OK -- here we go ... is anyone feeling a little queasy about Les' "let 'er rip in practice" philosophy? Obviously Saban's philosophy was to limit contact in practice to avoid needless injuries. He said that most practice injuries occurred at the end of the play/tackle when players were flying into the pile, guys got legs bent back in piles, etc. Is that practicing smart and is Les dumbing us down? Yeah, I know it's friggin' football, it's a full contact sport, people are going to get hurt. I think it is a legitimate difference in coaching philosophy ... I'm not saying I think Miles is wrong, but ... you have to admit, if guys get dinged up, and hurt even more seriously in practice, Tiger fans are going to be P-Oed. I guess Miles' philosophy is that to play hard-nosed, you have to practice hard-nosed. He was quoted as saying he wanted to see more "collisions" caused by the defense. What say the Tiger faithful?
All I know is that the 2003 NC Team was one of the most injury-free teams in LSU history. I can't remember a more healthy team over the course of an entire year at every position. I attribute much of it to the strength and conditioning, but Saban's hitting policy definitely deserves credit. Personally, I can't decide which maxim makes more sense...
I don't feel anything because right now we have no idea if Les's ideas will work for us. If he wins.....I am damn well for whatever the hell he does. If he doesn't.....he better change whatever he does. Until the games, I will give him the benefit of the doubt
I prefer Sabans philosophoy, it obviously did'nt affect his teams. Football is a contact sport but why risk getting some of your key players hurt at practice.
some attribute the slow development on our defenses 'at times' to poor tackling due to the 'thud' theory. Personally, Im sure both systems work and injuries are more or less random at best. who cares if the fans are po'd. i know i don't. they need something to whine about anyhow. anything done differently by Les Miles will be overanalyzed and overcriticized by your most stupid fans and uninformed media. then it will be repeated ad naseum and become fact in most people's minds. then you'll see 100 posts repeated like this one as if it were scoop. this isn't bashing you directly as this may well be a legitimate issue but I highly doubt it. i think most things are a non-issue til gametime and we see the actual product. im worried about defensive schemes/production as a whole I suppose more than anything else. What Saban produced defensively despite sometimes the supposed slow starts was truly amazing. replacing those results is similar to expecting someone to produce the same results as skip. wishful thinking.
Well, that's certainly reasonable. However, I think the wisdom of the coaching philosophy is fair game for discussion right now. If you think about it, it is a tough one to quantify. Let's say you have several key players (like David Jones, Skyler Green, others like McGill) hurt in practice, and it limits their effectiveness and playing time during the season. On the other hand, giving Les the benefit of the doubt, as you say (which is fair) -- the "more hitting in practice" philosophy results in a more aggressive defense that causes more turnovers, and battle-hardened offensive players who are better able to hang onto the ball. How do you weigh it out and determine what ultimately is more important to your team's success? Certainly Saban's defensive players never seemed to lack for aggressiveness. Can anyone recall poor tackling on the part of the Tigers, a failure to "finish plays" because in practice they "held up" or whatever you want to call it? Miles' philosophy makes sense; I understand it. But, when key players eventually get hurt and are lost for the season, or portions of the season, it is going to suck.
I do seem to recall our D not finishing a long pass.....but after months of drinking....that play has somewhat gone away from my memory
Yep, I thought we had the problem for the first half of last season except for maybe the Auburn game, but I have no idea what the cause was. The OSU game alone was filled with missed tackles and the UGA game was horrible. That said, I think a coach has to do what he feels best with. When spring practice is over, look at the number of serious injuries that were caused by Les' concept. I'm sure guys who are hurt are kept out of serious contact. were Jones, Skyler, Sanders, or anyone else injured because of this new practice or were they injured at a time when they were just thudding, running or in some other way? Amp blew out his knee when no one was around him. Don't judge the system on guys who may have been hurt no matter how they conducted practice.
ok.....what about AMP HILL's injury in the no contact practice, think Tiger fans weren't pissed? Injuries happen regardless. A spider put down a 370lb man last year, I don't know about you but I'd rather hear about Kyle Williams putting the big Herm on his ass rather than a freaking spider. Its football, not ballet, players get dinged up, its part of the game....I like the full contact waaaaaay better....not sure if you remember all the bull**** missed tackles we had last year....I'm willing to bet this will vastly improve our tackling skills. Edit: sorry I didn't read any other post besides the first, or I wouldn't have brought up our tackling.
