IMHO I think the loyalty he has towards his players is why the players love him. They know he isn't going to throw them under the bus. He isn't going to bench you because you messed up, he will give you a chance to redeem yourself. It isn't all about winning but doing your best to succeed. And they can TRUST him cause he isn't one of the grease ball coaches who is in it for themselves *ahem Pete Carroll. He genuinely cares about his guys. As much as I and probably all of the LSU fans disagree with the JJ situation, Les is standing his ground and putting his reputation on the line for HIS player. I think this will be and is the reason why he will continue to bring in top recruits not only homegrown talent but nationally as well
I agree with what you're saying, and yes a coach who shows loyalty is well appreciated in a locker room. but, the boosters, fans, and people committed to the program are very impatient Einstein defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. JJ has yet to perform to merit a starting position. But then again this is Les miles and the record speaks for itself
Thats sweet n all but the flip side of the coin is that players want the coach to play the best player available, especially if it's them. Playing the veteran when all things are equal is one thing, playing a substandard player when another player has proven on the field that he is better and deserves to play will build resentment quick. Especially when that player is QB and so many other players depend on his performance to show what they can do. The situation with Jefferson has moved far past loyalty. Everyone in the entire country knows Lee is the better QB right now, especially his team mates and it shows on the field. If Lee doesn't get most of the snaps and the Tigers lose a close one, Baton Rouge will riot in the streets.
Les also can't allow a situation where there is one standard for starting for Jefferson and another for the rest of the team. It starts splitting teams apart when they perceive favoritism.
I agree to an extent. Overall the kids want to win more than anything. Fact is the kids play much harder and better when Lee is in the game. So Im not buying that they have Miles back because of him sticking with JJ. Miles will ride JJ into the dirt just like he did Lee. I feel for the kid because he is being booed, when he shouldnt at all be in the game.
If lsu loses to au and jj has a bad game you can bet the boo birds will be back when lsu comes home to play al. It's a good thing there is a break between the games to let things settle down. I chose lsu to win earlier in the week but after watching the mcneese replay I have my doubts. If we lose it will be because of turnovers and jj can't seam to play a game that he doesn't turn the ball over
I call B.S. He benched JLee last year, and Lee would still be riding the pine if it weren't for the fact that CLM can't win without him because JJ has fallen off the cliff. If we lose this weekend because of a JJ mistake, it will all be on CLM's back, as the answer is staring him the face.
The thing that's most different this year is it's the high profile position. But Les is Les, and he's not doing anything this year that that people haven't complained about before. And whatever faults he has it's not recruiting -and please don't play the 'every-kid-in-America-wants-to-play-at-LSU' card so anyone can recruit here. May be true of most Louisiana kids but two of the stoutest players on that DAMN STRONG defense are from Fla and GA. The point is they keep coming. In truth, he even recruited well at QB - it just didn't work out. But RP was a top rated QB, Zack Lee was the 5 million dollar man, and I think JL and JJ were 4 star QBs. Sometimes feces occurs.
Trust me, especially offensive players on this LSU team are wondering what the phuck is going on with their head coach not putting the best QB out on that field. They won't say it publicly, however.
