re: Coach O - The "Proof is in the Pudding" Assessment.

"zero credit for keeping Aranda? Do you think Dave stays for any head coach? Do you think LSU would have paid Dave what we did if we would have had to pay $6-7 million per year to Jimbo?"

Yes to all of your questions here? WTF....Do you know anything?

"C'mon man No credit on recruiting? No kudos for keeping a class largely intact following a coaching change plus adding studs like Chaisson at the end?"

CHaisson was a good get. Losing Wilson, Mathis and the # 1 La prospect, not so much???

" Consider this article, written about Tom Herman and excusing his terrible recruiting hall. Here's the key quote: "As is often the case, coaching changes are typically followed by reduced recruiting hauls - both in terms of quality and quantity - and Texas isn't any exception." That's right, Tom Herman was not exceptional. You know who was? Coach O."

O followed Miles, Herman followed Strong? O was already on staff....
My gosh, lets dont twist and justify things to fit our BIAS, huh?

"And BYU being a TBD? C'mon man. BYU had less rushing yards than points and they had zero points. I don't care if they go 5-7, that's utter dominance."

I gave the defense an A+??? Can you read?

"Sure, the offense got bogged down in the red zone. We should have scored more than 27. So give it an A- or a B+. To give it a TBD betrays your bias"

No it doesnt. When you have no offensive production and a team like LSU scores 27 points against a tired undermanned defense, doesnt make the LSu offense an A,B,C,D or F. At this point, its a TBD.


" The OP's point is that so far, Coach O has done a good job. "

No he hasnt done a good job. An OK job is a fair assessment. We will know more as this season progresses and more important in the the next 3 yrs. When he wont be able to just ride the coattail of another's work. Anyone can take over a well ran dept for a yr or 2 and have success. But after the 2nd year, you better have the skills necessary or you will begin to get exposed in any leadership role.

"He is 8-2. His team was dominant in the bowl game. He did great in recruiting. He hired a promising OC. The offense has been much better under O. He had them ready go for game one and they dominated their lone opponent. Give the man a chance and quit prejudging."

He was 7-2 and was a pretty large favorite in 8 of the games and didnt cover when he wasnt the favorite. Got shut the frick out at HOME and coached scared in the one game when he didnt have the much better team. Now hes 1-0 against BYU.
Dont twist the schedule to fit your bias.

"Was dominant in bowl game?"

Believe I scored that performance an A. Didnt I? SMH.

"Has hired a "promising" OC."
But again with these athletes and a Million dollars, what Pitt coach wasnt coming here? Many HC's couldve closed that deal. Im sure it was a tough sell.

I agree that the The offense has been better. But who cares how the offense looks. Just win the damn game.

Im not prejudging! Thats what you and the OP are doing. Im trying to keep it real. Coach O's legacy will begin to be defined during his 3rd season. Until then lets dont crown him the next great College Head Ball Coach. Because he went 6-2 with a LOADED roaster (especially after Etling took over the helm) and beat BYU and looked pretty good offensively!!

It takes alot of skill and perseverance to remain in that seat. Look around, other than Saban, who's been able to handle being a long term SEC coach and have hardware success in this conference?


Im listening......

So far so good and no one should argue with you on that.

"Being an assistant under Saban, gets you a head coaching job everywhere in the universe. Hell, all those coaches are RUINing their own teams."

"I am hoping Aranda gets his own gig so the rest of the SEC can move the ball. If a 5 star defensive recruit hopefully reads this he'll go some place else thinking Aranda won't be there much longer".

Fixed it for him.

quote:

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Here's the key quote: "As is often the case, coaching changes are typically followed by reduced recruiting hauls - both in terms of quality and quantity - and Texas isn't any exception." That's right, Tom Herman was not exceptional. You know who was? Coach O.

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Whole lot of stupid here. This is apples to oranges. Coach's Binder(tm) led with the argument that he'd keep the class Miles was putting together. This is a different game than Herman landing in Texas and starting fresh.

Fine LosTigres25, you are correct. No bias whatsoever in your post. I suppose it is by definition "objective" to find a reason to dismiss everything positive the man has done and to point out every flaw.

For me (someone who was mildly displeased by the O hire) I have been pleasantly surprised. I think we can both agree that the test for O (and frankly the test for all current college coaches not named Saban, Meyer and potentially Dabo and Jimbo) lies in the future.

But for now, my opinion is that O is doing a bang up job as the LSU head coach. Better than expected. Maybe not the A given by the OP but certainly not the disaster many feared. I would give him a solid B+ and trending upward.

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) First was the takeover and 6-2 finish to last season with a piecemeal approach on-the-fly? 

On what fly? Was already on the staff, dont believe he flew anywhere or moved. 
Loaded team with the right QB under center. (The Harris experiment finally put to pasture) 
Horrible loss at HOME to a 2 TD underdog and zero points scored at HOME against the Gumps. Didnt play to win. No change at QB just tried to keep game close. 50 coaches couldve went 6-2 with that schedule and most wouldve went 7-1 and scored a point. 
C- 

2) Next, as the official coach, was the team constraining the Heisman winner and Petrino's Cards. Grade in Louisville win = A. 

Fair enough. 

3) Then, was getting Coach Canada and retaining/signing Aranda. 

Arranda was under contract. Zero credit for keeping him.
Way to early to tell. But anyone is most likely an upgrade to Cam Cameron and with a million dollars, shouldve been able to get an upgrade. 
Grade = TBD 

4) The stellar recruiting class. 

7th is not stellar. Almost blew both QB commitments making a rookie mistake. Class was already loaded when he took the helm. Lost out on several big time in state prospects. Without Arranda who knows how it wouldve turned out. B- 

5) Now, there is the 27-0 win over BYU. Grade = TBD. Portland State had more 1st downs than BYU in the first game. Defensively A+. Offensively TBD 

6)The proof is in the pudding. 

The pudding and the proof is still in the box. Inherited a Ferrari and was already on staff. 

7) We all know that the real pudding test comes as the year progresses, and the big SEC games are engaged. 

Finally some objectivity. 

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its hard to argue against any of your comments.

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For me (someone who was mildly displeased by the O hire) I have been pleasantly surprised. I think we can both agree that the test for O (and frankly the test for all current college coaches not named Saban, Meyer and potentially Dabo and Jimbo) lies in the future.

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Exactly. So lets keep the kneepads off until then.

I hope I didnt come across as someone that doesnt give O any credit for anything. Obviously, he has some talent and has done plenty of things right thus far.

But at the end of the day, you have to win games.

"Promising","holding down the fort" and "made the right decision here" was already expected. There's no brownie points for that. He was handed one of the greatest opportunities ever in the history of the sport.
Until he has some conference hardware, its tough for me to say hes done a bang up job. Thats just me, I guess.
I have super high expectations, especially now that we have some decent QB play. Just win baby!

Serious question: is saying he's doing a good job breaking out the knee pads as you put it?

No one is crowning O anything just yet. That comes with time. But it is okay to say he is doing a good job without finding a reason to dismiss it.

Another serious question: do you want Miles back? Knowing that Miles won two SEC titles, a national title and is the winningest coach in LSU history? Do you want him back?

If no, you have to admit it's because O is doing SOMETHING right.

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No one said he isn't.

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But many won't admit he is.