re: The view from a known opponent of the O hire.............(me)

Didn't you know, dukke said Lsu would NOT beat bama next year. To me, that is more positive than anything else, regarding Lsu football.

You win in the trenches, you win. I don't care how great your rb is, if the line can't block, he won't do well. See LF against bama 2015, 2016

quote:

---

ShortyRob

---

I've always liked your takes...even though toward the end of the Miles run you seemed to become fricking unhinged, but whatever. So I'll try and address some of the points you made if that's ok because you took the time to be reasonable and I respect you.

quote:

---

I opposed hiring O. I STILL believe the choice was indefensible in terms of criteria.

---

quote:

---

That said, some hiring choices that are 100% defensible don't pan out and some that seem silly do. Sure. That's not a solid way to play the odds, but it happens.

---

No doubt. And here is where we can all disagree, but it's that undefinable percentage of times that this kind of gamble actually DOES work out that has some of us as concerned as we are. Yes...as you and others have said, now that we're here worrying isn't fixing it...but I still maintain that part of why we even got here was because fans supported this ridiculous hire and therefore fans need to keep being shown that it really was as bad as some made it out to be. Because if/when a change needs to be made, do you really want to be in a PR battle with local media who are in bad with the coach and who have been allowed to change the narrative some much that it's damn near impossible to pull the trigger on change? I don't. and back to your original point, if the percentage was 50-50 of hiring a shitty resume and having it work out I could back away and take the "wait and see" approach. But honestly, are we remotely at 50-50? Nah... It could miraculously be that rare exception where you hire a person who failed so spectacularly in their previous job but kill it at yours. But neither of us believe in "miracles" if I remember correctly...

quote:

---

Positives:
1. The team overall appeared to get better as the season progressed. Yes, I know our schedule helped, but, I still think it's very arguable that the team in November was well ahead of the team in September.

2. Recruiting. I know that this is one people are griping about but honestly, I was concerned recruiting could crater because of O's history. Instead, the class looks to be a decent class that maybe is a shade short of when we were at our best. And, it's filling needs which sometimes even our best recruiting did NOT do.

3. Recovery. The team could have totally folded after the Troy loss. We've certainly seen that happen to teams in college ball. That they didn't is a credit no matter who you want to give it to.

---

No real disagreements there. Only thing I'll point out is that while some (mostly those that fly back and forth between ecstasy and angst) seemed hellbent on declaring that we were destined for a 0-8 SEC record most seemed to realize that the team wasn't going to tank entirely. They were almost certainly not going to go win less in the SEC as some seemed eager ot predict, and many even pointed out that allowing that to become the assumption was going to make it seem like some huge turnaround when things didn't completely smash into the wall. FWIW, I didn't see that coming as a talking point, but I also never thought we'd tank entirely...at least not by game 4 of year one.

quote:

---

Negatives:
1. Well, you really can't accept MSU/Troy. That shite happens again next year and all the improvement as the season goes along in the world won't shine the turd.

2. In game decisions. Honestly, I wanted to put this in the positive but some of how he handled the QB situation this year was a real head scratcher. I was VERY over DE but, O still bungled the frick out of that a couple of times. It's kinda of a credit to DE that the dude didn't just fold up shop(especially after the Bama game)

3. The need to revamp how he was running the team after Troy. I mean, look. That's cool and it seemed to be the right call. But shite. That's why we didn't want to hire him. We don't need a guy trying to figure out the right way to be a head coach.....on the job!

4. His handling of this Canada situation is completely asinine

---

Agreed, especially with the notion of this Top 10 job being on the job training. Had he gone elsewhere and rebuilt his image as a full time head coach of his own program and done well, I'd have been much less apprehensive about him taking over ours. The reality is, every good thing he does at LSU is essentially the FIRST TIME he's doing it as a full time head coach, and that's frightening.

quote:

---

I saw enough this year to think it's possible next season that O surprises us. I think those that say it's a certainty that he will fail are simply trying to fulfill their own prophecies.

---

Certainty? Nah...but I really don;t think there are a bunch of people saying that there is 100% certainty that he will fail. but, if you put a gun to my head and told me had to make a prediction as to how this will ultimately turn out, I can't tell you I'd have to wonder for very long. The smart money, based on the information we have on hand, is that if he does succeed it will be the outlier in situations like this. I don't wish that or hope that, but that's what I think.

quote:

---

But, I damned sure didn't see enough to start polishing up national championship trophies. The folks in here who have effectively become O pumpers are silly.

---

Yup.

My biggest fear is due to how easy it is to win at LSU. See Les Miles. It is not hard to win 10 games year in and year out due to LSU’s recruiting advantages. Coach O will be at LSU for a long time and sadly I don’t see LSU winning a SEC or National Championship with him.

quote:

---

My biggest fear is due to how easy it is to win at LSU. See Les Miles. It is not hard to win 10 games year in and year out due to LSU’s recruiting advantages.

---

It's certainly easier here than most places. True.

A legit concern. I can't refute it.

quote:

---

Question.... should we fire O after the season????

---

No. But we absolutely shouldn't have hired him in the first place.

quote:

---

It seems on here that 10-3 is not good enough...

---

I like how it's a forgone conclusion that we're beating ND.

quote:

---

so we just keep hiring coach after coach year after year until we get one that wins the west??????

---

I never said anything like that. We should have made a better hire. Look at what every other SEC team besides Tennessee did with their coaching searches.

quote:

---

Look at what every other SEC team besides Tennessee did with their coaching searches.

---

Frankly, even though they shite the bed, I would argue the lucked in to the best coach on their consideration list.

quote:

---

I heard we won bigly in the trenches against Bama this year. What was the result of that game again?

---

We did much better. 2016 I saw our RG and LT get pushed into the backfield.

In 2015 we had 182 vs 434 yards of offense. In 2016 we had 125 vs 323. 2017 we had 306 vs 299. Better, but obviously not good enough.

If you didn't see the difference then I really can't help you. Of course there are other pieces to the puzzle, but the foundation is building up front. How do you think Bama does it? Are they great at the DB position, QB? They have good skill players, no doubt, but their strength has always been OL and front 7. How does Ohio St do it? Same philosophy.

quote:

---

My biggest fear is due to how easy it is to win at LSU. See Les Miles. It is not hard to win 10 games year in and year out due to LSU’s recruiting advantages.

---

This is an absolute fricking fallacy. The same thing can be said about any number of other top teir programs yet how many consistently win 10 games? A very low percentage, if you actually look at the numbers.