re: Where do you rank Les Miles as a head coach?

I can't give a comprehensive assesment b/c too many posters will get butthurt and cry over the negatives instead of agreeing that he does have a few weaknesses.

Top 5 coach.

luckiest HC alive. #1. inherited very good team in a state with terrific high school players, and therefore recruiting is easier than say, Michigan, which has to recruit nationally and regionally in Ohio and western PA. After all Miles himself was all-state Ohio.

decent person. I trust him more than I trust any other coach in the SEC. #1 Miles. #2 Houston Nutt

Clock management sucked a couple of notable times.
I hope that is under control. I am glad that OC Crowton is gone, as I think the team looks settled now.

I saw that game when he was with Ok State and Tex came back on him. I was disappointed when he was selected for LSU.
I saw Ok State vs Okies, that year too. I was disappointed when he was selected for LSU.

He's a nice guy. I prefer razor sharp. I like that I feel good about him as a person and I suspect his team likes him too.

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I can't give a comprehensive assesment b/c too many posters will get butthurt and cry over the negatives instead of agreeing that he does have a few weaknesses.

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yep

I would put:

Saban = 1 ( even though they're 3-3 during head to head competitions)... Saban still has 3 SEC championships ( I believe) and 2 NC's

Miles = top 3... The national media does not give him enough credit for two very important coaching qualities in which he does wonderfully:
(1) Prepare for big time games (if given enough time)
(2) Make great adjustments during the game.

Miles:

Pros:
Great Recruiter
Great Motivator
Surrounded himself with great coaches
A Player's Coach

Cons:
Terrible Game Manager
Not the greatest Xs and Os knowledge
A Player's Coach

And yes being a player's Coach is both a Positive and a Negative.

Anyone who rates Miles above Saban is drinking the Purple and Gold Kool-Aid a little to much.

Saban has won 2 NC's with two different teams. Let's see how good Miles does if he every leaves LSU for another job.

How many active guys have coached 100 wins? How many of those are leading BCS teams and have over a .600 win record for their career?:

Stoops

Saban

Brian Kelly

Paul Johnson

Spurrier

Paterno

Mack Brown

Frank Beamer

Erickson

Tubby

Pasqualoni

Houston Nutt

As far as young guys setting the world on fire:

Shaw (way too early)

Bielema (if LSU doesn't win the NC this year, I want Wisconsin)

I would say eliminate Spurrier (though he may not be done yet), Paterno, and Beamer, because their time is clearly in the past.

Out of the rest, how many are clearly better than Miles? I say none. Stoops has a much gaudier win percentage, but otherwise an equivalent resume. LSU is in the SEC and Stoops never had to deal with a Katrina situation the Miles did masterfully.

Saban, objectively, has a little better resume - 1 more BCS, couple of more conference, but despite being close in age, Saban's been a HC much longer.

Brown, no rational argument he's "better" than Miles.

Johnson? No Championship, though I think he does the most with the least of anybody in the country (including Tubby).

The rest of the field starts to fall off quickly, as no BCS championship is going to hurt pretty badly.

SO - in all fairness and objectivity - Miles is a Top 3 NCAA active coach. His salary and objective accomplishments support that.

He is the head coach of the number 1 football team in the country, one of the best recruiters in the country and deals with the most ruthless fans in the country and never loses his composure. I say he is number one!

Top 5

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There is a reason why he has won about 70% of the Big 12 Championships since he has been at the school

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Is that reason because the rest of the teams in the Big 12 suck?

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Saban has won 2 NC's with two different teams.

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Saban has won 2 NCs with superior talent. He can't win without that because his coaching mistakes won't let him. Saban is an excellent head coach but I'd still rank Miles above him. Miles is the perfect fit for LSU. Saban is the perfect fit for Alabama.

Saban is always good for a loss against a team he should have beaten. Great coaches don't screw up like that.

Same goes for Stoops. He can beat up on lesser talented teams in the Big 12 but when he goes against an equally or superior talented team, he fails miserably.

Although Miles has made a few clock management blunders in the past, he has corrected that and worked diligently to make sure those mistakes don't happen again.

All of these top coaches have their faults but I'll take Les Miles over all others.

1. Miles
2. Saban
Stoops in top 10 somewhere, but I wouldn't rank him 3rd.

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What has stoops done lately? I'd take Mack Brown over him.

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Yeah because speaking of "lately" Mack's 5-7 record last year was quite impressive.