OT - Rumblings in the Bayou
Les rumblings getting loader and louder, now supposedly holding a "special team meeting"
http://www.nola.com/recruiting/index.ssf/2015/11/les_miles_to_hold_spec…
November 23rd, 2015 at 10:17 AM ^
has been a pretty epic collapse.
November 23rd, 2015 at 10:34 AM ^
Snatched their souls away like Shang Tsung.
November 23rd, 2015 at 11:26 AM ^
LSU lost @Alabama, Arkansas, and @Ole Miss. I think you hope they win one or two of those games, but there is no shame in losing those 3 games.
I think LSU will probably empty the bank to get a big name to replace Miles, but the expectations in the SEC West have gone batshit crazy if that is a collapse.
November 23rd, 2015 at 11:30 AM ^
went from unbeaten and ranked #2 in the country to three straight losses and a "special meeting?" May not be an all out Rich Rod collapse but I think it qualifies.
November 23rd, 2015 at 11:45 AM ^
Their schedule was backloaded and that was the only reason they were #2 at that point because they were undefeated after wins over overrated Auburn & Florida to start the season. LSU was actually only preseason #14 with Alabama #3, Auburn #6, Ole Miss #17, and Arkansas #18. They were expected in the preseason to finish 3rd or 4th in the SEC West. Someone has to lose out of that group of teams (and it was actually Auburn who took the brunt, not even LSU). If they win this weekend against Texas A&M, they will finish 8-3 (should be 9-3 but their bodybag season opener got cancelled) ahead of the Egg Bowl loser, Texas A&M, & Auburn. They have pretty much played to their preseason expectations. LSU consistently plays one of the toughest schedules in the nation right now in the SEC West with Florida as their fixed crossover game. Expectations are crazy if you expect to be a top 5 team with that schedule year in and year out.
By your definition, almost every team in the SEC West has undergone a collapse this year including Alabama post-Ole Miss home loss.
November 23rd, 2015 at 12:02 PM ^
Every week I ask myself, "Why in the world was Auburn #6 preseason?"
November 23rd, 2015 at 12:21 PM ^
Because they are in the SEC.
November 23rd, 2015 at 6:37 PM ^
More realistically, I think because people had faith in Malzahn to voodoo up a great QB just like Baylor or Okie State do every year.
Imagine how crappy Okie State and Baylor would be if all of a sudden they couldn't find a QB who could deal. They'd be 7-5 teams. Same seemed to happen to Auburn.
November 24th, 2015 at 1:07 AM ^
Baylor's down to their third-string quarterback and they haven't missed a beat. It must not be as QB-dependent as you think, or they recruit the position so heavily and so well that they've got three great quarterbacks on the roster at a time.
November 23rd, 2015 at 1:01 PM ^
Les has been trending down since 2011 and I imagine it is frustrating to see any team with Fournette to drop 3 in a row. The man always recruits, but I think the best is behind him.
November 23rd, 2015 at 11:29 AM ^
Isn't LSU financially fucked as an institution? Are they that desperate to throw away 15 million dollars with the #1 recruiting class coming in for 2016?
I don't understand the deep south... people are ridiculous.
Here's hoping they go back to where they were pre-Saban/Miles
November 23rd, 2015 at 11:33 AM ^
I would imagine LSU's athletic department is self-sufficient. Tiger Stadium now holds 102,000.
November 23rd, 2015 at 11:42 AM ^
self sufficient. But that's not relevant in college athletics. That football team needs to subsidize other sports.
$18M to broom a coach and then the millions for new coach is not chump change for any athletic department.
November 23rd, 2015 at 11:46 AM ^
Here we had Michigan fretting over 3-4 million dollar buyouts with RR and Hoke...
18 mill? Christ... I wonder how much Michigan has to do with LSU giving Miles that ridiculously high buyout number haha.
November 23rd, 2015 at 11:49 AM ^
I don't know their financial stiuation, but there wouldn't be rumors of his imminent firing if it were finally impossible. Either they must have a lot in reserve or boosters are promising to step up.
November 23rd, 2015 at 12:12 PM ^
That's how it works at some other SEC schools too. They end up with a lot to say about hiring decisions.
November 23rd, 2015 at 12:19 PM ^
You do mean south of Findlay, OH, right?
November 23rd, 2015 at 10:18 AM ^
The last 3 games have been qutie bad for LSU, but as Nebraska has shown just firing your coach doesn't mean things automatically get better.
November 23rd, 2015 at 10:19 AM ^
and here come the RR supporters...
/s
/ducks for starting this argument again
November 23rd, 2015 at 10:21 AM ^
November 23rd, 2015 at 10:42 AM ^
about the "only if he had gotten one more year" people and their close friends the "he never got full support from anyone" people...
November 23rd, 2015 at 11:25 AM ^
November 23rd, 2015 at 11:05 AM ^
it's all Title IX's fault
November 23rd, 2015 at 11:58 AM ^
You forgot to demand Lloyd Carr reveal what he knew and when he knew it. The weirdest part of that nutjob's lunacy was his depiction of Lloyd Carr as some sort of Machavellian overlord of a shadowy cabal of Michigan insiders who were secretly destroying RichRod from on high.
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November 24th, 2015 at 1:14 AM ^
...because Carr never created an account here to go on record with a refutation.
-----
Getting back on topic, though...one thing I've learned over the past few years is that when certain important boosters turn on a coach, recruiting can go south in a hurry. (Or maybe the correct phrase in this context is "go north"?) Once it gets to the point that the boosters are funding the buyout, the school probably doesn't have much choice.
It's sort of like early retirement. You may not want it, but when they offer it you know the alternative to acceptance is probably undesirable.
November 23rd, 2015 at 11:59 AM ^
"those damn LIBRULLL regents!
^^^^ logged in just to upvote this.
November 23rd, 2015 at 11:39 AM ^
What's the connection to RR? Just that they were the two candidates in 2007?
November 23rd, 2015 at 10:19 AM ^
With the current state of the SEC West, if they get rid of Miles and roll the dice on a new hire it could take a decade for them to crawl back out of the hole they dig themselves into.
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November 23rd, 2015 at 11:00 AM ^
LSU may not be that appealing to the top candidates either. If the fanbase's expectations are so lofty that they're going to run off a coach that has done for them what Miles has, why would anyone with any good options want to go there?
November 23rd, 2015 at 11:17 AM ^
taking a job at a top program knows he needs to win. Doesn't matter whether it's LSU, USC, Texas, etc.
Miles has lost 3 games every year for the last 4 years: 10-3, 10-3, 8-5, 7-3. The last time LSU won the West division was 2011. LSU could definitely do worse than Miles, but he's starting ot slip into Carr/Mack Brown territory.
November 23rd, 2015 at 11:33 AM ^
The Carr and Brown replacements hardly make the case for change.
November 23rd, 2015 at 11:49 AM ^
That's fair, but I think this year he let his team fall victim to the old cliche of not letting a team beat you twice.
I think the Alabama loss stayed with them a little too long and cost them another game. From that point, they were in a tail spin.
I think it's one of the most impressive things that Harbaugh did this year after the MSU loss. That very easily could have cost them the Minnesota game, but he kept their spines full of steel.
November 23rd, 2015 at 12:10 PM ^
Spines of steel or not, Michigan loses that game to Minnesota with decent clock management by the Gophers at the end.
November 23rd, 2015 at 1:30 PM ^
you know that for a fact? if they stopped them then whats to say minny ever gets in? its easy to say something else would of worked... after the fact.
November 23rd, 2015 at 12:40 PM ^
Earl Bruce record over the past several years. He is fireable, but I think it would be a dumb move by LSU. Its a gamble that is less likely to pay off than to fail.
November 23rd, 2015 at 11:47 AM ^
Fans make this argument all the time but I don't think there's much to it. Alabama ran off a bunch of guys and it didn't scare off Saban. USC was able to poach Washington's coach even after going through a few coaches (and I expect them to land a good coach this year as well). Elite coaches don't expect to fail, so they don't worry about fan expectations.
November 23rd, 2015 at 9:20 PM ^
I feel like LSU is probably just going to rob from one of the Mississippi schools anyway.
November 23rd, 2015 at 11:26 AM ^
I laugh and cringe every time I see that gif. Regardless upvote for you.
November 23rd, 2015 at 12:40 PM ^
Well hey! I cringe everytime I see you post a gif for a laugh!
November 23rd, 2015 at 6:14 PM ^
MGoAlexander, welcome back!!!
November 23rd, 2015 at 6:50 PM ^
There are more than one person who are wise to your act.
November 23rd, 2015 at 8:38 PM ^
As they are to yours!
November 23rd, 2015 at 10:22 AM ^
a buy out and get out before the posse surrounds you Coach.
He will be unemployed for a few days at the most.
November 23rd, 2015 at 10:25 AM ^
This is probably the best time for Les to be unemployed. He basically has his pick of the litter with all the coaching openings right now.
November 23rd, 2015 at 10:28 AM ^
November 23rd, 2015 at 6:45 PM ^
Dude has won a national title, recruits great, and has elite defenses almost every year. Schools will be tripping over themselves to hire Les first and he'll be $15MM richer.
If rumors are true that Les is tired of being unappreciated in the bayou, he might love to get fired. Get out of a job you're tired of AND get 15 million? Where do I sign?
November 23rd, 2015 at 9:24 PM ^
turning a team around is a project that can take up to 4 years, Les is 62 years old. He's more likely to retire than be entrusted with the great Trojan reclamation project. I get that people like Les because they'd literally inject themselves with ebola if it was in a maize and blue vile, but his national reputation is not that of a coaching genius and he's too old to get any kind of major job.
November 23rd, 2015 at 10:29 AM ^
If LSU is stupid enough to fire Les he'll have his choice of all of the top jobs available this year.
Might be fun to see him at USC.
November 23rd, 2015 at 11:29 AM ^
Which USC??? If he were to go to South Carolina, he could stlll probably leverage his recruiting contacts in the South and the ees eee see east is a tad easier than the west division is. I wonder of he is a "cultural" fit at the other USC.