Jennings went into dangerous/illegal situation and got teammates to go with him

That is the bottom line, and it's pretty damning.

When people talk about the Jennings situation, they usually don't distill it down to these basic elements.

Yes, he had a right to get his stuff back, but he pursued an illegal avenue of doing so. He circumvented law enforcement and attempted vigilante justice despite being a high-profile NCAA athlete. What could go wrong?

Yes, he was able to get his stuff back without anyone being harmed. But he unlawfully entered an inhabited dwelling to do it, bringing two teammates with him for "muscle." He's very lucky the inhabitant did not have a gun, causing harm to himself or the others.

If you are Les Miles, how can you make public comments that you're confident there will be a very positive outcome to his pending criminal prosecution, and that you anticipate he will compete for a starting position?

Even if Jennings ultimately ends up getting a slap on the wrist legally (and it's certainly not clear that he will), why would the head coach be doing anything but: A) staying quiet in the media until then or B) admonishing the kid for his dumb choices and total lack of leadership.

Instead, we get these Jennings-affirming comments out of nowhere today. The kid was in the PR "dog house" for less than one offseason month before the coach starts trying to prop him up again, just in time for fall camp.

Reason #2987299487 Les Miles sits atop the HOT SEAT.