to the short side of the field, and a couple of passes." It doesn't take a genius passer to throw a jailbreak screen, a bubble screen, or a shovel pass.....plays that we have had much success with, but have disappeared from our arsenal. JJ can't run the option. Running between the tackles 5 plays in a row doesn't work. Those things would not have happened back in 2007, and the truth is Flynn, great leader tho he was, could really only be called a mediocre QB. Jefferson can, however, move fairly well, so why in the world, when we get down to the 20 yard line, would they choose to run the ball between the tackles 5 times in a row or put JJ in the shotgun. Many times Jefferson throws the ball best when he is on the move. Wouldn't it make more sense to run a bootleg pass where the defenders have to either come up to get Jefferson, opening the receiver for the pass or they decide to cover the pass, which opens up the field for Jefferson to gain considerable yards or a TD. It seems so simple, and I don't claim to be more football savvy that Miles or Crowton, but sometimes it seems as if they intentionally avoid the plays that would be most effective. Apparently you think the change was solely due to poor QB performance. I'm just curious what everyone else thinks.
I haven't seen that big of a change in play calling, I've seen a change in offensive execution. Just curious. What makes those plays special? Why not the single-wing, the Wishbone, the flying wedge, or the ole' Statue of Liberty play? Did you miss the bubble screen in last weeks game? Actually Flynn was a very capable quarterback, just not a star, but you're getting at the problem. Think about what you said for a minute. I still don't understand "the change" you refer to. The usual Crowton critics are saying that he never changes his offense. And no, I don't place the lack of offensive execution solely on the quarterback, we had issues at running back and offensive line last year, too. But I put it mostly on the quarterback. An offensive coordinator's imagination is limited by the capabilities of his quarterbacks.
Miles switched from Herbal Essences to Suave. I honestly don't think there was a change. You don't go from taking gambles one year to not the next unless you merely just do not have any more faith in your quarterback. Remember the Matt Flynn throw to Demetrius Byrd in the endzone during the Auburn game with, something like, 6 seconds left on the scoreboard? Miles just does not have the faith for JJ or JL to make those throws. In my mind, I think Miles is thinking that it boils down to "Hey, I could take those gambles and let JJ make those throws but if it goes wrong then how will the fanbase react? My seat is already warm in their eyes." Do you want to know where Miles changed? It's the fans that made him change. When he runs on to the field and makes decisions that he, as the HEAD COACH of LSU football (no matter what these couch potato coaches say), has the right and intelligence to make and then gets boos or flak from making them then I don't know any coach who wouldn't back off the glamour plays. Who does he have to impress? Nobody. All he has to do is insure his job security and win games. By the way, I still think that Ole Miss hail mary was a beautiful and gutsy play to call for a quarterback like JJ.
Yeah, I see where you are coming from, and I agree. Despite the impression I might be giving from my post, I am an all out Miles supporter. I may not agree with some of his decisions over the past few years and I've been terribly disappointed with some of his major mistakes, but I think his is a great coach who teaches these players well, has integrity, is an amazing recruiter, and deep down, has the cojones to win another/more NC's at LSU. I kinda feel like Miles's biggest fault is his loyalty or his desire to not hurt anyone's feelings. Its a part of him being good person and thats why many players are drawn to LSU and want him for their coach. At the same time, though, in the SEC, you can't start and insist on playing a senior simply because he's "put in his time and stuck with the team", you can't defend poor performance and just hope for better next time, and you can't keep assistant coaches who are dragging the team down. I guess when it comes to gambling or taking chances, I'm not calling for lower percentage plays all of the time, but regardless of Miles confidence in JJ, our playbook has become so vanilla that there isn't an opportunity for JJ to build confidence or earn Miles trust that he can perform. As I've seen many people say, here and elsewhere, we've begun playing not to lose instead of playing to win, and that has lost us several games and almost lost us many more. You are right, though. Why would anyone want to be the coach at a place where he can win a NC, have a 0.785% winning percentage, a tremendous bowl record, and get bashed for winning 8 or 9 games. Thats a really tough position to be in.
Dinardo had a good run until the change in coordinators, then things went downhill. The change you refer to - coincides with a change in offensive coordinator.
Again, so glad we have yet another thread about what is wrong with our coach. Way to fill a need, hell just pile on one of the other negative threads.....its very easy to do, just follow the negatigers path, they are easy to spot.
