Any of you around the Mobile area are probably familiar with Sports Drive, the afternoon sports talk show on WNSP 105.5 FM. Neal Mcready really gets on my nerves, but they usually schedule some pretty good guests, and ask decent questions. Yesterday, they replayed an interview with Jimbo Fisher from the day before, and I was really pleased with the things he had to say. Since there is an inherent interest in Jamarcus Russell around here, the first question was of course about him and his progress. Fisher said that he has improved greatly in every facet as a quarterback. He mentioned that he was always able to make the throws, and that hasnt changed. The greatest area of improvement is in his decision making. Knowing which throws to make at which times, game management things. He said that since he is such an athletic guy, that a lot of times in high school, he would make plays happen all by himself because it was the only way to make good things happen and win games. He brought some of that with him to LSU, and has finally let that go, accepting the huge amount of talent around him. Jimbo said that he told Jamarcus that he is now playing QB for him for the first time, which I inferred to mean that last year, he was only an athlete making throws, not a real QB at the position. I could tell that the guys at WNSP were trying to press him into naming a starter, which he wouldnt do, but he spoke about Jamarcus Russell far more than the other two, and made it sound like Russell would have to really screw up for either of the other 2 to come in. He did speak well of Matt Flynn and Ryan Perrilloux too, though, saying that all 3 would see playing time. He said that each of these guys are NFL caliber QBs and that there is more talent at the QB position now than when Davey, Booty, and Nall were all on the team, citing that they were all in the NFL as well. Also, he commented on some of the RP quotes floating around in the media saying, "Id much rather tell a kid 'whoa' than 'giddy-up'." He likes guys with confidence in their own abilities. The second thing they talked about was the plethora of NFL talent at every position, Neal Mcready specifically mentioned being "about 3 deep at running back and about 20 deep at wide receiver." The question was about how to keep everyone happy and spread the ball around. Jimbo said that since he has been at LSU, they have always coached "team, team, team". Whoever is having the greatest success will continue to be given opportunities to be successfull (how Saban-esque does that sound?). He also said that he tells all of his players that they will get a chance to show what they can do. He mentioned that people remember Josh Reed and Michael Clayton but forget that before they were successful, Jerel Myers was the one leading the team with 70 receptions. Also, in 2003 Justin Vincent was a 1000 yard rusher and Sugar Bowl MVP after starting the year 4th on the depth chart, then last year Alley Broussard almost became a 1000 yard rusher. He said that when one player is successful, all the players next to him benifit because the defense will have to adjust and key in on whoever is making plays, allowing other guys to get one-on-one and mismatch situations. The last thing Neal Mcready asked about was the perception of LSU fans that Nick Saban was a conservative coach, sometimes too conservative on offense. He asked how much control Saban demanded of the offense, and how much he held back, and if that would change now that Miles was the head coach. I thought Jimbos response was interesting. He said that to say Saban was a conservatice coach was completely incorrect. Since Saban became coach at LSU, he always played to the strengths of the team and covered up the weaknesses, and he did it very well. He said that last year, the team had one of the best defenses in the nation and one of the best running games in the nation, so thats the philosophy the team had- run the ball, and play good defense. With inconsistencies at QB, that is what the team had to do to win games. He said that the situation was very similar in 2003. People have short memories and forget that in 2001 we won the league with offense, specifically through the air. We had guys like Davey, Josh Reed, and Michael Clayton and had one the most prolific passing offenses in the nation, second only to Florida in the SEC. He also said that we were last or second to last in the SEC in defense. Saban knew that we were not going to have the defense to keep points of the board so we were going to have to go out and outscore our opponents, and we did that. He really didnt say that that would change with Miles, but made it sound like we definitely have the tools to have an offense like we did in 2001, we just need consistency at the QB position. All in all, I was very impressed with what Jimbo had to say. He sounds very upbeat and very confident in this teams abilities on offense. I was excited before, but damn, things look good.
The team really does look impressive on paper and just about everything you hear from the offseason sounds positive. This could be another special year but like Miles has been saying it takes more than just talent. Sounds like the team has the right work ethic if they come out and develope chemistry early on look out.
