re: How many losses is the new coach allowed next year?

I know...fkn miles...only finished in the top 5 four times in his eleven years...that pos coach. We are LSU dammit...we don't settle for mediocrity.

LSU total top 5 finishes prior to miles:

4

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injuries

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Like the ones we've had this year?

Just win the West and it don't matter.

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They also don't need multiple timeouts to get a play off.

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You think more timeouts would have helped the last 3 weeks?

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Also very seldom score less than 2) points.

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Not sure what you're saying here - LSU was scoring about 35 points a game before Bama and are still averaging about 30 points.

Don't mistake my skepticism about a new coach with contentment for what has gone on the past 3 weeks.

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That's probably the only thing their offense has in common with ours.

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You know we threw the ball 51 times against Ole Miss, right?

So - what has happened since 1/9/2012 (which is what all of this is about)?

In 2012, with a somewhat revamped (better or worse) post-JJ/JL offense, we scored about 30 ppg, gave up about 18 and passed for more yards than we ran (and rushing/passing attempts were about 60/40).

We lost 3 games by a total of 12 points.

In 2013, with an improving offense, the defense drops off - penalties were worse, I don't have stats on "wasted" timeouts, but we scored almost 36 points a game while giving up 22. Again, we passed for more than we ran (and both were up from 2012) - and attempts remained about 60/40.

We lost 3 games by a total of 18 points.

In 2014, we suffered from losing 5 key offensive players to the NFL, 3 of whom were underclassmen. Penalties were down - so was scoring, down to about 28 points again - less than 2012 - but defense was better, down to about 18 points (about 2012's number). We rushed for more yards than we passed - the first time in a while. (The previous year we rushed for more yards than we passed was 2011 - but we were scoring almost 38 points per game in 2011, while only giving up about 11).

What happened in 2011 was that LSU's defense all but killed the pro style of offense in the SEC - other than for itself. I agree Les hasn't adapted. He is fighting 2011 all over again - but without the players.

You know we lost 5 fumbles and threw 5 interceptions in 2011, right? We got EIGHTEEN (18) picks and recovered 12 fumbles. That's +20 takeaways. That's dominance.

We don't get takeaways anymore and we don't get very many sacks. The penalties have little to do with it. We had penalties and won with a dominant defense. 2012 - we didn't have 6 penalties a game, I don't think, but we still lost those 3 close games.

At the end of the day, Les and co are victims of their own success. He won in 2011 without a QB and, I guess, thought it wasn't necessary. We've opened up it - no one can say we didn't throw the ball against Arkansas or Ole Miss. And Harris threw it fairly well against Ole Miss at that. Not good enough, apparently.

So, the next coach (which is why I think it is a young guy, not a successful, top tier coach in a good situation right now) - has quite a quandry - there are fundamental problems with the team right now - problems that ARE the coaching staff's responsibility (and Les brought them all here, for better or worse):

1. Poor tackling

2. Poor discipline regarding penalties - alignment and composure penalties abound. I'm not as worried about selective, ticky tack holds here and there, but the range and frequency of penalties are signs of other problems. A team the gets lots of penalties, but wins games can have penalties overlooked. But we haven't lost for 3 weeks because of penalities.

3. Poor short/mid range passing. Part of that is on the coordinator/QB coach, part of that is on talent at the position of QB, part of that is on the WRs.

4. Poor special teams across the board - that is an area that has showed some signs of improvement down the stretch.

5. Poor depth at OL, DL and LB, particularly. The injuries at FB and TE notwithstanding, the injuries to the interior OL have resulted in severe drops in rushing production and a noticeable dip from what was already dicey pass protection - this is amplified by the fact we're throwing the ball 2 to 3 times more often than early in the season.


So, indeed there are lots of problem arising - seemingly all at once. At the same time, there is no quick fix, particularly replacing the head coach. That is akin to taking cyanide to treat a headache.

Once a new coach is named, if in fact a new coach is brought in, I think you need to see who is hired. Then you can gauge what to expect rather than what is allowed.
If they miss on a good coach and end up scraping the bottom of the barrel, see Kevin Steele, the 2-3 losses may be a dream scenario. Reality may be harsh if that's the case.

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1 year isn't enough to evaluate. He will have 3-4 yr window regardless

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Like Steele?

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How many losses is the new coach allowed next year?

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Any coach running a 'conventional' offense would be expected to win next year. Not necessarily a playoff bid or SEC title, but you'd expect a 'conventional' offensive system to be implemented to greater effect. (That's my 2¢, anyway.)

Chip Kelly? He should be allowed to drop a few games in his first few years (2-3, tops) as he gets the kind of talent he needs to run the sort of system he wants.

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You think more timeouts would have helped the last 3 weeks?

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No I think having an offense run smooth enough not to need to use multiple timeouts would help us.

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You know we threw the ball 51 times against Ole Miss, right?

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How many points did we get?

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So - what has happened since 1/9/2012 (which is what all of this is about)?

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The other teams in the SEC west have developed better offenses.

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3 losses would not, therefore, be an improvement over Miles. Y'all want a coach that will lose only 1 or 2 games per season, all losses close, and very few close wins - most wins need to be blowouts.

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This will definitely depend on how the new coach can keep the current recruiting class intact/bring new recruits and how much LSU retains from the current roster. Les Miles or a new coach were going to have a serious problem next year in the front seven and QB once again will be an issue because behind Harris, Cameron and Miles did shite to solidify us there.