A New Season for Les Miles
The countdown to the kickoff of the 2010 college football season has finally hit single digits. This year will be an important one for lots of programs, but perhaps none moreso than LSU’s coach Les Miles. There is an article that sums up the feelings in Baton Rouge quite well at this link.
After winning the BCS national championship in 2007, Miles and company have recorded seasons of 8-5 and 9-4, and the wolves are out for his football hide in Baton Rouge.
A series of bad judgments with the hiring of assistant coaches, a poor offensive philosophy, fingers being pointed in Miles’ direction for getting involved in offensive play-calling, not properly playing talented underclassmen and sticking with underachieving juniors and seniors has landed Miles on the hot seat, despite a 51-15 record at LSU.
That’s right, the man who led the Bayou Bengals to the BCS Title just a few years ago is apparently on the hot seat. This season, Miles has added another couple of new faces to his coaching staff, including former Florida WR Coach Billy Gonzales and former Tennessee RB coach Frank Wilson.
I’m also think Jordan Jefferson will finally perform up to his ability, after an inconsistent season last year as the starting quarterback.
With Jefferson, it is not a question of talent, but consistency on his part, showing more poise in crucial spots during a game and having an offense geared to playing to his strength.
When Miles dismissed talented, but troubled quarterback Ryan Perrilloux off the team in the spring of 2008, he did the right thing for his team, but what he failed to do was protect his two young quarterbacks in Jefferson and Jarrett Lee with an offense geared more to a run-oriented attack.
Lots of schools have passionate fans who put pressure on a program to perform up to a certain level on a yearly basis. LSU’s fans, though, may be the most ”hardcore” in major college football. Nick Saban brought the Tigers back from obscurity, and Miles’ early success continued on that. These days, LSU always has one of the top recruiting classes in the nation, and the fans believe with all the talent on their squad, Miles should be able to plug in fresh, young players with little drop off.
Quarterbacks need to be developed slowly, without putting too much pressure on their shoulders when they have yet to gain the experience necessary to make crucial decisions on the playing field. Jefferson has the talent to be a top flight QB, but offensive coordinator Gary Crowton must tailor the playcalling to suit the strengths of quarterback, and that means developing a consistent running game to balance out the offense.
LSU has always had a stable full of talented running backs, but for some reason, the Tigers have been extremely inconsistent running the football for years, going back to the Saban era. With the exception of possible exception Jacob Hester, it’s been a long time since LSU has had a running back who had a “great career” running the football. They’ve had some great seasons, but look at Charles Scott for example, who used up his final year of eligibility last season. After a great junior campaign two years ago, injuries and inconsistency led to subpar rushing numbers last year, and it wasn’t the first time that LSU has had a RB with that type of career over the last decade. Personally, I think they need to find one running back and stick with him, instead relying on a committee.
The offensive wildcard is definitely sophomore WR/QB/RB Russell Shepard, who has “seemlessly” made the transition from QB to reciever as he begins his sophomore season. Along with Shepard, the Tigers return Terrance Tolliver, one of the best recievers in the country, and talented sophomore Reuben Randle.
Before last season, Les Miles was forced to replace his DCs after subpar campaigns, but he made a brilliant move in hiring John Chavis. On defense-
the Tigers are led by two All-American candidates in cornerback Patrick Peterson, the best cover-cornerback in the SEC since Champ Bailey was at the University of Georgia, and linebacker Kelvin Sheppard, who is capable of playing any of the three linebacker spots on defense.
One thing that may play in the Tigers favor this season is that though they are not quite as experienced as the Gators or the Crimson Tide, they should get off to a hot start with a game against nationally ranked UNC, a program in a whole lot of trouble at the moment.