What is your biggest complaint about Miles? Lack of time management skills? Generally poor execution? Not playing many young players? Mine would be the inability to utilize electric playmakers. LSU has had several electric playmakers over the past several years, and we never seem to utilize them well. It's never more than 5 touches a game. As a true freshman trying to learn several positions, I can understand Shep not seeing more PT this year, but if we do not see a SUBSTANTIAL dose of Russel Shepard next season - I'll be incredibly, incredibly dissapointed.
It's not a disappointment as much as a concern. Miles, to me, is a CEO coach. I have tons of respect for the culture he has built at LSU. I think he gives (and gets back) tons of respect. But that kind of a coach needs really good X and O guys that he can trust to run the show when the game is on the line. The team of Crowton and Miles has not instilled a ton of confidence in this area at times. And I use the play of Russell Shepard this season as a prime example. It's really dumbfounding how that guy wasn't lighting it up toward the end of this season.
My biggest complaint is the heart condition Miles is giving me at only 31 years old. There are two many close games where we are "playing down" to opponents. I wish there was more of a killer instinct to run away from the mid-level SEC teams, such as Miss State and Arkansas. Those two games this year nearly killed me.
What else is there to say? Its already been said. I don't have much confidence in this coaching staff after watching the SEC championship game. I love college football and anything can happen. I will root for LSU no matter what. I will also say that there is more to life than football but the way I see it LSU football has slipped a few notches down the ladder. There is now Florida or a team out of the east and Alabama, everyone else will be behind them for at least a few years. Thats just the way I see it, like it or not.
I guess my 1 issue, and it is a weird one, is his unwavering loyalty. That is usually a great trait, but sometimes his loyalty gets the better of him. Crowton and the Co-DCs come to mind.
Player development. We had the talent on the offensive line, but they underachieved all year. I think an elite offensive line is THE most important component of a championship team. You don't need a superstar QB when you can rush for 200+ yards a game and can keep the other team;s offense from seeing the field.
The Co-DCs should not have even lasted 1/2 the season. It did not work from the start. I respect the man, Les Miles, for being loyal and keeping them till they found other jobs and not outright firing them. I just think the coach, Les Miles, should have fixed that problem a bit quicker.
I would agree, although I think that this has just as much to do with Crowton as it does Miles. Crowton's philosophy seems to be this: "If a play works great once, abandon it for the rest of the game.The other team will not only recognize it instantly, but also defend it perfectly. If a play doesn't work at all, keep trying it over and over because the other team will never think that we'll keep running it and will totally be planning on something else." Two great examples that I can think of from the 2007 season: 1. Charles Scott running all over Kentucky in the first half, then basically not touching the ball until the end of the game. But by that point, it was too late. 2. Kieland Williams making a beautiful run on a screen for a TD early in the game vs Auburn, then basically going into the locker room. As a result, we needed a miracle to pull this game off. I chose 2007 because that was his most successful campaign here, but there are countless examples of that happening this season. Clearly, the biggest victim of his idiocy this year was Russell Sheppard. Watching him call plays is like beating your head against the wall. However, much of this responsibility lies with Miles, too. As a head coach, you must assert your authority when one of your assistants is not producing. It's frustrating as hell to watch other teams find something that's working and just wear their opponents down with it, then our game comes on and we basically play patty-cake with our opposition.
