It certainly wasn’t a bombshell celebrity tabloid story, but news of Les Miles being ousted at LSU has captured the headlines of the college football landscape this week.
In fact, Alabama head coach Nick Saban was asked about it repeatedly at his Monday press conference.
“First of all, Les Miles is one of the most respected colleagues in terms of the rivalry that we’ve had, the competition that we’ve had and the great teams that they’ve had,” Saban said. “I kind of hate it that a man wins a national championship, wins two SEC titles and doesn’t make it through the season. It is what it is, but I have a tremendous amount of respect for Les Miles and what he was able to accomplish there, the number of wins he had.”
Miles had been on the hot seat following back-to-back defeats at Alabama and at home to Arkansas last season. After losing a third straight week to Ole Miss, his seat was scorching. The outside world guessed Texas A&M might be his last game as head coach at LSU. However, the home crowd and players responded in an emotional manner and LSU won the game.
After much debate and hand wringing, LSU decided to keep Miles, albeit on a short leash. Miles recruited tirelessly both for his coaching staff and for incoming players. Across the board, recruiting agencies gave LSU a top 3 or better class to finish the 2016 class. The class was essentially Miles’ highest-regarded recruiting class of his tenure.
Miles managed to secure the services of well-respected defensive coordinator Dave Aranda as well. However, the offense stagnated this season and following a heartbreaking loss at Auburn, LSU officials had seen enough.
“This is very similar to Georgia firing Mark Richt when he averages 10 wins a season,” Saban said. “I guess this is the time that we live in. Everybody needs to know that, but it doesn’t minimize to any degree the amount of respect that we have for the job that Les Miles did at LSU and the great competitive teams that he’s had there for a long, long time and the amount of success that he’s had. We certainly wish him and his family well.”
Saban makes a valid point, although the LSU and Georgia firings occurred at very different junctures — Richt was fired at the conclusion of the season, while Miles went through a public shaming only to return then have the rug pulled out from under him midseason — and Miles had a national championship ring while Richt has none as a head coach.
One reporter noted questions have arisen over whether the Georgia and LSU firings occurred because both programs were emulating Saban while falling short. A case can be made for Georgia, as Richt had hired former Alabama secondary coach Jeremy Pruitt as defensive coordinator before the school hired Kirby Smart as the head coach following Richt’s dismissal. LSU’s last great shot at a national championship ended with an embarrassing shutout loss to Saban and his Alabama team in 2011.
When asked if it was fair that programs hold such a high standard, Saban wasn’t able to answer for other programs, later adding, “We’ve had some great coaches, and I think because of the team we have from our administration to our athletic administration to the players and coaches that we have, they all contribute. It’s not just about who the head coach is. I think that’s why we’ve been successful, and it’s a challenge for us to continue to be successful. I can’t really comment on anybody else’s standard for what they want to try to accomplish or what they want to try to do.”
While Miles increasingly found it difficult to beat Alabama, he was the only head coach in the SEC to defeat Saban at Alabama three times, but of course the 21-0 loss in the 2011 national title game is hard to shake.
Ed Orgeron takes over as interim coach, and while he is a bit of a character in his own right, the game will lack some punch this season without The Mad Hatter. It says a lot when even a rival like Saban will miss him.
