re: who was a better recruiter Orgeron or Miles?

O recruited Joe Burrow, the greatest quarterback LSU has ever had. He also convinced Thad Moss to come to LSU after NC State. Thad Moss, Randy Moss' son, was our fourth or fifth best receiver that year. Think about that for a minute.

Put simply, O was and is the better recruiter.

Seems like they got the players LSU always got. Great skill position players, with spotty OLs and LBs.. I would say Orgeron because Miles killed QB recruiting, the most important position. He did get better LBs and Orgeron got better DLs. Saban started DBU and Odell started the glut of WRs.

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Orgeron has had great classes recently but Miles always had great talent to. Is it about the same or was one better than the other?

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To adequately answer this question you need to define exactly what you are talking about.

As a pure recruiter, undoubtedly it's O.

As a person directing the recruiting, I think it's Miles. He had a better understanding of how to parse out who to recruit.

Think of it as that guy who is great at his specific job but then sucks as a manager.

Some guys excel with direction but flounder without. Can't avoid the shiny thing. That is O I think, nut not sure.

Miles had many more than serviceable O lines There was a bit of a drop off late but even then, they could get a push and run on most teams not named Alabama. Miles recruited several O-Line players who ended up in the NFL. The narrative that Miles didn't recruit good O-line players is revisionist, IMO.

O recruited slightly higher ranking classes as a whole, but Miles was the more effective recruiter for team needs.
At times it seemed like O was more interested in the overall national ranking of his classes, than improving the team and recruiting to his needs.
I have to give the nod to Les.
BTW, Les was not around her for the transfer portal, so those who want to give O the edge for transfers and comparing apples and oranges.

Coach O was better. He believed in the need for true offensive tackles where as Coach Miles was a big believer in putting a true guard at the tackle positions. This is not to say that Coach Miles did not have some really good tackles on the offensive line throughout his tenure at LSU. Coach O was the better coach in my humble opinion because he was open to change, such as the spread offense and not the three yards and a cloud of dust.
Coach Miles could have been the best ever at LSU if he had chosen better OCs. Defense always knew what was coming next. Some could not stop us, but the Bama team had our number more times then not. Geaux fighting tigers

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At times it seemed like O was more interested in the overall national ranking of his classes, than improving the team and recruiting to his needs.
I have to give the nod to Les.

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This is exactly the complaint people had about Les in his last few years . It's not just you but people forget how horrible we were with LB and DL recruiting in Miles last few years. We'd have a top 5-10 class filled with 8-12 4 and 5 star WR and DB's. Not saying it's much difference now but Miles was as guilty of it as O.

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common denominator here is Austin Thomas. Our OL recruiting prior to his arrival and "roster management expertise" was much better.

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I hope that I am inferring what you wrote incorrectly; bc it sounds like you are trying to blame Austin Thomas or say he hasn’t done a good job??

Austin Thomas is/has been a beast and honestly didn’t get the credit he deserved. He is one of, if not the best, to do what he does. He’s been hampered and limited by O and having to hold O’s hand. When I heard O wouldn’t be coming back, Austin Thomas was one of the 3 names of guys that popped up in my head, in hopes that the next new HC would retain them on their new staff…
Watch what he could/will do, when not being limited and hampered by an incompetent coach as well as an outdated and idiotic compliance compartment…

We sure did manage to lose out on an awful lot of recruits considering O was supposed to be the whisperer. Other than Burrow falling into his lap (Burrow would have ended up here if Herman was HC as well), along with most of those 2019 stars already here or recruited by/committed to LSU under Miles already, O kinda sucked really. Ricks from California, Gilbert from GA (that one turned out great like all those other 5*s 0 landed) are a few that come to mind.

The years we won the NC we shite the bed the following year in recruiting in 2008 and 2012

So we do not have issues