from dandydon.com Granted, there are enough good players in the described area to field a championship team, LSU still needs to go after the best players in the nation regardless of ties to Louisiana.
I think he realized last year that our best chance with success is with athletes from close by, and recruiting other kids is a lot of energy with little results. I think the increased focus on the "local" area will have more positive effects than negative ones.
Saban employed this same strategy...We can go after national talent...But we are most likely to sign guys within those boundaries...
Non-LA, TX, MS, AL players on the current roster: Ali Highsmith - FL James Welker - CA Xavier Carter - FL Keron Gordon - FL Jared Fugate - TN Patrick Fischer - MD Andrew Decker - OH Peter Dyakowski - Canada Paris Hodges - CA Dwayne Bowe - FL Charles Deas - FL Philip Loadholt - CO Perry Riley - GA Steven Singleton - GA Out of those the only starters are Bowe and Highsmith, both from Florida. Gordon and Carter have been contributors, again both from Florida. All the California and northeast players we have gotten (including B. Edwards) have not reallly contributed much on the field. The core of our team is from LA, TX, MS, AL, FL. Sounds like we'd be better served staying there.
The biggest problems I see for football are: The spring game is a real downer for the recruits. I have spoken with one who said as much. Not much fan support due to the format. Compare that with the Auburn and Alabama spring games (which draw big crowds). The recruits hang out with the team during this time, and the team isn't all that excited about just another practice. I know you have to be careful about injuries, but surely this can be made exciting for the fans and recruits somehow. Another problem is that the N.O. area will be depleted of recruits for a while thanks to Katrina. Lastly, I am sure that every school has someone go talk to the mothers with a portfolio showing what the PMAC looked like after Katrina. They will be convinced that they don't want their babies in that kind of "danger." Sounds silly, but I'll bet Darrell Arthur's mom got a good dose of that form the Kansas crowd. Now things have been great so far- you just wonder what the next few years will hold.
1. That looks just like a quote than Miles said when first coming to LSU. 2. I doubt anytihng about the spring game effects recruiting as most of the top players if not all are signed way before that and junior day is way after. 3. I'm sure some coaches due use the hurricane possiblity agaionst us, as they have vs all of the Florida schools the past several years. It's something we will always have to overcome, but in our favor is that Baton Rouge is not New Orleans geographically. 4. I think the coaching staff will always recruit the national players they want and believe they have a shot at.
Seems like you are trying a little to hard to bash Miles for whatever reason. He speaks the truth about recruiting those areas. These areas have been our bread & butter in recruiting for many years. Plus Miles has had success recruiting the state of Georgia, where Saban had no luck in 5 years. :geauxtige
That's the biggest problem you see? The spring game is a real downer for recruits? I'll tell you what I think. The recruits need to grow up and get serious about playing football. Les just doesn't like spring games. Get used to it. Scrimmages don't draw crowds, especially with LSU having two teams playing in the Final Four that day. LSU has NO PROBLEM with fan support. Our fans are legendary. Our recruits are high school kids, with a lot of childish notions that they will be shedding soon. They won't be stars as redshirt rookies at LSU next year . . . it ain't all about them anymore. Very true. However, these kids are playing football where they are and are the kind of out-of-state players (with Louisiana ties) that LSU will be recruiting from outside the 5-hour radius. There are now thousands of people in 40 states with Louisiana ties that will be raising their kids elsewhere in the next decade. It could be an opportunity for LSU to get these kids in places where they never could get interest before. Probably true, as well. I imagine that LSU recruiters have a well-thought out response to Katrina questions. The main retort is that LSU is in Baton Rouge, not New Orleans. There was no devastation in Baton Rouge. LSU never even lost power. No games were cancelled. The football practice facility was unharmed.
Who said we were losing recruits? Pensacola said the spring game was a "downer" for recruits. Les has been recruiting very well and getting who he wants in-state, so we don't have a recruiting problem that I can see. Who exactly has LSU lost because we have no spring game? A recruit who based a decision on a spring game would be a foolish individual indeed--especially if he tells Les about it.
