How big of a name was Les Miles when he cam here?

Wasn’t. He beat OU a couple times. That’s it

Not a splash hire, but he had done well at OSU. Did well his first 3 years here. Of course, Saban left him a lot to work with.

Conference coach of the year
As much as CLM needed to go his teams were never as soft as BK and even in a loss it didn't look like BK teams

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Saban left him a lot to work with.

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Les also assembled the 2011 and 2012 teams. 2012 should have played for a natty (frick TJ Yeldon and AJ McCarron).

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Les also assembled the 2011 and 2012 teams.

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He did. Outside the QB position, no one ever said Les couldn’t evaluate and recruit talent.

When he was selected as coach, many LSU fans were shocked. I mean, the man came from Oklahoma State, and LSU fans look at the Cowboy program as they do Mississippi State, Arkansas, and Kentucky. Nice program, but not a real threat. It was, to be an honest, a disappointment. When word leaked out Nick Saban was miserable in Miami just hours after being announced as the Dolphin head coach (written in a biography about Saban) and reached out to LSU officials to see if he could come back, well, that hurt badly. But Miles was already hired.

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Then 2008 came.

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If Perriloux doesn’t get kicked off the team, a lot of the 08-13 years are very different.

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Had an average record at Oklahoma State

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28-21

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How big of a name was Les Miles when he cam here?

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He wasn't, but LSU was in a different period back then. Saban got us the title in '03, but we were back to 9-3 when he left in '04 with no indication that we would win 2 more nattys.

What we did see was a 28-21 record at a different school, a guy who talked funny, and had punched up twice in four years to beat OU when they were a juggernaut.

Brian Kelly was the first time LSU had gone out and poached a good coach from a prominent program. Saban was good not great at Mich St., Miles was good not great at Ok St., and CEO was good as an interim twice and really bad as a HC at OM.

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Nick Saban was miserable in Miami just hours after being announced as the Dolphin head coach (written in a biography about Saban) and reached out to LSU officials to see if he could come back, well, that hurt badly. But Miles was already hired.

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Knowing what we know now, we should have paid off Miles and took Saban back. Would have been an insane move at the time but would have paid off in the end.