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re: An interesting interview with Gerry DiNardo
Posted on 8/26/25 at 10:44 am to Keltic Tiger
Posted on 8/26/25 at 10:44 am to Keltic Tiger
quote:
Joe Dean said numerous times, off the record, that GN was one of the most intelligent head coaches he'd ever seen. "But he was just not a people person & had ongoing problems with his staffs. He micromanaged every staff".
I spoke to a player who played under DiNardo and then Saban. His comment was DiNardo didn’t let his assistant coaches do their thing. He tried to coach everything and this created disorganization. Practice organization was night and day different under Saban.
0
Posted on 8/26/25 at 10:53 am to Vanilla Thunder
Dinardo had a good thing going but his coaching hires clearly did him in. It’s riches to rags ASAP at LSU if you start losing games. I was a 7th grader when Booger was a senior at Winnsboro so the Bring Back the Magic class has a great place in my heart. Those guys paved the way for Lord Saban to swoop in and steal a natty from the big boys. Now LSU is a factory.
Posted on 8/26/25 at 11:57 am to LSUShock
quote:
it would have been so fun to be at LSU 1997-2007.
I was there for the latter half of that timeframe and it was the best time of my life.
Posted on 8/26/25 at 12:10 pm to misey94
DiNardo and his staff recruited very well. When Hal Hunter took over for the last game, we played Arkansas, beat them 35-10, an it wasn’t that close.
Arkansas would play in a bowl game against U Texas, they beat Texas 27-6.
Arkansas would play in a bowl game against U Texas, they beat Texas 27-6.
Posted on 8/26/25 at 1:02 pm to misey94
He kept a couple of coaches on the staff that were brazenly sabotaging him behind the scenes. Everyone blames the Tepper hire but Tepper never had a chance because of the internal subterfuge.
Now, firing them may have led to other but different problems, but I think the right hires to replace them could have solved that.
Now, firing them may have led to other but different problems, but I think the right hires to replace them could have solved that.
Posted on 8/26/25 at 1:06 pm to misey94
I've always loved and appreciated DiNardo. While his stint overall wasn't the greatest, he had a passion for LSU and originally "brought back the magic". His main fault was he was too loyal to guys who should have been let go. He began the change in mentality in the football program that Saban took to another level. LSU is better off because of DiNardo.
Posted on 8/26/25 at 1:18 pm to misey94
That’s the first time I’ve heard him acknowledge that he didn’t do well.
For years he said he wanted to raise academic standards for the program and diverted blame to that.
Posted on 8/26/25 at 3:51 pm to Jim Rockford
quote:No. No. No.
25 years later Lou Tepper's drop linebacker is ubiquitous on college defenses. He was just ahead of his time.
No. No.
Please don't give Tepper any credit.
Tepper created the Drop Linebacker in an attempt to convert a 4-2-5 into a hybrid 3-4-4.
Nobody does that. Nobody uses a linebacker the way he used the Drop Linebacker. It's backwards.
Where as Saban and Smart successfully converted a "safety" into a larger run stopping role as a Star, Tepper painfully failed in trying to turn a linebacker into a larger coverage role as the Drop Linebacker.
The Star position is not played by a linebacker. It's not a linebacker position. It's much more a safety position.
Posted on 8/26/25 at 4:21 pm to FlyFishinTiger
quote:
Sitting in Notre Dame Stadium watching them complete a comeback against us by simply throwing the ball down the middle on every play was sickening. Tepper was horrible.
I was at that game with my Notre Dame grad brother.
Before every play in the 4th quarter, I would tell him which ND receiver would be open. It was that obvious.
GEAUX TIGERS!
Posted on 8/26/25 at 4:22 pm to misey94
"Bank One! I need a loan! QUICK!"
I miss that old scoreboard. And it's counterpart on the other side with the big speaker tower thing. Good old days.
I miss that old scoreboard. And it's counterpart on the other side with the big speaker tower thing. Good old days.
Posted on 8/26/25 at 4:58 pm to misey94
Met him briefly in New Orleans for (I think) the 2008 Natty. Super nice and class act. Hey, he brought back the magic, just couldn't quite sustain it.
Posted on 8/26/25 at 6:13 pm to lsudave1
I'll always remember him playing Craig Nall, 3rd string QB at Wide Receiver, while future Belitnikoff winner, Josh Reed, was sitting the bench.
Posted on 8/26/25 at 6:23 pm to Keltic Tiger
quote:
"But he was just not a people person & had ongoing problems with his staffs. He micromanaged every staff".
Those first three teams seemed to be fine with DiNardo and his tactics, but he evidently beat the shite out of his last two and ran them into the ground at practice. The 99 team definitely quit on him and their performance vs Arkansas after he was fired really drove that home.
Posted on 8/26/25 at 6:27 pm to Lakeboy7
quote:
(Tommy Tuberville, Curly Hallman).
Yeah, I can’t pass on this. Those two are absolutely NOTHING alike.
Tubs may not have been a genius, but he was a really good coach for a long time. He dominated Bama for the better part of a decade, had an undefeated season, and his records at Ole Miss on some heavy probation are unassailable.
Posted on 8/26/25 at 6:31 pm to Gus007
I met Coach DiNardo when he walked in on our campus, by himself, at Southwood in Shreveport.
He was polite and unassuming and simply asked if he could meet our head coach, Coach Rob.
I don't know if he was targeting any one specifically but he was very easy to talk to.
I was the Golf Coach so I didn't spend a lot of time with him.
He was polite and unassuming and simply asked if he could meet our head coach, Coach Rob.
I don't know if he was targeting any one specifically but he was very easy to talk to.
I was the Golf Coach so I didn't spend a lot of time with him.
Posted on 8/26/25 at 6:32 pm to LSUDad
quote:
DiNardo and his staff recruited very well.
Somewhat, but there were still some smoke and mirrors there. By 98 and 99, half of his guys were either shown the door, left, or never made it to campus.
We had talent, but we only had like 65-70 scholarship players that season. That was a major red flag that he was missing on some and driving others away with his coaching style.
Posted on 8/26/25 at 8:12 pm to FlyFishinTiger
quote:
Sitting in Notre Dame Stadium watching them complete a comeback against us by simply throwing the ball down the middle on every play was sickening. Tepper was horrible
Was that the game in the cold? Even light snow flurries if I remember correctly. If so, I suffered through that one.
Posted on 8/26/25 at 8:46 pm to misey94
I tried to organize a planned/spontaneous group run joining Coach Dinardo on his run around the lakes but everybody bitched out.
Posted on 8/26/25 at 9:18 pm to misey94
He was a really nice guy. Many years ago, my fellow LSU fan just took a chance out of the blue and went to his restaurant. We were hoping he would walk in and about 30 minutes later, he did. He was very pleasant, speaking to several customers and I believe signing autographs.
This seemed to come natural to him and the coach really enjoyed it.
This seemed to come natural to him and the coach really enjoyed it.
Posted on 8/26/25 at 9:57 pm to rjokerlsu
quote:
He was a really nice guy. Many years ago, my fellow LSU fan just took a chance out of the blue and went to his restaurant. We were hoping he would walk in and about 30 minutes later, he did. He was very pleasant, speaking to several customers and I believe signing autographs. This seemed to come natural to him and the coach really enjoyed it.
Since he wasn’t the most popular choice as a hire at the time, he was smart and really went on a charm offensive in that first offseason. He toured the state, met with all in kinds of groups and made smart moves like working to get the NCAA exception to wear white at home.
Curley and Archer before him couldn’t have cared less that TGBFTL existed. Archer actually wouldn’t allow the band to march pregame once because of rain and the fanbase let him know that shite wasn’t happening again.
In contrast, DiNardo came to a preseason practice in both 95 and 96 to talk to us. He let us know how important the band was to the fans and program and how much he appreciated our hard work.
It was a small thing, but it’s always appreciated when a head football coach takes time out from Fall Camp to talk to the band. He definitely earned some respect from me that day.
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