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Jordan Jefferson last year and now the Honey Badger. Would you say things are ugly in Baton Rouge, or has Les Miles done a good job of disciplining despite superstar status? How would you rate his job as a mentor compared to other programs?
-- Jeff, Hyrum, Utah
As you know, nearly every team in the country has players dismissed for disciplinary reasons almost every single year. This year in particular has not been particularly stellar for once-celebrated running backs (Georgia's Isaiah Crowell, Auburn-turned-Arkansas State's Michael Dyer, TCU's Ed Wesley) or cornerback/punt return fiends (Florida State's Greg Reid and now Tyrann Mathieu). For the most part, however, the overwhelming majority of disciplinary cases involve backup safeties or linemen you've never heard from.
In general LSU has had fewer off-field issues under Miles than most programs of its ilk. Unfortunately for Miles, though, the ones he's had -- going back to former quarterback Ryan Perrilloux -- have often involved some of his highest-profile players. I'm not sure that's a reflection of the coach, nor is it necessarily a total coincidence. The more hoopla a player receives, the more temptations he's exposed to, and the more he might start to think he's above the law. Miles oversees 100-plus players. It's no surprise if two or three get into some sort of trouble. But it's going to generate a lot more headlines when those two or three are Perrilloux, Jefferson and Honey Badger.
As for how Miles handled each case, I'd say it's a mixed bag. The oft-troubled Perrilloux seemed to get nearly as many chances as college football world record-holder Stephen Garcia (and once we saw Perriloux's eventual replacements, we found out why). The initial allegation against Jefferson -- that he kicked a man in the face -- may have warranted more than a month's suspension, but a grand jury ultimately reduced the charge to a misdemeanor in part based on Jefferson's testimony. And Mathieu's situation was all but taken out of Miles' hands. It's been reported that Mathieu failed a drug test, which would have been his third at LSU, which, according to school policy, automatically garnered a year's suspension. Whether Miles chose to make the dismissal permanent or that too was in keeping with university protocol, Mathieu wasn't going to play for the Tigers in 2012.
In none of those cases did Miles act all that differently from how most coaches would. There are some (Mark Richt, for example) who tend to take harder-line stances, but when you're never more than a bad year or two from the hot seat, no matter your career record, it's a lot easier to cast off a trouble-making third-string tackle than the starting quarterback or a returning Heisman finalist cornerback.

I find Les Miles' statement on the Honey Badger curious. If Mathieu was really a "quality" guy, would he have violated team rules and got dismissed from the team? He cares nothing about the team and nothing about his teammates, selfish. Why would Les say he'll help him in every way possible? Dump this clown and move on. There's no quality in this kid.
-- Mark Rusin, Naperville, Ill.
And you know this how? I can't imagine Mathieu has spent too much time in Naperville, so I find it curious how you could be a better judge of his character than the coach who's spent three years around him.
Mathieu screwed up, multiple times. I'm not here to make excuses for him. But I have a problem with people passing judgment on 20-year-old kids they don't know based on a quote or a headline they read. I met Mathieu a couple of times, but I don't claim to know him. I do know, based on a riveting profile last January by my new colleague Thayer Evans, that his mother had little role in his upbringing and his father is serving a life sentence for murder. The grandfather who initially cared for him died when he was five, his aunt and uncle raised him, and at one point they got displaced by Hurricane Katrina. I could see, therefore, why Miles might want to help the kid. And while there's no excuse for violating a team rule three times knowing full well the consequences, Mathieu has not been charged with a crime. As far as I know he's never been accused of a violent act against another person, just of getting high. If that makes someone a clown, then Barnum & Bailey should probably start recruiting at every college campus in America.