re: Les Miles = Ron Zook

Miles and Zook is a weak comparison. If Miles is like any other coach in college football, it would be Mack Brown, and I've said that for the last 2-3 years.

Both:
1. Are nice, approachable men and are seen as "good guys" in the coaching profession.
2. Are strong recruiters
3. Are considered to be "player's coaches"
4. Are Conference and National Championship winners
5. Are prone to being outcoached at any time by a good coaching staff, and will usually be outcoached by a great coach.
6. Heavily depend on their staff to tip the balance in their favor because they aren't necessarily capable of doing it.
7. Even more heavily depend on their ability to recruit to do the same.
8. Have tried the Co-Coordinator experiment, only to see it fail.
9. Have had more than one season where their team was seen as underachieving.
10. Are often seen by their fanbases as "too conservative."
11. Have made player (especially QB) decisions that have been sharply criticised.
12. Have a fluctuating group of fans that are sharply critical of them. Brown's is low right now and Miles's high, but it was much the opposite 2-3 years ago.
13. Are capable of running a championship winning program if recruiting and the staff are just right.
14. Are capable of badly underachieving any time they aren't.
15. Have had discipline and execution issues on several of their teams.

Apples to apples, I do think Brown is smarter, and a little better than Miles, but he is also a lot more passive, especially in recruiting, which hurts him. IMHO there are too many parallels to deny here.