re: What if Jack Del Rio came to LSU in 2005?

Les definitely wasn't the right choice in 2005. Down vote from me.

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Jack Del Rio was the John Gruden of those years. Rumored every offseason but never would really considered college coaching.

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USC people have always wanted him. Every time the job is open, or even now when they have a guy the boosters and many fans aren't happy with, they put Del Rio on their list.

As much as I admire and respect Skip for his baseball accomplishments, he was a lousy AD, and let his ego get in the way with Saban and money, and then hired Les when Del Rio wanted the job. Let’s not forget him hiring Smoke as baseball coach which was a disaster. I love Les and he did some great things for football, but Del Rio would have been a home run hire.

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As much as I admire and respect Skip for his baseball accomplishments, he was a lousy AD, and let his ego get in the way with Saban and money, and then hired Les when Del Rio wanted the job. Let’s not forget him hiring Smoke as baseball coach which was a disaster. I love Les and he did some great things for football, but Del Rio would have been a home run hire.

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I know the Les/LSU marriage eventually ran its course, but it's not like Les had a bad tenure at LSU...AT ALL. There is no way to know if Del Rio would have been a "home run" hire or if he truly wanted the LSU job or was just using it for leverage. At the time (late 2004) Del Rio was only in his second season as the Jacksonville HC. One that ended with Jacksonville's first winning season in 5 years. Presumably if LSU and Del Rio REALLY wanted each other, they could have waited until after the NFL season ended (1/2/05) which was the day Miles was hired. And if Del Rio really wanted out of Jacksonville so badly he sure didn't show it seeing as how he stayed there for 7 more years after the 2004 season.

That aside, in 2004 LSU football had reached a height the program had not seen in nearly 50 years. One that seemed unfathomable when looking at the prior 10+ years of the program. LSU fans were heartbroken to lose Saban out of fear that the program could return to the doldrums of the 90's (or at least never achieve the same success as in the 5 years under Saban). So if someone told you on 1/2/05 the guy to replace Saban would go on to become LSU's second winningest HC of all time; win 2 SEC championships, a national championship, play for another; never have a losing season AND average 10 wins a year for ELEVEN seasons, every LSU fan would have taken that deal. EVERY.SINGLE.ONE

By every measure Les had a great tenure at LSU. Unfortunately for him the guy he replace unexpectedly came back to the SEC shortly thereafter and had an even better tenure there (in part) at the expense of LSU.

Like most LSU fans, I was tired of his stubbornness at the end. But to act like it is a certainty Del Rio would have performed better than Miles is ridiculous

LSU would have at least two National titles during the past 15 year. Probably played for another.

My opinion is that with great recruiting of which I THINK he would have excelled, he would have the material that he needed to win which is not what he had in Jax and Oakland. This is opinion, but comparing pro vs college success, then Saban and Spurrier would have been failures too.

Almost any coach who wasn't mentally handicapped like Miles could've won big here. Bama was still recovering from probation, Auburn was good but not great. We absolutely should've been dominating the SEC instead of managing two conference titles and one fluky two-loss MNC in 12 seasons with Piles

Miles system worked against the majority of the schedule because he could recruit and he could generally get his players to play for him. But the last 4 years I think our conference record was 14-10 or something very average. He left the team loaded with talent so for that he did well. Other coaches go out in flaming glory having completely decimated the program by the time they are released. So at least he did that.

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statements like this show how little you know about college football. Sure sounds like Miles did something to you personally.

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Miles was a shitty coach who threw a sophomore Qb under the bus for his own idiocy, questioned a recruit's manhood publicly and took a cheap shot at CEO for asking for our patience. He held us back for a decade. Yeah, I don't like him.

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It's beyond pathetic that a so called fan continues to belittle what was only the 3rd NATIONAL TITLE of the team he claims to support because he doesn't like the. coach. Worse is you don't like the coach because he didn't build a dynasty which is something only a handful of coaches have done period, one of which was in Miles division and had coached at LSU before Miles.

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Again, Bama was recovering from probation in 2005. LSU had 64 players drafted from 2006-15, that's the second best decade stretch in SEC history. His teams constantly played to the level of the competition and needed crazy comebacks to win: sign of a buffoon coach. He managed to go 7-4 against UM and 6-5 against Arkansas. Two SEC titles and a two-loss NC. Are you really going to say that NC is equivalent to last season?

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sorry that just doesn't hold up top the facts, he wasnt a great coach, but he wasn't "shitty" either.

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Any mediocre coach could've replicated what he did with LSU's resources, talent and fanbase

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who cares lots of coaches have "thrown players under the bus" or made questionable remarks, big deal/

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Bc the media created a bs image of him as just goofy ol' Les that was completely false. I'll never forget the vicious attacks his equally Class-Les made on Coach Orgeron over the past three years. You can't like both of them: CEO has character and demands excellence while Miles is a lowlife and mediocre

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again this is completely false. He coached LSU for 11 seasons and 4 games. It was the most successful decade in school history. He was sliding at the end and needed to go but from 2005-2011 was an incredible run. Again, you are hold him to a standard of dynasty or bust. That's unrealistic.

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LSU never had the same kind of talent and resources relative to the rest of the SEC that it did in 2005. He didn't "decline" either, 2008 and 2009 were just as mediocre as 2014-15. He just got lucky due to an extraordinary amount of talent in 2010-11. We should have been competing with Bama, not struggling to even be 2nd with the talent we had. Even with his slack discipline, a modern offense could've done the trick I'm guessing.

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so, they were 12-0 heading to the SECCG in 2008 and won the first of 5 titles in 7 years in 2009. That dynasty covered 8 of Miles 11 seasons in the same division.

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Bama had no (0) players drafted in 2008. Saban inherited a paper-thin, inexperienced team and made them a juggernaut. Piles inherited a Cadillac and drove it into the ditch.

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so now winning isn't good enough, he has to win a certain way. I could sit here all day and list crazy wins for all time great coaches.

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"You are what your record says you are" is one of the dumbest aphorisms in sports. Playing down to your competition and needing crazy comeback wins isn't sustainable. Outside of Troy, LSU pile drives the teams we should under CEO: it shows that we have a good coaching staff who can maintain focus; unlike Miles' emotionally soft and unprepared teams which left you wondering how they would show up each week.

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whats the best? I would beat Bama overlapping that stretch. In any event from 2006-2016. LSU was 101-31, won a National Title, played for another, finished in the top 3 3 times and top 10 at least one other time. You'd be hard pressed to find better decades for any school.

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You could've clicked the link, but i'll help you out. Miles is a lot like Fulmer, underachieved relative to enormous talent. At least Fulmer had an undefeated season though.

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so he had a winning record against 2 division rivals both of which had some bad teams but also some good ones. Losing to bad Arkansas teams in 2014-15 shows he had slipped and it was time to go, it does not invalidate his entire tenure.

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We should never lose to Mississippi or Arkansas, or as rarely as we do to MSU.

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Im willing to bet UConn fans don't give a flip that they won a basketball title with a team that was 9-9 in conference and needed a miracle run in the Big East Tourny just to make the big Dance. I'm sure Giants fans don;t care that they won a SB with a 9-7 team or if that team wasn't as good as their 14-2 title teams.

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I don't think it's comparable to teams that won through a tournament. I value 2019 when we earned it far more than 2003 when we needed a little help and the latter far more than 2007 with Miles' stupid "undefeated in regulation" after 8-5 Arkansas had just dragged their Nutt all over him. Saban has said that he values his only undefeated team (2009) more than the others, I agree with this