Offensive line attrition under former OL Les Miles

I defer to other OL gurus but I read somewhere that it is very difficult to judge an OL's capability while recruiting and other than the few 5 stars the rest are all subjective.

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Steven Singleton from GA.(Academics/homesick)
D'Montreal Wilson from LA.(Academics/Never made it to campus)
Zhamal Thomas from LA. (Troy Giddens "breaking into apartments" partner in crime)
Matt Allen from TX. (Lack of playing time/homesick)
Jarvis Jones from TX. ( )
Ernest McCoy from FL. ( )
Phil Loadholt from CO./JC (Academics/Never made it to campus because of stricter S.E.C. transfer rules.)

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I see the breakdown of committed players as follows bearing in mind that OL is not easy to rate correctly.

1. Never made it to campus because of academics

This can't really be blamed on the Coach alone ( unless in extreme cases - e.g. Powe where they knew that it would be improbable for him to qualify asap). Chances are that the student didn't live up to his side of the contract which was that they would pull up their grades and make it through to college where there would be a better support system.

2. Leaving because of academics (Failing etc..)

The coach carries a bit more blame in this one because every school especially LSU has a big support system for student athletes to do reasonably well at class. In spite of all that the player could well be lazy and lead to disqualification or a suspension ala RJF.

3. Homesick

This cannot be placed on the coach unless if he knew from before that the student placed a very high importance on location (and the need to be with his family etc...) but was enamored by the school.

4. Lack of playing time

Unless if the coach were inept and didn't give a quality player time then this is a good thing for both the program as well as the player to part amicably. I haven't seen any tangible evidence that Miles is guilty of this( not to bring up the old seniors first argument or Kieland vs Hester)

5. Crime

Unless if Miles knew that someone was predisposed to break the law or had previous cases of doing so - there is nothing that he can do about it. There are always some bad apples - in every program. No coach can be that good a father figure/guide/friend/disciplinarian to ensure that not a single player crosses that legal line.

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I do think that Miles is able to attract enough quality OL to get the job done at school even if they don't stick out as stars in the NFL.

I am actually more disappointed in not being able to get a standout LB that makes the offense change the play.(dont know about the current crop who have never seen the field or might change positions).

I think you're reaching a bit.

I'd be more concerned if we kept signing highly rated OL recruits and they kept busting out. Yes, the entire OL class from 2006 is gone for one reason or the other, but I believe most of the '07 and '08 classes are around.

And I don't see how converting DL to OL is a bad thing ... I mean isn't that the coaches job put the players in the best position for the team to succeed? Hitt and Barksdale will pretty much end their careers as 3 year starters.

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There' a great OL prospect over in the Woodlands,TX who parents were LSU alumni and sister is a current LSU student, yet he would rather go to Alabama because they went after him harder and we only bother sending our RB coach into The Woodlands to recruit him.(Instead of Studrawa)........

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I'd take Porter recruiting a kid over about any coach in the nation.

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TigerBandAlumnus82

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I don't like to come in and flame on people trying to make legitimate points, but your post is so objectively wrong, I must point it out.

1- Les is highly touted for his ability to recruit and develop OL. Not only by the LSU community, but anyone who follows recruiting.

2- It only takes a quick look at last years class for anyone to realize that Miles is pulling in major OL talent.

3- Coaches are assigned recruits by geographical area, not position. Porter is our best recruiter and has landed top flight talent at many positions.

4- Signing day is in freaking February. We are recruiting several other top tier OL prospects. Miles only offers OL after seeing them in person (at camps, mostly) and usually only offers the cream of the crop. Those top flight players don't usually jump on the first offer that they get like the less touted players do. I'm sorry Miles hasn't locked down his entire recruiting class yet. I'll have him send you an apology.

5- Juco OL's do not point to a program on decline, they point to a program with a hole in their depth charts. After Ciron leaves, we are going to have a gap to bridge at OL, and a developed and proven talent like Hardrick will be a great asset to us.

6- Chad Lindsay didn't have a commitable offer and would have only added to your despised attrition rate. He's out of shape and over rated.

we may end up hurting at LT. we've lost 3 potential starters at maybe the most important position on the team

at least one of thomas, jones, and mccoy would have risen to the top, and now we don't have any elite guys (as of yet) ready to step in for ciron. ciron coming back this year was SO HUGE for our team

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Les is highly touted for his ability to recruit and develop OL. Not only by the LSU community, but anyone who follows recruiting.

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to be perfectly honest, i'm still waiting to see this (and stud's supposed great coaching) result on the field

2006 had no run blocking
2007 had a black hole on the right side (not all miles' fault)
2008 was not a good year for returing 4/5 starters (while losing the black hole from 07)

i'm not being negative, but the results on the field haven't lived up to the hype of miles/stud

i'm more speaking of 2008 though. our OL was very underwhelming after having a full year/offseason under stud/crowton

we also returned 4/5 starters and upgraded the 5th spot

after this year, we may be in a crunch at LT also

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6- Chad Lindsay didn't have a commitable offer and would have only added to your despised attrition rate. He's out of shape and over rated.

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+1 Seen him play in person and on tape. Overall evaluation; Mheh..

The OL recruiting was so bad before that Miles had to fill the guard and tackle positions with former DT's L. Hitt and C. Stewart.

As far as the OL under Miles, C. Black is a beast, Hitt has developed into a solid guard and Barksdale is pretty good and will likely move to LT next year. Don't forget that we have Clay Spencer, Will Blackwell, Josh Dworaczyk, Stavion Lowe, Greg Shaw, Chris Faulk, Carneal Ainsworth and T-Bob waiting in the wings. We are probably more deep at OL than we have been in the last 10 years.