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Chicken 
USA Fan
Jackassistan
Member since Aug 2003
3453 posts
| For the old-timers...when did Cholly Mac first get on the hot seat? (Posted on 1/29/13 at 12:19 pm)
Was it the 1974 and 1975 seasons that were the beginning of the end? I know he couldn't beat Bear Bryant, and that played a major part, but how did his downfall play out?
For reference, you can examine his coaching record here:
LINK
This post was edited on 1/29 at 12:21 pm
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MetryTyger 
LSU Fan
Metairie, LA
Member since Jan 2004
5931 posts
| re: For the old-timers...when did Cholly Mac first get on the hot seat? (Posted on 1/29/13 at 12:22 pm to Chicken)
I would say when we had Bert Jones in '70 and '71 and he he insisted on playing a 2 QB system with Paul Lyons.
We actually beat the Bear in '69 and '70 but not again until '82.
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liquid rabbit
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| re: For the old-timers...when did Cholly Mac first get on the hot seat? (Posted on 1/29/13 at 12:23 pm to Chicken)
Cholly Mac was always on the hot seat, as I recall. There weren't as many complainers back then, or at least you didn't hear from every one of them like you do today, thanks to TD.com (way to go, Chicken!).
I thought he did a good job. Nobody else could beat Bryant either.
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Chicken
USA Fan
Jackassistan
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| re: For the old-timers...when did Cholly Mac first get on the hot seat? (Posted on 1/29/13 at 12:24 pm to liquid rabbit)
quote:
Cholly Mac was always on the hot seat, as I recall
you don't say...even when he was averaging 9 wins a season?
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liquid rabbit
LSU Fan
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Member since Mar 2006
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| re: For the old-timers...when did Cholly Mac first get on the hot seat? (Posted on 1/29/13 at 12:25 pm to Chicken)
Yep. Not playing the right QB. Can't win the big one.
etc. etc.
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Big Lake
LSU Fan
Member since Jul 2011
3261 posts
| re: For the old-timers...when did Cholly Mac first get on the hot seat? (Posted on 1/29/13 at 12:25 pm to Chicken)
From what my parents tell me who whete in school in the late 60s he was always on the hotseat. Just like today.
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danfraz
LSU Fan
New Orleans
Member since Apr 2008
11152 posts
| re: For the old-timers...when did Cholly Mac first get on the hot seat? (Posted on 1/29/13 at 12:25 pm to liquid rabbit)
The day after he replaced Dietzel
It's always been like that at LSU. And I am serious. Different forums and amount of "want him gones" but some folks were not happy from the start
Ive said it before, Miles is just like Chooly in the amount of heat he takes
ETA: Two funny or cute stories. My first LSU game was in 1973 vs UF. LSU was a power at the time. All I really remember from the game was the people around us compaining about Mac 
second one, first game under Stovall, LSU shut out by FSU. I yell from the upper south endzone as the game is ending to Bring Mac Back.....old timers almost threw me over the railing
This post was edited on 1/29 at 12:29 pm
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Chicken
USA Fan
Jackassistan
Member since Aug 2003
3453 posts
| re: For the old-timers...when did Cholly Mac first get on the hot seat? (Posted on 1/29/13 at 12:27 pm to danfraz)
where did the heat come from back then? was it mainly talk radio?
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liquid rabbit
LSU Fan
Team Boxtard (emeritus)
Member since Mar 2006
31699 posts
| re: For the old-timers...when did Cholly Mac first get on the hot seat? (Posted on 1/29/13 at 12:30 pm to Chicken)
quote:
talk radio
hadn't been invented. It was mostly word-of-mouth, small groups of people complaining. Your friends and family and co-workers.
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I-59 Tiger
LSU Fan
Vestavia Hills, AL
Member since Sep 2003
24480 posts
| re: For the old-timers...when did Cholly Mac first get on the hot seat? (Posted on 1/29/13 at 12:31 pm to Chicken)
1974 was supposed to have been a huge year for LSU. Some publications, including Athlon's had LSU winning the SEC over Alabama. This was "The Year of the Veer". It seemed like at that time a team either ran the wishbone or the veer.
LSU started off the season #9 and then jumped to 7th after beating Colorado soundly and Southern Cal losing. Then LSU lost at home to Texas A&M 21-14. Now, it turned out that Bellard had put his team on sound footing but losing to the Aggies sort of sent shockwaves through the fanbase.Then there was a tie at Rice and then a tie to a good Florida team. LSU did beat Tennessee for only the second time ever,but honestly that wasn't a real good UT team(they did improve,but weren't that good at the time.)
The much anticipated Alabama game that was on ABC (and remember, you could only play on TV twice at the most in that period) was a nightmare with Alabama winning 30-0. LSU wound up 5-5-1.Kentucky and Miss State beat LSU for the first time in 10+ yrs.
'75 was a indeed a losing season with good Texas A&M and Florida teams just crushing LSU at home 39-8 and 34-6.
McClendon seemed to have regained his footing after an upset in game one vs Lee Corso and Indiana in '77 climbing back to 16th, but Kentucky's best team in 25 yrs crushed LSU at home by 20 and Alabama won by 21 at Tiger Stadium.They were the best two in the SEC but LSU hardly laid a hand on them in the 4th qtr at home.
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plawmac
Member since Dec 2007
2871 posts
| re: For the old-timers...when did Cholly Mac first get on the hot seat? (Posted on 1/29/13 at 12:31 pm to danfraz)
The knock on Coach mac was that he couldn't win the "big" game (read - Bama). The 2 QB system wasn't a real problem, except for the Bert Jones years, but from what I recall, Paul Lyons only got 1 series per half. The parallels between Mac and Miles is really amazing. Both had good/great records, had a sizable portion of the fan base that didn't like them, and had their nemesis in Bama. Hopefully, what befell Mac's successor, won't happen to Mles' when that day finally arrives (RIP Bo Rein).
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danfraz
LSU Fan
New Orleans
Member since Apr 2008
11152 posts
| re: For the old-timers...when did Cholly Mac first get on the hot seat? (Posted on 1/29/13 at 12:31 pm to Chicken)
quote:
was it mainly talk radio?
didn;t even exist
more like at the grocery store, lunch counter, letters to the editor, just walking down the street
different times ya know. but I remember friends daddies picking us up from school on a Monday and fans would be compaining AFTER a win
no changes
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Zach
LSU Fan
Member since May 2005
55440 posts
| re: For the old-timers...when did Cholly Mac first get on the hot seat? (Posted on 1/29/13 at 12:34 pm to danfraz)
quote:
The day after he replaced Dietzel
This.
I remember it as a combination of things. Back in the day Dietzel was handsome and articulate. Cholly Mac was ugly as hell and was the biggest poor mouther in the history of LSU.
Poor Mouther = "I don't know how we will win 4 games this year but we will try."
Cholly did bring in the concept of weight lifting which was rare before him.
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JawjaTigah
LSU Fan
South of Tampa
Member since Sep 2003
9707 posts
| re: For the old-timers...when did Cholly Mac first get on the hot seat? (Posted on 1/29/13 at 12:50 pm to Chicken)
quote:
For the old-timers...when did Cholly Mac first get on the hot seat?
As I remember it, it didn't matter what his record was - Cholly Mac was not Paul Dietzel, therefore there was controversy about his hire from the very start. The drums beat throughout his entire tenure, but got louder over time as the Bear's hated/dreaded shadow remained and was cast long and dark over Death Valley during most of those years due to Mac's inability to beat the Tide on any consistent basis.
This post was edited on 1/29 at 12:52 pm
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TexTgrTed
LSU Fan
Parker County, Texas
Member since Aug 2004
2442 posts
| re: For the old-timers...when did Cholly Mac first get on the hot seat? (Posted on 1/29/13 at 12:50 pm to Chicken)
quote:
For the old-timers
Ouch, Chicken. Guess if the shoe fits...
quote:
when did Cholly Mac first get on the hot seat?
My dearly departed Dad always said that Cholly Mac was hanging himself by not replacing assistant coaches more often. Pop, pop, pop, punt was how I recall he referred to the Tigahs' offensive strategy in the 70s.
Not being able to out-cheat the Bahr was not a problem unique to Coach Mac.
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dgnx6
LSU Fan
Baton Rouge
Member since Feb 2006
16339 posts
| re: For the old-timers...when did Cholly Mac first get on the hot seat? (Posted on 1/29/13 at 12:57 pm to Chicken)
So did he get pushed out? His bio says he retired. Never fired.
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danfraz
LSU Fan
New Orleans
Member since Apr 2008
11152 posts
| re: For the old-timers...when did Cholly Mac first get on the hot seat? (Posted on 1/29/13 at 12:59 pm to dgnx6)
quote:
So did he get pushed out? His bio says he retired. Never fired.
Dietzel came in as AD and gave him 79 basically as a thanks but you gotta go deal
told to retire if you want
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75helpmacpack
LSU Fan
atlanta
Member since Dec 2012
65 posts
| re: For the old-timers...when did Cholly Mac first get on the hot seat? (Posted on 1/29/13 at 1:00 pm to danfraz)
Mac won games much like miles....they were not pretty wins, but i agree that mac had two flaws that drew the ire of the fans every season- how he coached and used quarterbacks, and his coach/assistant coach relationship with "Bear". Bear once said he could take mac's team and beat Alabama. That being said, Mac was a good coach, not a great coach, but a good SEC coach. It s a fact that some coaches lose their effectiveness after a number of successful seasons. Mac did
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Beltway Bengal
LSU Fan
Potomac, Maryland
Member since Feb 2004
459 posts
| re: For the old-timers...when did Cholly Mac first get on the hot seat? (Posted on 1/29/13 at 1:04 pm to Chicken)
I agree with much of what has been said here. He was criticized from day one. His success his first year was widely attributed to having inherited a loaded team from Pepsodent Paul. He was also doomed to compare unfavorably in the judgment of many fans with his stylish and eloquent predecessor.
Even as he won many games in the sixties, he was criticized for being too focused on defense, too predicable on offense and too loyal to certain assistants. Plus, he had real trouble beating Ole Miss during Johnny Vaught's tenure and Alabama.
After several years of losing quarterbacks to injury (or in the case of Butch Duhe, death), he felt compelled to have a two quarterback system in place. That led to Bert Jones splitting time, even when he was thought by most fans to be the most exciting QB in a generation.
So, when the run of 9 win seasons ended with the extreme disappointment of the '74 season that I59 described quite well, the critics turned quite vocal very quickly.
Lest you think I'm advancing the Miles = Mac comparison that some have drawn, I would point out that Miles already has more SEC titles than Mac ever won, that Mac never won a MNC, that Miles has been very competitive against our top opposition, and has a much better overall record. That being said, if the tough times come, I fully expect the further criticism to mount as it did back then.
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bdnc
LSU Fan
Member since Dec 2011
421 posts
| re: For the old-timers...when did Cholly Mac first get on the hot seat? (Posted on 1/29/13 at 1:05 pm to TexTgrTed)
when it was obvious he was losing more than winning. things were much more different back then. one thing, Tulane used to be able to garner some of the state talent. Today, Miles has NO competition for in-state talent.
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