I never expected us to win a national championship when Saban was here and I don't expect it now. I expected to compete for them under Saban after the 2001 season and will expect to compete for them under Miles. I expected for us to compete and win SEC championships under Saban and I expect the samething under Miles. If we do that year in and year out we'll get our shots a winning the big one.
Good point, we just need Miles to get these guys to play at the highest level they can play at and that would be to compete for a NC every year. Getting into the NC is almost a matter of luck in this whole BCS, and we were very lucky that we snuck in to the NC in 03'. So all we can do is compete every year for SEC titles and bring in great recruiting classes and the rest will just fall into place.
I guess you also have to consider Addai was a senior who gave his heart to LSU. In those cases, sometimes you have to defy logic. I think one thing Miles will always be is loyal to his players. I just hope Miles has it in him to keep LSU competing at the highest level.
As for the argument about Miles leaving his starters in too long, let's not forget Ben Wilkerson losing a first-round draft position in the last play of the Vandy game in '04 and Matt Mauck being lost for the season after having Florida well in hand in '02. I'm not blaming Saban, either. Injuries are a part of the game. And please don't bring up Richt beating us in the SECCG. Our Tigers were flat out of gas--from not recovering the UGA fumble on the kick-off on to the brutal and ugly end. Richt was schooled by WVA a month later, while Miles made Coker look like a fool and fire half of his staff. Nick Saban was taken to the woodshed some himself, let us not forget. Les Miles is our man, and I wish him much long-term success.
Ask Bob Stoops if Miles is a good gameday coach. CParso mentioned the penalties and the likelihood of them being an abberation. Miles and Pelini have also had a history of teams having very big advantages in turnover ration. Let's hope that changes this year. Last year would be viewed as a much bigger success had it not been for so damn many turnovers and penalties.
Not to mention the other things caused by a lack of concentration - dropped passes & interception. I don't expect concentration to be a problem this year.
COMMON SENSE tells a man that Miles is a clown and an OAF ... Think about this ... The idiot was an Offensive Lineman Give me a great offensive mind (former QB especially like Spurrier) over an OAF like Miles ANY DAY OF THE DAMN WEEK ... OR, even better, a GREAT Defensive mind ... Like Saban ... :crystal: MILES THE OAF WILL NEVER SNIFF A CHAMPIONSHIP AT LSU ... BANK IT!!!
You know, I was discussing the hurricane thing with a buddy of mine the other day. I think I'm finally a believer. I definitely bought the 'no rest' thing after the Peach Bowl. But as far as the often lackluster performance the rest of the year, I was skeptical as to how much the hurricanes affected that. He mentioned that athletes are like children in that they are very much creatures of habit. They need to follow a routine or else their wiring just gets completely thrown off. Then I started thinking about how badly the two storms f'd up their schedules early on, and realized how great of an impact that had on the rest of the season. I would think that the early part of the season is when the regimented schedule is the most critical. So, couple that with the fact that they didn't have a bye week to get back on track, and yeah, you've GOT to commend Miles for keeping them together through it all. I have a newfound appreciation for our season last year (not that I was ever dissatisfied with it, I just thought we underperformed a lot).
