Les Miles made LSU football fun again

It's just interesting to me because we've gotten to experience both styles of coaching now, and two of our main rivals in the SEC are coached by "process" coaches, perfectionists who rule over their teams with an iron fist.

Saban was a fantastic coach at LSU, as he is at Alabama. However, there is no doubt by the time he had left LSU he had managed to take a lot of the fun out of LSU football. We were so wound up in the process. We were enamored with it - the man demanded perfection, yelled at players who f'd up when LSU was up 41-14 in ball games, and we ate it up. Saban's obsessiveness for perfection became ours, and his lack of enjoyment in his own successes was reflected onto the fans in many ways. By the time the man left LSU, I had a pretty negative outlook on LSU football. Any mistake on a player's part should have been met with an arse chewing, any human error in clock management shouldn't be tolerated, etc. Les Miles seemed to be THE WORST replacement, the anti-Saban.

Now looking back I don't think there is any other coach that could have followed Saban and not been fired after 3-4 years - LSU fans demanded perfection and were out for blood when we didn't get it. Les stuck it out and took his lumps, evolved into a better coach, and has now made football at LSU more fun than ever. Yeah, winning helps. But it is more fun to watch and appreciate HOW this team wins. They play loose, with swagger, and with heart. They play for their teammates, not because they are kinda scared of their coach and sometimes play tight-assed because of it.

When Saban leaves Alabama (whether it be next year or 5 years from now) there will be the same effect. They will have achieved greatness, while also being slaves to the process. It will be very interesting to see who follows Saban - I'd be willing to bet his successor will not last more than a few years, and only then we will be able to fully appreciate what Les Miles has overcome, accomplished, and reformed here at LSU by keeping LSU on top AND restoring the fun.

I know bros - TL;DR....GEAUX TIGERS!!