quote:
Saban never lost more than 3 conference games. I could care less about being 20-0 out of conference except for the BCS championship, which you can't get to unless you win the SEC.

Add the fact that when Saban was at LSU he never played a Florida coached by Urban Meyer (instead he got to coach against Zook), Alabama was coached by, ahem, Franchone, who flamed out at A&M, and then Shula (and we know how that worked out), he played Richt 3 times, (losing once and winning 2x in the same year); he lost a West Division championship to Arkansas in game that was all but won, lost every game played at Auburn (2-3 record overall), barely beat a weak Kentucky team with a miracle (coached by Guy Morriss, now not a head coach in college).

Overall the coaching has stepped a notch since Saban was at LSU. And he lost 4 conference games in 2008 at Alabama, including a loss to Mississippi State. And his bowl record at LSU was mediocre, 3-2. It hasn't been better at Bama, losing to Utah in a very embarrassing way (got spanked). He barely beat a not very good Oregon State team in his first game after winning the NC (and it was because a very reliable kicker had an off night), and everyone was howling. How short are our memories?

Despite all of that, I think Saban is very good coach. But if posters are going to harp on every weakness of Miles, Saban has his own bevy of weak spots too. ((As does Stoops, Carroll, Tressel, etc.) Let's not look through rose colored glasses. Miles isn't perfect, but the fact remains, he has the best record over his tenure at LSU of any coach in our history. The season is one game old; much to early for the gloom and doom. Are there concerns? Certainly. Is there reason to panic. Not yet.

I think that Miles' problem is that he has a different personality that some of the other coaches and the media has been able to paint a caricature. Unfortunately, some our own fans fall for the caraciture, like the "gambling," unreasonable risk taker, that is patently not the case if one simply looks at the cases with some discernment. He isn't a bumbler or an idiot with a talented team. He is an excellent coach, smart and an outstanding recruiter. His record demonstrates it. He has one of the top records in the nation in college football, and that isn't because of good luck.