re: I've had some time to digest last night...

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is not what I expected of our once elite program.

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Um, before Saban arrived, LSU was not only not elite, it was an automatic 3-6 loss annually program for a 100 years--and most of those seasons were with 11 or fewer games. And one natl championship.

Saban created excitement at LSU and Miles maintaining that excitement for a few years created expectations, such as fans calling LSU an "elite program." Meanwhile our competitors are quietly upgrading their HCs, and we're beginning to notice the results.

Miles will be gone within two years. So will Freeze and Mullen and Bielema and Saban. The new SECw is like the NFL. Even the Super Bowl champs lose games.

Within three years, we will have an eight-team playoff.

Geaux Tigers!

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The LSU football program does not exist solely to win National Championships. There are many other competing reasons and purposes for its existence, such as, mentoring young athletes, providing a football team that brings students and alumni together during the fall, representing LSU well and making money. Those are the main purposes of the LSU football program.

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very well stated and i completely agree. although, it doesn't help my disappointment right now. miles needs to step aside. he's lost his support. the team isn't fighting on the field. recruits are decommitting. no reason to continue the relationship

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Your observations and comments would be completely on point if LSU were a pro football team. LSU is NOT a pro football organization. It's not run like an NFL franchise. The expectations are not the same as one would see for an NFL team.

LSU football is an amateur football program where college kids play football in exchange for a free education and enough national exposure to give them a good shot at playing for the NFL one day.

Stop thinking of LSU football as some kind of pro football endeavor, because in the NFL, each team has one and only one goal -- to win the Superbowl. When an owner loses confidence in his Head Coach's ability to win the SB, the HC is fired.

The LSU football program does not exist solely to win National Championships. There are many other competing reasons and purposes for its existence, such as, mentoring young athletes, providing a football team that brings students and alumni together during the fall, representing LSU well and making money. Those are the main purposes of the LSU football program.

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Your are depicting a Utopian ideal for collegiate athletics. While deep down I would like to believe that the scenario you depicted is reality, the fact is that too much money is invested into this program for it to be considered anything other than a business.

When SEC coaches are being paid salaries on par with NFL head coaches, then perhaps your denial of LSU being held to standards similar to professional sport franchises needs to be reconsidered just a tad.

I'm not denying that factors such as graduation rates, community involvement, public image, team discipline, etc., aren't important considerations when evaluating a college head coach's success, but let's not act like winning titles is just lagniappe as well.

Fans already pay too much money. More importantly, individuals in the LSU Athletic Department receive too much financial compensation just to allow student athletes to play football "in exchange for a free education and enough national exposure to give them a good shot at playing for the NFL one day".

If the mediocrity persists, it will only be a matter of time before the revenue surplus which everyone points to when assessing LSU football's success will begin to shrink bit by bit. Even the most optimistic of fans will see through the bullshite and realize that the immense financial investment being made into the program is not producing the desired results.