Tigers up 7-0, fire Smoke! Smoke Bashers.... you tear him down when we play poorly.. but keep your heads in the sand when we play well... typical.
Not me. I absolutely believe in admitting an error. I'm not one to hide if I'm wrong. I'm right here. I've bashed Smoke and expressed doubts about him. I still have doubts about him. That said, I will be the first to admit it, if I'm wrong. I don't know why some people take it so personally when a coach is criticized by a fan on a message board. The Hog fans who don't like Houston Nutt have to take the same bashing from their fellow fans who think that Nutt is the greatest. Congrats to the LSU baseball team on winning another SEC road tourney. I can't wait to watch them in Omaha again.
My real problem with Smoke. This is a very good question, because it is so difficult for me to answer. My doubts are rooted in the manner in which he was hired. I didn't like the way that DiNardo was hired, and LSU used an even less reliable methodology when they hired Smoke. Let me be perfectly honest about this . . . I admit that this might not be a persuasive reason to have doubts about the coach! You already figured me out, partially, when you said "Smoke is not Skip." Part of me doesn't like Smoke because he's not Skip. Let's call it "The Bear Syndrome" in that the guy who follows the legend is going to look inadequate. This, I admit, is a bad reason to doubt Smoke. Finally, Smoke causes doubt, because he's not a Vince Lombardi/Nick Saban kind of coach. I'm very old school, and I like a coach to be struck from the Lombardi/Saban mold. When viewed through the prism of my own bias against Smoke, it's easy to spot coaching errors and find fault with Smoke. That's why I must always remind myself that I could be wrong about Smoke. I would caution my fellow Tiger fans to always remain open-minded about our coaches. Don't let your own bias cloud your ability to evaluate a coach. Finally, remember that bias works both ways: one can be biased AGAINST something and find fault where none exists; one can be biased IN FAVOR OF something and never find fault, even when fault is obvious. Have you ever known a neighbor who annoys you because his/her kid is a troublemaker, but yet that neighbor/parent always says "Johnny is a good boy", no matter what the objective evidence indicates to be the case? This is an example of bias in favor of an individual. I would like to shoot the people that stole my stuff, but I'll bet that some of their parents would insist that their boys are "good boys."
I do not profess to have inside knowlege (perhaps TE could fill us in) but wasn't Smoke Skip's chosen successor? I seem to recall that naming Laval as head coach was one of the conditions of Skip's retirement. If Saban retired, would any of us have a problem with replacing him with his hand picked successor?
I think Smoke's actual coaching effectiveness is not as strong as Skip's and it lends to some team inconsistency. It seemed like this weekend on Saturday, the team decided that they were really good and should play like it. But every weekend it's a Jekyll/Hyde syndrome. You never know who is going to show up you know(especially defensively)?
Smoke is doing a fine job with the baseball team. Skip did a great job when he helped get Smoke hired. That being said, I do remember that letting a coach pick his successor is how we got Archer as a head football coach. This method is not very reliable. Smoke had a record as coach along with a great recommendation.
