re: Les Miles' recent bowl record - a little perspective

Yea but if you take away all his losses, he's undefeated.

Great person. Stubborn coach. Pretty simple

Were Bryant's teams playing teams that didn't belong in a bowl game but got there because there are 30 bowls?

CLM had a 1-2 bowl record when he was hired.
With a mix of Saban recruits and his own he went 4-0
With it being his show he has gone 2-4
Maybe thats just who he is, a little above average

Ok, but the only reason this stat raises eyebrows is because of Bryant's cumulative success, which to this point cannot be compared. A little more perspective... there were very few bowls and only top notch teams played in them during the 60-70s. The 1967 Cotton Bowl does not equal the 2014 Music City Bowl in any capacity.

LSU is 2-4 since 2009 with one impressive outing (2010).

2009 can be excused in my mind because it was a quality opponent and the field was terrible--anything could have happened, like playing underwater.

2011-no explanation needed
2012-4th quarter collapse to a good, but beatable team
2013-win, but lackluster performance somewhat excused by new qb to a very inferior opponent.
2014-another 4th quarter melt to a team who had zero business beating LSU under any circumstance

There were not as many bowls games back then when Bryant was coaching. The bowls game back then were alot higher in importance and had national championship implications with some of those bowls he lost in.

For some perspective, here are the records of those Bryant Alabama teams along with their QBs as asked above:


Year Overall Conference Standing Bowl Coaches AP
1967 8–2–1 5–1 2nd L Cotton 7 8 Ken Stabler
1968 8–3 4–2 T–3rd L Gator 12 17 Scott Hunter
1969 6–5 2–4 8th L Liberty Scott Hunter
1970 6–5–1 3–4 T–7th T Bluebonnet Scott Hunter
1971 11–1 7–0 1st L Orange 2 4 Terry Davis
1972 10–2 7–1 1st L Cotton 4 7 Terry Davis
1973 11–1 8–0 1st L Sugar 1 4 Richard Todd
1974 11–1 6–0 1st L Orange 2 2 Richard Todd


Stabler had an All-Pro career with the Raiders, Oilers and Saints. Scott Hunter was drafted in the 6th round by the Packers and had an 8 year career with them and the Lions (eventually replaced in Detroit by our friend, Gary Danielson)). Terry Davis was the first wishbone qb for Alabama, and finished fifth in the Heisman voting in 1972, but never played in the NFL. Richard Todd had a ten year NFL career with the Jets and Saints.

We haven't had a QB that sniffed the NFL since 2007.

Analysis: During the seasons in question, Bama had a similar decline from 1967-70 to what we are now seeing at LSU. Bama made a major change to their offense and it turned them into regular title contenders (they even claim one in 1973, even though they lost their bowl to the team they share the title with, Notre Dame--that's a completely different discussion.)

All this really proves is that the "game has passed them by" meme is generally nonsense. The real question is does the administration trust Les to turn it around. His success in recruiting last year gives them hope. The success of whoever he hires as a defensive coordinator will determine whether that hope is accurate.

GEAUX TIGERS

quote:

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Was Bryant plagued throughout his career with a well-supported history of QB underdevelopment? Because that's what everyone is bitching about.

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No. He made wise choices when it came to recruiting QB's.

You're right--I wasn't thinking.

We've had one QB reach the NFL since 2007. We will see how he pans out. We will all be proud if Mett turns in a Stabler or Todd type career.

GEAUX TIGERS

bowl games are essentially meaningless unless you are in the playoffs...the best trend is to look at conference record. There has certainly been a decline.