re: Texags in the early stages of grief...

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So losing coordinators is crippling a program? It seems EVERY single program is Vulnerable like that.

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Losing Aranda would cripple LSU's program because of how uniquely dependent O is on Aranda. That's the difference and it illustrates our instability.

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Freeze and Briles are done. It will not be them, neither will it be Ensminger unless 5 or 6 preferred options fall through.

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Well, I hope you are right about the other options. Because if it is Ensminger, I've used up a lot of space in my prior posts explaining the likely dynamics that will unfold.

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You guys go from "OMG, this guy is amazing and we love everything about him!"

To "LSU, can keep him! Oh look he was a successful coaches roommate in college and now I hate him!"

You guys are insufferable

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Its like I was reading the rant over there.

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A&M poached an elite DC

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How was he supposed to defend against it? Hire guys to physically destroy all lines of communication coming out of College Station? Alleva can't stop another school from making overtures to his coaches. Was he supposed to see into the future and convince Aranda to sign a new contract stating that he would never sign with A&M? Why do you keep acting like Alleva screwed up when A&M came calling? The only thing ANY AD could do in that situation is play defense and try to keep the coach, which he did. What the frick do you mean "flat-footed"? What the frick are you talking about?

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I've already explained everything ad nauseum. I even wrote a separate hypothetical analyzing how A&M's strategy (at least its process) is something LSU should imitate.

LSU did the right thing and paid to keep Aranda. Congratulations to Alleva and others for making the right decision as they truly had a "staring over the abyss" moment. The point is, they allowed themselves to get into this vulnerable position by hiring a figurehead HC to begin with. They committed to championships arguing that despite having a HC that brings nothing strategically, and has demonstrated nothing over his long tenure that he is a championship-caliber HC, LSU would contend for championships by hiring the best coordinators money can buy. This is an implausible strategy if your goal is to win championships (which is LSU's stated goal).

At a time when LSU is firing its very good, possibly elite OC because the HC and he can't play nicely together, A&M almost poached our irreplaceable DC. We literally had to pay the equivalent of the salary of a top-shelf OC to keep him. Great job keeping him, but that was a huge near-miss.

Now, we still need to secure an elite OC. Same dynamics unfolding as the HC search. There is no confident targeting of elite OC and controlling the dynamics of the negotiations, pulling the trigger and obtaining a top-10 coordinator (which is what A&M did). We have a fumbling, overly-political process that is likely going to result in the promotion of another position coach.

Alleva mismanaged this whole process. He is not paid to simply be a good reactive manager that sometimes might prevent a crippling loss, sometime maybe not. He's paid to have a winning strategy and implement it proactively.