re: Don't fret, LSU fans...this run by Alabama will end soon...

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do know that we went from being 13-1 to 10-3 and now 7-3 through 10 games of this season, with tough games still to come. That's a decline, albeit not as drastic as some chicken littles like to proclaim. But it is a decline and it is critical that Les rights the ship next season.

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We have had a couple of weak recruiting classes which have killed the depth we are known for. Over the past two seasons, when a game changer has left, there hasn't been one to fill his shoes. However recruiting is looking up with last years class, this years, and our prospects with some bigtime 2015-17 recruits.

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What do you think are the 2 or 3 major changes that Les needs to make to catch up to Alabama and keep ahead of Auburn, Ole Miss and Texas A&M?

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We need a new OL coach and hopefully one that is a better recruiter than Stud. I'd also like to see the program bring back some of our younger football alumni to be part of the recruiting staff (like a Chad Jones). I also believe they need to be on more recruits and earlier (which they seem to have come around to). Last, i'd like so see some fire out of Miles. The way the offensive line let Mett get killed at the end of Bama...he should have been lighting into them before they made it to the sidelines.

What Bama fans might not be seeing is that Saban is bigger than the school. They are winning solely because of Saban. He won a title at LSU. He was them at Alabama. He would win them at any major program he went to. Bama is not winning because of its school, or its fans or facilities. It is solely because of Saban. When he leaves, it will be a void like never before.

He is only at Alabama because he was mediocre in the NFL. If he had any amount of success in the NFL, he would not be at Alabama.

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Like Miles did at LSU?

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You comparing miles to solich and zook?

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And when it does, Alabama will decline. It is a cycle. Here is why:

1. Saban won't be there forever. And his successor will struggle to fill his legendary shoes just like Zook did at Florida, Solich did at Nebraska, etc. If he doesn't leave this year to take the Texas job, he will probably be retiring in the near future.

2. AJ McCarron won't be back. He has been the key to their run. He is the ultimate game manager, and his consistency is the reason they have only lost twice since he has been a starter. The next QB for Bama, regardless of the number of recruiting stars he had coming out of high school, will also have big shoes to fill.

In the 1995 season, after Nebraska blew out undefeated Florida, 62-24 in the Fiesta Bowl to win their second straight title, I remember thinking that Nebraska had this dominant program that would never be dethroned. Two years later, he retired, and Nebraska's program has been on a roller coaster ever since...just like Alabama's program was after Bear Bryant retired.

Outside of the last quarter and a half of this past game, LSU has been neck and neck with Alabama...hopefully Les will go back to the drawing board and draw up a plan that beefs up our front 7 on defense, speed up our DB's, and lights a fire under our offensive line. Whether that is a strength and conditioning issue, a work ethic issue or an assistant coach issue, I don't know.

I do know that we went from being 13-1 to 10-3 and now 7-3 through 10 games of this season, with tough games still to come. That's a decline, albeit not as drastic as some chicken littles like to proclaim. But it is a decline and it is critical that Les rights the ship next season.

Question: What do you think are the 2 or 3 major changes that Les needs to make to catch up to Alabama and keep ahead of Auburn, Ole Miss and Texas A&M?

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I agree but the 3 changes we need is to get new OL, TE, and DB coaches.
Possibly bring back ron cooper, bring in a OL coach the Cam recommends or get that OL coach that Bama had last year. Also, bring in a TE coach that has NFL experience.

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Don't fret, LSU fans...this run by Alabama will end soon...

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Too bad LSU's already did

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I just don't think he leaves for Texas. Why would he. Bama may not be able to match Texas in terms of money,

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Yea they could. They would sell the farm if thats what it took. They look at him as a god and they will whatever it takes, I have no doubt about that.

Money wouldnt be the determining factor for him leaving.

This

Chicken I'm less concerned about what Bama does or doesn't do than I am about what LSU does. Forget Alabama and Saban; we need to get our own house in order before we worry about them. There's plenty of competition in the SEC to go around, particularly in the west. If Bama starts to decline, there are other teams like Auburn or A&M that can step into that void. LSU can too but not the way things have been going. You asked what we need to improve so here are my answers.

1. Consistency first and foremost. The frustrating thing about the Bama game was that in the first half you could see that LSU has the talent to hang with Alabama but mistakes prevented us from doing so. Our best is as good as their best but our worst is a lot worse than their worst. Somehow we've got to play more consistently and minimize mistakes.

2. Our players need to put the team first. Sometimes our players appear to be a little selfish. They've got to realize that it's not all about them, it's all about their teammates. I could be wrong about this observation but that's the way it looks to me.

3. Embrace the big game. In 2011 one of the things I was most proud of is the way that no game was too big for them. They played loose and relaxed with a lot of confidence. (Some would call that swagger.) Now they seem more timid. Afraid to lose more than seizing the moment to win.

4. The most obvious of all barely deserves mention because everybody already knows this: we have to refill the coffers with talent. The drain in talent (and perhaps more importantly, experience) we suffered sticks out like a dead nun in a snowbank. We're looking at a couple of outstanding recruiting classes coming up and our class last year was no slouch either. Our defensive problems this year have been the result of one so-so recruiting class coupled with the perfect storm of early exits to the NFL. The pipeline had too much removed from one end and not enough replenished at the other. This problem will take care of itself in time.

So we are just suppose to concede to being a lesser program while we wait for the other guys to get bad?

Who's to say we aren't any better than the next guy?

What will the excuse be then? Just wait more?

Chicken little is more like it

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Question: What do you think are the 2 or 3 major changes that Les needs to make to catch up to Alabama and keep ahead of Auburn, Ole Miss and Texas A&M?

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I think the offensive line play has to improve

Defense is young and should get better next year

We really got decimated with all the early exits to the draft last year. If just 2 of those guys on defense would have stayed we would be in good shape.