Apples and oranges. Bear Bryant coached during an era where consistent success at a school guaranteed a lifetime tenure for a coach. Bryant also dominated college football in the 60s in a way that has been unmatched ever since, and brought home far more NCs than Les Miles, Nick Saban, Urban Meyer, or any other modern coach ever will. Today, there is simply too much parity in player AND coaching talent, not just in the SEC but also nationwide, to guarantee that kind of success at the highest level, year after year. Today's hot-shot coach with his next big thing schemes quickly become yesterday's news as other coaches figure them out. Adaptability is key. Ironically, that tends to favor CEO coaches like Les who aren't married to a particular offensive/defensive philosophy, and can change assistants as needs arise.
The second thing is that there is FAR more money involved today than ever in this sport. Season ticket-holders have seen their ticket prices and their TAF fees rise substantially over the years, as well as merchandise prices go up, to pay for state-of-the-art facilities and, yes, coaches' salaries. Supporting the team now eats up a larger chunk of fans' household money than ever, especially in a very tough economy. The result? When fans see a sub-par product on the field relative to the resources (their money) poured into it, they're going to demand accountability and that changes be made. And rightfully so. If I hired an employee who performed admirably in the past, but does mediocre work now with the generous resources I give him, why should I sit back, accept his shoddy work without question, and continue to handsomely reward sub-par results because once upon a time he performed much better? A line in the sand has to be drawn, and the employee has to understand that good will due to his past work will only get him by for so long until he shapes up, or else I find someone who will perform to expectations.
LSU fans have to make a choice. We can go back to the mediocrity of the Dinardo years, sit in the bottom tier of the SEC and watch Bama, Florida, Arkansas (and possibly Auburn) flourish, and be happy with the occasional upset. Or we can pony up the resources necessary to get the personnel we need to become an elite program again. Les Miles still has time to turn things around and get the right people for the job. He rose to the occasion last year when he revamped the defensive staff. But his window of opportunity continues to shrink year by year. It's time to show that he can perform the way he did pre-2007.
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