While I know every true LSU fan on this board is distraught and enraged following LSU’s loss to Alabama Saturday night – let’s all take a step back and put things in perspective. There is no denying Nick Saban has engendered a prestigious legacy at Alabama with 3 national championships in only a 7-year span. He will be unanimously heralded the greatest head coach of the BCS era. Saban’s uncanny talent evaluation/progression, unrivaled recruiting strategy, and flawless in-game management propel him into a rare coaching class in modern sports. He is the 21st century John Wooden of NCAA FBS. It’s a tough pill for LSU fans to swallow, but the Crimson Tide may add one or two more crystal balls to the shelf before his tenure is completed. I understand that perception is reality, so the deluded, biased responses I receive are expected.

Unfortunately for Alabama – with extreme exponential success comes enormous pressure sevenfold, causing unbearable conditions for a coach to sustain a career. A large portion of Alabama’s fan base is now comprised of seemingly spoiled children – they are clueless to the concept of losing (hence the Bama crowd during the 2011 home loss to LSU). This false sense of invincibility has plagued their campus and will eventually bring about parallel years of mediocrity, comparable to the Bear Bryant aftermath.

Once the Tide finally shifts, and Alabama fails to finish at the top in consecutive years, a typhoon of antipathy will bear down upon Tuscaloosa – washing their once revered coach away forever. At this point, Saban will likely retire given his age – starting a new career at 65+ is unrealistic; he is intelligent enough to understand and accept this. Alabama will cycle through many coaches for a few decades, as was done post Bear Bryant era (1983-2006), a decline that will be impossible to digest for the Bama faithful. The fan base will digress into a state of hysterical nostalgia, noting previous championships due to prolonged irrelevance.

Albeit unorthodox in his methods, Les Miles is a GREAT coach to have at LSU. Sure, he may not have the ideal level of clock awareness or be the greatest defensive mastermind of all time. He makes befuddling comments that make one question his mental state. The man snacks on blades of grass and finger-cleans his ears on national television. All things considered, do NOT discredit the coach based solely on his eccentric nature. He has built a solid program of his own at LSU – 2 national title appearances in only 8 years. 6 of 8 seasons we have had at least 10 wins, which is an incredible feat. He is not a coach that is going to win a national championship every other year, but that is OKAY. We need to accept that, if he’s going to remain our coach. Please do not become deluded by Bama’s success – it’s a rare situation indeed. This level of success a gift - but is also a curse.

The most important quality of Les Miles is his character – the quirky, amusing aspects of his personality that truly make him unique to college football. Some people are of the opinion that Miles should take a more serious, stoic approach to coaching – emulating the likes of Bill Belichick, for example. This would be an enormous mistake. The last thing we want is our beloved football team processed by some egotistical autocrat. Listen to former players like Patrick Peterson, Tyrann Mathieu, Mo Claiborne speak about Les Miles – they absolutely loved him like he was a father. The players are drawn into his character, just like the rest of the college football brethren. Not only is Les Miles an amazing, unique coach, but also he is equally a great human being.

Saban may be a short step ahead of Miles in terms of development and in-game coaching ability, but Miles is on par with recruiting. Please do not invest so much into star ratings – it’s no secret that when a player commits to Bama, they become a 5* NFL caliber player. There’s an undeniable bias in the ranking systems that will kill over once Saban is gone.

The only reason there appears to be a small talent gap between LSU and Bama this year is because we had 10 early departures to the NFL. TEN, PEOPLE!!!!! To put it in perspective, we lost nearly half of our team to the NFL and went toe to toe with Alabama for 3 quarters. You can try and put a negative spin on it all you want, stating Miles has “lost control” of retaining his players, but the fact is that Bama does not supply NFL talent at the same rate LSU does, which is a huge recruiting advantage. Not only do we put players in the NFL, but also they are extremely productive unlike recent Bama players. Patrick Peterson is already acclaimed one of the top cornerbacks in the National Football League. Tyrann Mathieu is one of the most dynamic, skillful players ever to step foot in Tiger Stadium. Both players will be in the NFL hall of fame one day. Take a look at our team this year - even after the early departures – we have NFL talent at all of the major positions on offense (WR (2), QB, RB), with a number of future NFL prospects on defense.

We are loaded with ELITE players!!! To further my points – Louisiana produces the most NFL players in the country per capita BY FAR - 1 per 73,119 people. Couple that fact with a whopping 70%+ of our players residing from Louisiana on average – we will be elite for years to come. Take pride in the unique situation we are in and rejoice – LSU will be sitting at the upper echelon of college football programs for many years to come.

THERE IS NO DECLINE – only a cycle of damn strong football teams that are talented enough to compete with any football team in the country. We are in position to contend for a national championship every year; regardless of the experience we field each game. Opposing teams cower in fear playing in Death Valley, a venue that is still unrivaled to this day. We all need to stand behind our school and support it more than ever, no matter what. Negativity will get us nowhere fast – positivity will outlast. God bless and Geaux Tigers!

See ya.