Les Miles should be very proud of the work he’s done over the last few years. His LSU teams have sent seemingly countless players to the NFL, many of them juniors spurning their final year of eligibility.

On the latter part, it seems Miles has gotten a bit weary of losing his experienced leaders. That talent loss finally took a toll on LSU this year, as a young team struggled to an 8-4 season, leaving much on the table despite a defense that stepped up as one of the best units in the country. Much of that is due to the number of players who have bolted early for the NFL draft.

Miles has apparently started to talk to LSU’s early entry candidates earlier than usual, conferring with them about their options and likely selling them on returning to LSU to improve their draft stock.

“I think we’re a little bit earlier than we’ve been,” Miles said in his press conference last week, adding that several prominent candidates to leave early have told him they’ll return.

While junior cornerback Jalen Collins seems ready to turn pro, a host of other juniors and redshirt sophomores could return.

Miles had a great piece of evidence for what returning for a final season can do for a player. Left tackle La’el Collins was a solid draft prospect a year ago, but decided to return for his senior season. It paid major dividends, as in his final year at LSU Collins established himself as one of the best linemen in the nation and a seemingly sure bet to be a first round draft pick.

Collins is helping his head coach out, preaching the benefits of staying a year to his younger teammates while encouraging them to stay if they’re at all unsure of what leaving early would hold for them.

That’s a strong message from a player who is walking proof of Miles’ message. Hopefully for the coach’s sake, players like Kwon Alexander, Vadal Alexander, Jalen Mills and Danielle Hunter take heed.

However, the head coach isn’t helping his case by pointing to the current crop of NFL rookies that LSU sent to the pros.

Odell Beckham, Jr., Jarvis Landry and Jeremy Hill have all established themselves as contenders for the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year honors, shattering expectations in their first year in the pros. Miles, though, thinks those guys could have benefitted from another year of unpaid seasoning in Baton Rouge.

“All three of those guys would have been drafted in a much more prominent position,” Miles said in his press conference last week.

That’s not going to convince talented underclassmen to stay. Regardless of whether or not they were drafted, those three LSU rookies have played at a high enough level to show that they were indeed ready for the next level.

Miles saw the young core of the team this year and knows he could have something special if everyone sticks around. The defense, which only started two seniors, finished No. 8 in the country in total defense, impressive considering its struggles early in SEC play.

The offense, meanwhile, was inexperienced to a fault. Anthony Jennings looked lost at quarterback for much of the season, and the seemingly more talented Brandon Harris couldn’t beat him out. LSU didn’t play a single receiver with more than a year of playing experience coming into the season.

LSU’s offensive line played better as the season progressed and should return the bulk of its starters, minus seniors Collins and Elliott Porter. The running back corps will be younger next year with the departures of seniors Kenny Hilliard and Terrence Magee, but when a team has Leonard Fournette around, things will generally be okay.

Miles has good reason to be insistent when it comes to younger players leaving early. While he has said he takes it on a player-by-player basis, taking into consideration family needs and a host of other factors, the coach wants to win. Imagine this year’s defense with Ego Ferguson and Anthony Johnson in the middle of the line, or with Zach Mettenberger tossing it around to Beckham and Landry for another year. It would have been frightening for opponents, and LSU would have been a contender for the College Football Playoff.

Instead, the Tigers were left inexperienced and thin in some key spots. Assuming Miles is successful in getting the majority of his draft-eligible players to return, LSU could be that scary a year from now.