Joe Alleva: "I Felt This Program Needed A Change"

LSU athletic director Joe Alleva opened up Monday's press conference to introduce interim coach Ed Orgeron by talking about Les Miles and his decision to move in another direction. Here is what he said:

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"Listen, it's never easy when you make a change, especially when a change involves a man like Les Miles, Alleve said. "His record here is well documented. Les is loved by his players, and that is because he cared about them as people."

"He tried to develop them into fine, young men and he did a great job at that. Les is a friend to us all. He loves LSU. We wish Les, Kathy, Smacker, Manny, Ben and Macy the very best. Their future is very bright and we will miss Les, and we thank him for all he did for us here at LSU."

"I felt, however, that this program needed a change, and the change was necessary to give the players the best opportunity to succeed. At the end of the day, it's all about the players and their experience and where they're going in their lives."

"I felt that at this time, Ed Orgeron is the right man to take over this program. His enthusiasm is contagious. He has outstanding leadership characteristics and I still believe this team has great things ahead of it and great things that can be achieved in the last eight games."

"So I really look forward to the next nine weeks. I look forward to Coach Orgeron and working with him and seeing where we go from here. I still really believe the future is really bright for this football program."

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[Video: NOLA.com]