In all fairness to everyone, myself included, that have offered up suggestions as to who would be an acceptable coach to replace Saban, whe should put more faith in the committee that LSU hired to help in the search. Names like Petrino, Tedford,Spurrier etc. are no-brainers. It doesn't take a scouting firm to toss out those names. All of us "Sunday morning coaches" have done it. But it goes beyond that. They (the search firm) are the pros. We are not. Coaches like Tedford, who are entrenched at their current jobs, are obviously happy where they are and not going any place. Do you think this firm is silly enough to have not considered these coaches? I can almost guarantee you that Tedford and Spurrier are on everyone's "short list". But the fact is that those two obviously don't want to leave their current jobs. As dedicated LSU fans, we are scared of the "unknown". Which what hiring a coach like Miles is for most of us. We've been spoiled by tramendous success over the past few years and we are blinded by that. We need to have more faith in the coach that's hired. You don't think that this firm knows that when dealing with major programs they have to deal with finding a coach that can satisfy all that is expected? AFter all, they do have a reputation to uphold and if they were to keep tossing out unfit coaches at schools, then no one would use them again. Miles represents that "unknown". With Saban and his staff, you knew exactly what you were to expect on gamedays. You knew what style defense would be run, you knew what things on offense were going to be used and you knew what things you were hoping to improve on from the game before. But having a new coach, leaves us in a state of unknown and lots of us are having trouble accepting that. Part of what was said by one of those on the firm was that they had to find a coach that "was a good fit for LSU" and they KNOW that a "good fit" means someone who's able to handle the media, handle the expectations and maintain what we have in terms of winning. Basically, it doesn't take a genius to pull names like Spurrier, Tedford, Del Rio, Jimmy Johnson and Petrino. Face it, a monkey can pull those names. But it takes those professional scouts who make it their job to recognize good talent where us fans do not. This hire may not appeal to most of you, but it doesn't have to. No coach coming in to replace Saban would...We're too spoiled with having known what we had for 5 years. Now the unfamiliar things are making us nervous. It's ok. It's expected. Just relax and let our next coach have an honest chance to do us proud. After all, if the professional firm thinks he's qualified, why shouldn't we??
Crazy bout Curley! Keep in mind it was one of those "professional search firms" that sold LSU on one Hudson Curley Hallman.
I'm not saying that they don't make decisions that don't work out, but it's pretty obvious that they make more right choices than wrong. (They found Saban for us, didn't they?)
wrong no search comm found Saban. We lucked into him. There is an elaborate story about Sean Tuohy being friends w/ Sexton, etc etc, Tuohy got LSU in touch w/ Sexton, etc. That's how many coaching hires take place ... through contacts in the field. I don't understand why someone as seemingly in the know, and with it, like Skip Bertman, would need to hire a search firm. But maybe he didn't have the contacts everyone thought he had? Look, Miles is a solid coach. I just think we could have done much better.
I like BostonBengals post. Les Miles is not Jimmy Johnson or Steve Spurrier, but Nick Saban was not on most folks radar screen when he came here. He surely was not a "most desirable candidate for an NFL job" at the time. Les could work out great, or not so great. In my book, he meets customary expectations for a coach to move up. I'm willing to give him a chance. He will have better atheletes, and he has played top flight competition in OK and Texas. He was not in a situation where he was expected to be a world beater and he wasn't. That doesn't mean in the right situation that he can't be a world beater. Curly Hallman's success could have inordinantly been due to Brett Farve, who clearly was and is outstanding. I don't recall anyone of Brett's status coming out of OSU recently, so maybe Les Miles track record is a better indicator of his ability than Curly's record at Southern Miss was before LSU hire him (I sure hope so). If Les is our pick, I will support him when he walks in. Houses divided don't stand long.
The last two head coaches to be hired by LSU have been excellent. I ain't know Dinardo lover, but the man came in, brought the magic, and won big time early on. He came with great assistants and failed to replace them with quality assistants. He went nuts. That's not a hiring process problem, that is a person who couldn't handle success. Saban, obviously, was a great hire. If it's Miles, he will turn out to be more than just ok. Beginning with Arnsburger, then Dinardo, and finally with Saban, what has been proven is, if a true "football" coach comes in, sews up the state in recruiting, surrounds himself with good assistants, and doesn't get the "big head," that national championships are here for the taking at LSU. Miles is not some wild pie in the sky dude. He is a true blue football coach. His assistants will be too. He will do a great job here. The change of pace next season may just win us a national championship. Miles knows this. He ain't coming in just to take over a program. Like Larry Coker at Miami when he replaced Davis, Miles has the chance to win a mnc right off the bat. If he doesn't know that yet, trust me, we (the fans) will be happy to remind him of the talents and traditions of the LSU nation. We have arrived. We are on top. And we are going to stay there. Can't wait until the spring game.
At the time we hired Hallman, "the right fit for LSU" meant cheap, and merely enough to get by. This is no longer the case and the search firm knows this.
Finally, a convincing argument Your argument rings somewhat true with me. Larry Coker ain't exactly Mister Pizzaz either, and look what he's done. Maybe what LSU needs right now is a solid, no-nonsense football guy like Miles. I'm willing to give him a chance. I am concerned about the staff he will construct, and that will be a telling factor in his likely future success. If you start hearing names like Ed Zaunbrecher, George Haffner, Lynn Amedee, run for the hills! The OKS fans obviously do not like their DC, a guy named Clay, so let's hope he's not brought in as Tiger DC. Who will the OC be? I like Fisher, I don't know what folks' problem is with him, but, he's likely gone to Miami w/ Saban. OKS's current OC will likely replace Miles at OKS. If Skip hadn't raised expectations w/ his comments, this hire would have been a much easier sell to fans.
