Your first paragraph I totally agree with. The second, I don't necessarily DISagree with...but this must be understood... You don't have a YEAR or TWO of being elite...unless you pull a Bama and go undefeated for two consecutive seasons in the SEC...2 SECCGs...a SECCG win...and a BCSNCG appearance, and victory. That, coupled with their recruiting, history, and yes, leadership, allow them to be included in the currently elite...even though it's only been a couple of years. With that said, you cannot find 10 teams more "elite" than LSU right now...and will struggle to find 5. USC is not more "elite" than LSU right now. They are AS "elite", but not more. tOSU, maybe...but they were exposed by the strength of the SEC...twice in a row...one against LSU. Not on the same level. The '06 team would've beaten them by 40. The BCS era is what I'm considering "right now". LSU is one of 2 schools with 2 :crystal:, and that's mighty elite, IMHO. Yeah, it's history, but it's RECENT history...pretty much current events.
Well I think you can go both ways with this. You can say that LSU fans are just being way too critical after the last few years of success. But you can also make the point that people outside the fan base are missing the little things and only looking at the final record. The last couple of seasons are starting to throw those things into the spotlight (Les' clock management, player development, etc.) Miami was once one of the biggest programs in college football. And all it took was one coach to take it from the pinnacle to mediocrity, and they are still trying to recover from that. LSU fans are trying to figure out whether Les is the next Larry Coker before it's too late to do anything about it. And with Miles locked into a $3.75M salary with the AD too cheap to even get rid of underperforming assistants, all that money pouring in has been getting less and less mileage the last couple of years. Some of the reasons for that are on the coaches; others aren't, but it has become increasingly difficult to argue that LSU has been getting its money's worth from its post-2007 investment. LSU played a big role in ushering in the 7-figure HC salary era, but that's no guarantee that we will stay there.
I guess if we look deeper the real question is not where have we been. We all know the last decade was elite among CFB, even if the last two were a slight hiccup, the overall body of work was great. The real question is where are we going? With the last two years leaving a sour taste in most every fan’s mouth people want to see into the future, they want some indicators to prepare for festive times or prepare to ride out the storm. These are the two schools of thought. We are not going downhill this is a fluke every school has them. We will be fine. The other is that the last two years are a tell tail sign of what is to come. Based on the last decade and the recruiting strength year in and year out, LSU will be fine and this is just a hiccup. We do have the same coach that helped us to one of those BCS trophies at the helm now. In summary, we cant expect to win the BCS every year or even compete for it year in and year out, with the parity in the SEC these days we could call these last two years “ reloading” years. Folks are too hard on Miles, when you look back at Saban’s years here when we didn’t win the BCS, some of those years were littered with close calls too. Remember the blue grass miracle? Some think Jamarcus threw that ball but it was Randall. And what about those close games Jamarcus did get us out of? Could it be that CFB is just a lot more even these days ? probably so. We didnt win a BCS trophy those yrs did we? I honestly think to win a NC EVERYTHING has to be in place, great coaching , if just for one year, great talent, a lil luck etc. so we probably shouldn’t expect to play for that EVERY year. Look at the aubies undefeated season… luck just wasn’t a part of it for them that year. Look at us in 07 two losses? Come on that’s a lil bi of luck right there call it what you want. And WE DID earn it, I’m not saying that. We’re fine stop worrying. Yep sounds good. Not a bad analysis and just as likely to be true as any other. I cant say I disagree. BUT! Then there is the argument that says because we do recruit so well, with the talent we have it is simply a matter of preparing those young men and giving them the opportunity to compete at least in the SEC CG every year. After all we have the facilities and the money that isn’t in question. Some would say with the lock we have on state talent we should have some Florida type seasons, hey say what you want about us and florida being even with 2 crystal trophies BUT I do believe U of F was “ in the hunt” during the years they didn’t win it. Well when they werent it was because we knocked them out of it. AND please don’t say tebow, we recruit as well as they do… or do we? I don’t think anyone could argue that coaching was not at a premium last year, and it could even be said that BIG talent can cover a multitude of sins, coaching being one of them. We did for all of me look like we were playing sand lot football out there at times these last two years and the superior talent squeaked a few wins out for us. And our QB experience fell off very sharply the last two years, arguably we had to throw in what we had untested. So the talent, undeveloped, as it was, or lack there of …was probably a factor. Combine this with an undersized line and we may have some indicators. Notably, Players have down years so who’s to say coaches don’t? Frustration sets in, QB is dismissed, things get sketchy, the season is underway… not making excuses but we DID stumble our way to all of the wins these last two years. We really didn’t impress much, losing to some teams we normally compete with and barely beating teams we normally dominate. Yesthe record wasnt terible but we played UGLY football. Playing ugly football is kinda like sleepin with a fat chick or riding a moped to town, it might be fun to do but you don’t want your friends to see you doing it. :redface: We‘d rather not have the media see us play “ugly “ ball. Its just not us, regardless of how you justify it. Ok so we are rebuilding? We won’t know the answer to that until this next season. That's the reason the original poster started this thread. We all want to know the answer to the question he asked. Many here will say they know but they don’t really. No one does. Oh they always reference the 90’s as if there is a football God out there somewhere we shouldn’t piss off by expecting to win. They don’t mind riding the moped to town or sleepin with the fat chick cause that’s what they did in the 90’s…and everyone saw :insane: We certainly have great recruiting classes to rebuild with that’s for sure… or do we? We won at recruiting but did we recruit well for LSU’s needs? Maybe.. Most everyone agrees we need to fix some stuff……All this is easy to SAY, not so easy to do. Hind sight is 20/20… it’s the future we are debating here. Regardless of how rosey your attitude is, the state of things as they are presently, not in 07….. needs some mending. Ray Charles can see that… the argument is ….. how broken is it? Not very or beyond repair? Yes I would betcha a dollar to a donut that MILES is fully, painfully aware of all this. He is no dummy as others have said, he knows what was wrong and where he fell short. I have no doubt he will make every effort to right the ship. It all boils down to an attitude or outlook. Do you see the glass half full or half empty? It’s easy to tell when it’s really empty or over flowing. The 90’s were empty, 03-07 was full… I do believe this IS definitely a defining year coming up, especially for Coach Miles. Arguably with the talent we get we should be close to the top 2 teams in the SEC every year. If we do that the rest will take care of itself in the luck dept. I think the recruits we have gotten the last few years while ranked very high, haven’t always panned out, as evidence by the line, and some other key positions. I cant say what strategies should we adopt in recruiting but having the top 10 class is a start. If we can focus our recruiting more to a final product , hone our game day coaching skills, our player development, and our offensive co ordination, I think we can have a dahm strong football team and maybe get at least one more BCS trophy in the upcoming decade.
There is a third school of thought that says: when your previously second-tier football program achieves first-tier success for an extended period of time, some of the fan base, particularly those obsessed enough to devote time to message boards :lol:, will forget what second-tier football really looks and feels like. Instead, they will view any non-championship, non-Top 10 year as a sure sign of impending doom. The point is: it's not a fluke; it's not "tell tale"; it's life in rare-air. As for defining years, I think 2010 is a year of possibilities, but 2011 is the defining year. Maybe not win a MNC, but certainly should be in the hunt to the bitter end. Based on recruiting and the number of seniors likely on the roster in 2011, that team should be dynamite. If it isn't, and there's not some crazy azz RP-type catastrophe, then there's nowhere else to look but coaching. Because the talent is there in spades.
I'm sure you can find a glory hole pretty easily and maybe it will actually be Saban on the other side.
With the kind of recruiting Miles has been doing, I suspect LSU will remain a force to be reckoned with for the foreseeable future.
You didnt read the whole post, if you had you'd see I covered the 90's ghosts that are in some of the fan's closet. You didnt mind riding that moped to town to see the fat chick I would assume? just an analogy no harm meant... also 2011 might be when the team is loaded with ripe recruits Mile's picked but make NO MISTAKE... Miles will be on the hot seat more next year. He doesnt necessarily have to go 10 or 11 and X but they cant play ugly ball.... if they do, someone is going under the bus and no it wont be because of this post, it will be the media and the pressure put on the admin... dont ever think they cant sway a AD to make a change, they can they have and they will again, becuase they help pay for tickets.
The little things are just that, little things. If Les Miles cannot fix the LITTLE THINGS then its simple, NO NEW CONTRACT AFTER 2011. Do any of you think that LSU will fall off the map by 2011? No way in hell. Recruits + Money = WIN The 46 mil a year just from football will not suddenly take a 50% drop because of a few down years which to 80% of the CFB nation is a good year. As bad as some say the coachin is here, Les miles WILL, Go to 2 more bowls and will win at least 1 of them.
