Did my share of fussing about all this process. Finished being disappointed that we didn't name the best DC in the land as our new coach. Now I'm moving on to the possibilities and potential. I mean I could sit here and bitch and whine about everything for a few more weeks but I live in Birmingham and the Bama fans have well captured that market. They can have it. Time to do something different. It's time to welcome these two coaches into Tiger Nation with full support. And now that I have shifted my thinking ... here's what I see. The wall around this state just got a little taller. Take a walk back over the last few years and think about how pissed off Tiger Nation has been while we watched more and more talent travel to destinations outside of the state. Remember when Collins put that Bama hat on? Remember the uproar about how the wall had come down? Well ... if these guys (Wilson, Orgeron, Steele) all live up to their billing then the Tigers should see a heavy dose of getting who they want when they really want them. LSU may now have the best team of recruiters in the country. And when you bring in all those stars it can create a lot of forgiveness on game day. Now add to that the passion and love that Coach O brings to his Tigers. I may not have been thrilled but it's time to get over that. The proof will be on display soon enough. Right now I find myself liking this a little more. Hell if we can fix the D-Line that will go a very long way to putting this Defense right back where it belongs. Consider the following sack rankings: 2012 - Ranked 16th 2013 - Ranked 54th 2014 - Ranked 103rd With an upgrade to the D-Line, DBU should begin to thrive. Beef up with some big time gamers on the line coached by a fired up coach O (who is where he has always wanted to be) and you have a potentially electric situation. Add in a big shot in the arm for recruiting and this coaching change may prove to be better than many of us predicted. Just in time for the drive to the recruiting finish line. The 2015 national signing day will be very interesting ....
LB play and DL play should improve with the players LSU already has in place. Neither Chief nor Haley seemed to get the most out of the positions they coached, plus the Welter situation still baffles many. I'm still very leary at the thought of Steele at DC. I'm anxious to hear what he has to say about scheme and overall defensive philosophy. I also hope O is able to control himself and isn't instantly looking for the next job. Reading up on Steele I'm also hopeful he doesn't piss his pants come gameday. The stories of his game day nervousness are unnerving.
One thing to add, though...I think it is unrealistic to expect that we will never lose recruits like Collins. Kids leave for a variety of reasons and some of those reasons have nothing ot do with who might be recruiting them. Hopefully top prospects leaving the state will get reduced to a an occasional exception, though.
