Just updating things here. Carry on.

LES IS NO MORE

After falling on the short end of a likely “loser-leaves-town” game with Auburn, LSU coach Les Miles became former LSU coach Les Miles. He takes offensive coordinator Cam Cameron with him as the LSU brass wanted to make it crystal clear why changes were being made.

Miles was a dead man coaching this season. There were few outs for Miles to survive the year outside of figuring out a way to beat Alabama for the first time since the 2011 regular season. His fate was all but sealed in an opening-week loss to Wisconsin (that doesn’t look as bad now as it did three weeks ago).

While Miles should have been fired at the end of last season, I give some credit to the LSU brass for making this decision now and not letting it linger for the rest of the season. Given their original “coaching search” was allegedly limited to one name that sounded something like “Jimbo Fisher,” this time they can look at the coaching landscape for several weeks and decide how they want to pursue candidates.

Before we move on from Miles, there are many memories of the Mad Hatter, starting all the way back in his first game as a head coach when Hurricane Katrina forced LSU to move their game against Arizona State from Baton Rouge to Tempe and the Tigers pulled out a late victory when JaMarcus Russell hit Early Doucet on a bomb.

There were the interviews.

And of course the grass eating.

But there are two Miles moments that stand out for me.

The first was his postgame ESPN interview after LSU defeated Ole Miss 10-7 in 2014. Miles’ mother, Martha, had passed away the night before and there was some doubt if he would coach. He did, and after the game, Miles had a few words about the game and then said what a great woman Martha Miles was. He winked and walked off. In a world of robotic coaches, Miles is never afraid to be human. He didn’t give canned responses, and he wasn’t afraid to show emotions. In that one moment, you felt his joy and his pain.

The second Miles moment might have been the best game LSU played under him as a head coach. It was the 2005 Peach Bowl against Miami in his first season. When Miami fans ask me when that program went off the rails, I point to this game. LSU absolutely curb-stomped Miami, 40-3, and shattered whatever images of “The U” that remained.

WHO’S NEXT FOR LSU?

Obviously, Fisher’s name will be batted around again, and if he wants the job it will be offered to him.

But LSU has a couple of months to see what else is out there and how the Tigers’ job compares to some of the others that are open.

Houston’s Tom Herman is another big name out there that LSU would love to gauge the interest on. Herman has shown the ability to play and recruit with the Power 5 schools while at Houston, and he could jump into the LSU job with a loaded roster and not miss a beat on the field or the recruiting trail.

What about Bobby Petrino? Generally, Louisville fans think he’s really going to stay there this time, and they might be right, but Petrino is a drifter by nature. I believe that he feels like he had unfinished business at Arkansas and going back to the SEC and to a program that’s one of Arkansas’ chief rivals might give him the motivation to leave.

Former Baylor coach Art Briles would certainly fit the check marks next to “offensive-minded” and “strong recruiter,” but the baggage that comes with Briles is probably heavier than that with Petrino. For all of Miles’ flaws, it should be said he was a decent man of character, and very few people would say that about Petrino and Briles. So part of the decision-making process is questioning whether winning is important enough to deal with the potential problems.

Over the next few weeks, you’ll hear names that will range from the unlikely (Oklahoma OC Lincoln Riley, South Florida head coach Willie Taggart) to the outlandish (Alabama OC Lane Kiffin), and just remember to take it all in and that there’s plenty of time to make a choice.

RANDOM THOUGHTS

With this being a Les-heavy edition of The Throwback, I just wanted to throw out some random thoughts before closing the book on this week.

— Tennessee stops Florida’s win streak at 11 and did it with style, rallying from a 21-0 first-half deficit with 38 unanswered points and a lot of big plays. The Gators challenged Josh Dobbs to pass, and he threw for 319 yards and 4 touchdowns.

— The SEC East still appears to be at least a few notches below the SEC West if this week was any indication. Georgia walked into Oxford having survived a couple of decent tests on the season, and they got mollywhopped by the Rebels. Another underwhelming performance from Nick Chubb (12 carries, 57 yards) makes you wonder if the Bulldogs are heading toward a rough October.

— Arkansas and Texas A&M had one of the best first halves of football I’ve seen this year, but it gave way to a physically grueling second half that the Aggies won while leaving the Razorbacks with a long list of injuries, mostly on defense. The Aggies look like they are for real and just have to survive a potential trap game at South Carolina before playing Tennessee and Alabama. The Razorbacks have this Saturday against Alcorn State to tape themselves together and prepare for their home game against the Tide.

— If Mark Stoops survives in Kentucky, it will be because Stephen Johnson saved him. Johnson isn’t going to be a star, but his mobility opens up the running game and gets Stanley “Boom” Williams going. That might be good enough to scratch out six victories this season.

— With Ed Orgeron taking over LSU for the rest of the season, what will the Tigers look like on offense? Will they bring Brandon Harris back in and try to do some zone-read type stuff with him and Leonard Fournette? Will they stick with Danny Etling and this conservative game plan? I am curious to see what the Tigers do this week against Missouri.

— Whether Saturday’s win over LSU took Gus Malzahn off the hot seat or not, you can’t say that the team isn’t playing hard. The Tigers probably should have knocked off Clemson in the season opener. Auburn has a tough three-game stretch in October (at Mississippi State, vs. Arkansas, at Ole Miss) and will need to keep up its level of intensity.

— Even though 60 percent of his numbers have come against Eastern Michigan and Delaware State, it’s hard to ignore how much Missouri quarterback Drew Lock has improved this season. He did throw for over 300 yards against Georgia in the first half before the Bulldogs made adjustments and the Tigers went too conservative. Lock could be the SEC’s top draft prospect at quarterback when he’s draft-eligible next season.

— South Carolina gained 268 yards in a 17-10 loss to Kentucky on Saturday. The Wildcats gave up 500 yards to New Mexico State the week before. The Gamecocks rank 124th in total offense this season.