Notes from Miles on the team.

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Went to see Les Miles speak last night, here are some highlights:

Random stuff:
Talked about how great the traditions in college football are. Mentioned how in the weeks leading up to the Cotton Bowl everyone told him that LSU has a rivalry with Texas A&M and how important it was to not lose to the Aggies. Also talked about how his son had a baseball tournament in Alabama this summer, and said that the people were nice but that every where he went around the ball park he would hear people mutter “cough…cough….roll tide…,” and that that is the way college football is supposed to be.

He talked about when his daughter sang the national anthem at an LSU baseball game last year, and said the standing ovation she got after finishing was the biggest reward of his life. Said that even though it wasn’t her best performance, seeing all those parents cheer like they would if it was their own seven-year-old up there was awesome.

He talked about Patrick Peterson and the experience of being at the NFL Draft. It was his first time ever going to the draft, and there were a bunch of other coaches there. Said that even though he doesn’t really want to go again, he’s going to have to keep going because if other coaches are going to be on TV during the draft then he wanted to make sure he was on TV too.

He also talked about the back and forth when Scott Van Pelt about his shoes, and about how much fun he had making that video of him dunking.

Football Stuff:
On Quarterbacks-
He talked about improvements with Kragthorpe coming in, but didn’t get into many details. I have no idea how the grading is done, but he said that in 10 of the 15 spring practices Jefferson graded out the same or better than his previous bests. Also, not that anyone should have any doubt at this point, but he made it very clear that the guy who started the Cotton Bowl is going to be the same guy who starts in the Oregon game.
He was happy to finally have some QB depth this year, and said that we have several guys who can play if something happens with Jefferson. Said we know that Lee is there to lead us down the field if we need to score against a Tennessee or convert on a big third down against Alabama. Also said (and I’m sure this will freak everyone out) that he is currently mad at Mettenberger. Someone asked a follow up question about this, and he said something about expecting our players to show strength and conviction and that Mett wasn’t the only player he was currently unhappy with, but that it was just one thing that they can fix. He talked about the speed and athleticism of Jerrard Randle. He also had a ton of praise for Steven Rivers, mentioned his size and work ethic, and specifically brought him up two different times when discussing players he was excited about.

On Freshmen-
In addition to the freshmen QBs, he talked about Anthony Johnson, who is nicknamed the “Freak.” Miles said something like “I don’t call him Freak, because I don’t think that’s what his momma calls him, so I don’t call him that…..but the guy is a freak.”He said that he isn’t allowed to watch the 7-on-7’s going on right now, so he depends on Jefferson and the other older guys to let him know how the new guys are doing. Said that they told him that Jarvis Landry is a great receiver and is doing everything that could be asked of him to prepare himself mentally and physically for this season, but that Odell Beckham might just be the best WR in the group.


Linebackers/Runningbacks-
Nothing much here, just said we have three fast and capable linebackers. Also had some generic coach-speak praise for Michael Ford when asked about him.

On the Lines-
I missed most of the discussion of the offensive line, but I did hear him say that he was excited about Collins coming in and that he expected Josh Williford to compete for a starting role. He said he expects the defensive end position to be a real strength for this team, and had a lot of praise for Brockers in the middle.

DB’s-
Someone asked a question about losing Patrick Peterson and defending the long ball.
Miles said that Peterson was an incredible cornerback, but that the MVP of the Cotton Bowl was a cornerback and it wasn’t Patrick Peterson. Said that Tharold Simon is going to be the guy who will be best at defending the deep ball. Said, “I don’t want to say that I think Mo Claiborne is faster than Patrick Peterson…..but I think Mo Claiborne is faster than Patrick Peterson.” Said we had a bunch of guys who were good and got experience at corner and safety as freshman who are going to be even better at sophomores.

Overall I thought he did a pretty good job up there and seemed pretty confident about the season.

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