re: 8 years with Les.....what are your thoughts....

[quote]Big Lego[/quote
Did they?

Beat:
UT by 1
UGA by 7
Vandy by 6
S Car by 1
Fla st by 7

Last three all un-ranked

Lost to auburn by 10

Eta: roar I know what you are saying but my point was nothing is guaranteed. I think LSU wins in the 2nd half as well

Eta2: Michigan beat vandy by 20 that season. I am not saying that they were better than UF. My point is if rematches were such a precedent than UM had just a solid a argument in 06.

I misunderstood but you nailed it. One season it who's most deserving and another it's who's the best team

Frauds

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What exactly are our capabilities? Who decides this? What constitutes "most" occasions?

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I give up, Gray Tiger. If you're happy with us struggling and looking unprepared and unmotivated against some of our lesser opponents, then good for you.

I'll continue to expect more from a program with some of the best recruiting, facilities, and support in the nation.

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May be a bit Hearns-Hagler-esque,

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Fantastic comparison!! I was at LSU at the time and went to see Hagler-Hearns on closed circuit at the Centroplex. Most exciting 8 minutes of boxing (maybe any sport) I've ever witnessed. For those who haven't seen it, watch it on YouTube. LINK

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Michigan is way easier to recruit and win at than LSU. Hell even Brady Hoke will win 9-10 games a yr and hes no way near the recruiter Miles is. U have one big game every year and thats Ohio State, same for them BTW. Wisconsin and Penn State(not anymore) have an excellent team every 3-4 years. The rest have a great team about every 10 years.

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Inaccurate assessment of Big 10. Penn St's been good forever. Remember they had that good coach?? They even survived the scandal and had a winning season last year. Their passing game is legit. Wisconsin's been good since the 90's. Pretty much every year. Michigan State produces plenty NFL players. Northwestern wins. Purdue had Drew Brees. Iowa'll be back. Now they've got Nebraska. UM and NU competed fine against USCe and UGA in the bowl games; UM just didn't match-up against a rested Bama to start the year. It's been just as good as the SEC until 5 years ago. Not as much pressure as the SEC, but Mich plays ND every year. They're way behind the SEC now, but it's not a cakewalk. They'll eclipse the Pac 12 eventually. Although it could be 25 years until they catch up with the SEC.

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he is not a SEC coach. He definitely wouldnt be able to coach at LSU and win as many games as Miles will

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Doesn't Meyer have a better winnning pct. in the SEC than Miles?? And he came in after their program was Zook'd, unlike Miles who merely steadied the ship. If Urbz wins the Natty this year, he'll be viewed as equal to Saban, one of the best college coaches ever, and a helluva good father. He may be dirtier than Saban but how could you be less likable than the himself. All of that is BS tho compared to their record. UF and OSU are good gigs, but Meyer won at Utah too.

Inaccurate assessment of Big 10. Although it could be 25 years until they catch up with the SEC. UF and OSU are good gigs, but Meyer won at Utah too.
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Your statement that it will take 25 yrs for them to catch up makes my point. Ole Miss had a top 20 team last yr but not many outside of the SEC knows this. Does anyone really believe that ND would've played in the NC game if they were in the SEC?

As far as Meyer goes, he is an excellent fit at easy Ohio State. He will do a better job there than Miles would IMO.
His image is way overrated as is he. But he pulled it off, got to give him credit on that orchestration of bullshite. It saved his arse and his legacy and now he will go down as one of the all time greats. But make no mistake he quit on his school and his contract as soon as the going got tough. If u want to believe like everyone else that Meyer is this great college coach,then go ahead and fall in line with the other gullibles. But, when people still say he would be better than Miles at LSU, after he has already shown he cant handle the SEC even at big Fla. Well... ____________________ !!!!

The reality is if he wouldve stayed at Florida, he wouldve fallen on his face and now be coaching back at Utah or equivalent. C'est la vie. Kudos to him for pulling it off and whoever orchestrated the plan, it couldnt have worked out better.

Meyer couldnt handle the athletes down here or the recruiting grind. How can he be considered one of the TOP 5 coaches in all of college football when he couldnt do either? He had to quit, he had lost complete control. He just needed to figure out how to run away. He was also winning in the SEC while Florida St and Miami were losing, giving him a recruiting advantage in talent rich Florida. He's a highly intelligent man and clearly saw what was on the horizon. LSU and Bama getting very dominant and continually plucking some of his top recruits and now FSU, Miami and others were starting to have success in Florida and it was only going to get worse for him. Add in Tebow, the true leader of the team, was leaving and u can see what he was faced with. Its very difficult to maintain an elite program year after year after year. Very few can. Look around at who is winning 9-10 games a year not named Alabama, Michigan, Texas, USCw or Ohio State for the past 50 years.
Thats not the worse thing in the world, all coaches have weaknesses. Not everyone is cut out to be an elite SEC coach. It takes a special man to maneuver and adapt successfully down here for more than 10 years and keep everything else in your life together as well. Add your Utah boy to that long list, that couldnt.

My comment was more about how Les Miles is prospering in this environment more so than a dis on Meyer. I find it remarkable considering everything he has to deal with. Never once a blow up or any side line antics other than chewing on a piece of grass. If thats the way he juggles all thats in his life then good for him. Beats drinking, drugging, quitting or banging an intern, that happens to be the fiance' of a guy on your staff. U get JL Smith and a major set back with that "great" coach. Or tell your school, adamantly that you are staying all the way thru December. Allow all the most sought after available coaches to get under contract, like Spurrier, with other schools, then bail unexpectedly the day after your bowl loss debacle. Leave them scrambling for a coach and trying to hold on to their recruits and asst coaches against all these other cut throat schools that smell blood in the air. Also think about the asst.coaches that didnt have time to get a job or just bought houses, and if the new HC doesnt keep them, they get to sit a year out at best. What a helluva fella eh? Wouldnt u like to work for a guy or company like that? And if u think it was just a 1 time error in judgment? See what he did to Miami when the coveted easy to win at Alabama job opened just a few yrs later. Only worry about yourself even if it means lying to the entire world of football, including your own school,coaches,players and their parents.

And yet theres still plenty of people that still think Miles is a dunce and could be easily replaced with 10 other coaches? I guess making a poor game decision is worse than leaving on your school with no notice, quitting and not honoring your contract or cheating on your wife. Im glad our AD has enough sense not to fall in that category.

Miles handles all the stress and pressure in stride. He is very comfortable in his own skin. Miles has had to deal with a ton of stuff at LSU almost all of which was out of his control. Unlike Meyer's adversity which mostly came from a lack of discipline and alot of sneaky cover ups that was about to explode in his face. If he had been at LSu he wouldve never covered up 31 arrests; believe that.

Lets see: the guy dealing with all kinds of misfortune and expectations prospers and is still standing; the other guy who had it made and now his program is deteriorating and he's losing control of his players and his recruiting area, is all of a sudden going to be a better coach at LSU than Les Miles? I cant agree with this.

Meyer may have had the best college leader ever running his offense for him. Miles had to take over a talented group that was used to Saban. The entire program had a keen eye on him including the committed recruits that now had the other schools in their ear. How easy do u think replacing Saban was? He took the job in January unlike your guy and was way behind on the recruiting trail right off the bat. What if he had went 6-7 in his 1st year or lost a couple of prized recruits that had already committed to LSU and Saban? A ton of pressure on him from Day 1. Miles never has a melt down day not even a jerk comment to a reporter after a tough loss. This guy walks around like he doesnt have a care in the world 24/7. Theres something to be said for that. Look around, who else can do this? Your boss?

Meyer inherited a program stacked with talent and not near the expectations that Miles had. Meyer was perceived as a major upgrade; Miles was perceived as a major downgrade and under a microscope. Final tally between the 2 schools with Meyer at the helm 3-3 and he had a Heisman trophy QB for 4 of those 6 years.
Zook is not a very good coach, but he's as good a recruiter as anyone in the country including Miles.
Thats why Meyer chose Florida over the great Notre Dame that had also offered him and wanted him badly.
Zook left Meyer a stacked house of talent. Meyer left Muschamp a mess.

Miles doesnt get to hide behind the recruiting factory houses of Alabama, Texas, USCw, Michigan or Ohio State.
Miles also has the rotten luck of defending his own top recruits against Saban, who also coaches in the SEC West. Saban still has ties with many high schools in Louisiana. Miles has done a better job of recruiting at LSU than Saban did. Things are different now, so Im not saying he's better than Saban or Meyer at recruiting because they are both outstanding as well. You certainly cant hold it against them, that they were chosen to coach where its easier to recruit. But, I will say Miles has it tougher and he's right there every yr with those 5. Is it sustainable? Im not sure, but he's still standing and is poised to add another great class again this year.
The man was 13-0(check that schedule out sometime) just two years ago. Under almost any scenario, but the 1 that transpired, including a plane crash, would have made it 14-0 with 2 Nat'l Titles.

Les is still standing and prospering. He is the better coach for LSU between the two.

It's been a hell of a run... Wouldn't change it

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What are your thoughts?

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There have been 4 or 5 times where I have wanted him fired after games but that quickly passes and I realize that there is no coach I would rather have.

i just don't get the recruiting factory houses comment about bama, uscw, osu, um, and ut. michigan and alabama don't produce as much (nfl) talent as louisiana. i'm sure um's relatively easy to win at, but rich rod's having as much success at az as he did there. osu is the easiest place to win in the big 10, but he had to work as hard as the guys down here to go undefeated. i just don't get why people care so much about athletes' and coaches' personal lives because you'll never know their circumstances and you only know what you see on gamedays. maybe meyer exaggerated his health ailments to avoid a collapse at florida, or maybe he goes down with a heart failure after this season. i believe about the foul play at uf as far as working around misbehavior and legal repercussions, but the coach is there to win, so if his program falls apart or if he has to leave because this is inevitable, he has paid his price. the questions are headline news now.

i'm not reading 13 pgs but

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-95+ % of all games are close (includes good and bad teams)

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where's 95% pulled from? just some number that sounded good? i know losing is unacceptable and all but you should also look at our losses. no one ever really destroys us. 1-9-12 is the only one really along with game vs UF when they won NC at their place. meaning miles and his coaches put us in position to win 95% of the time and a play here or there turns the outcome. there, i like that stat better.

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-coaching staff decisions have been marginal at best (less Chief) ie. Maleveto, Stud as OC with no OL coaching, etc (position coaches have been hit/miss)

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as they are in just about every other school in the country. miles has made more good hires than bad. everyone likes to use a coach to credit instead of miles and usually use (jimbo, pelini, chief mostly) well who hired those coaches you'd rather credit in order to spite miles?

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-team discipline has been poor with preseason arrests that have negatively affected the season (somewhat common with elite players...happens other places too)

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oh well thank you for that last phrase, it saved me some time.

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-game day coaching has been poor (strategy and use of players... Has gotten worse over the last 2 years)

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i'll levy this criticism towards miles. 2008 broke this man. all those pick sixes and turnovers eliminated what was great about miles: his unpredictability. what he thought he learned from it (and employed it thereafter) was mistakes lose ballgames and he's gonna coach with the idea of putting his players in position where mistakes can be limited. what it's done is limit his creativity and become predictable.

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-game day organization and discipline has been poor (penalties, delay of game, busted plays, use of time outs, etc)

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which is also true of other teams. one of the main differences btwn miles and saban is perception. saban, for instance, would've been lauded for how we out strategized and were prepared for: (UO 11, OSU 08 NC game, ND & miami bowl games, WVU 11, UF 11, bama-"game of century" etc.
miles doesn't get credit for gameplanning any of these even when its obvious we were better prepared than others. what he gets remembered for was his worst job at preparation and i think we all remember what game that was.

once again, people love to criticize miles by attributing good luck to his fortunes but no one wants to cut him slack for misfortune. what would this program look like if RP and zach lee were QB's that played out their tenure? what would've happened if LSU played ok state or stanford on 1/9?

everyone's perception is tainted by their opinion of the man that was probably formed in 2005. how many people do you know that were unsure of miles in the beginning that have come around? people don't like to admit when they're wrong.

a bi-product of this is they keep moving the goal posts. and the definition of success becomes more and more unattainable.

that can also be accredited to bama's success. some fans look at bama's 3 NC's in 4 yrs and will define that and only that as success and everything short of that as failure.

so they internalize it and blame miles instead of stepping outside a bit and recognizing it for what it is which an unprecedented run in this current era of coll fb.