I've been thinking about this since they got shellacked by MSU on Saturday....is there another high-profile coach, at a powerhouse school, who has done less with more, than Miles? Am I mistaken in believing that there isn't another coach within those parameters who has done less with so much, than the Mad Hatter? The guy gets like Top 3-5 classes each year. He's the only school in a stud-state for recruiting. He's largely viewed - and certainly paid - like one of the top 3-5 coaches in the game. He even has an ex-NFL head coach as his o-coordinator, and athletes a-plenty....but their offense has been a dumpster fire for as long as I can remember. Hell, he even has a NC-winning D-coordinator (it's true, our objections to him, aside). Before being hired at LSU, the guy had been a HC for four seasons at Okie St., where his best season was 9-4. He left Stillwater with an underwhelming resume of an overall record of 28-21 and 16-16 in conference (Big 12). In his ten years at LSU: He's one a single NC ('07)but admittedly, even that was almost entirely with holdovers from Saban's tenure. He's won 2 SEC titles ('07 & '11). His overall HC record at LSU is 98-25, and 52-21 in conference (SEC) play. His bowl record is a paltry 6-3. His overall HC record is 126-46. What am I missing here, about the "great" Les Miles?
I am not sure I would call 6-3 a paltry bowl record, especially when you are playing almost exclusively in top-tier bowls. He is also playing in the toughest division in perhaps the history of College Football. That said, I think he is a bit too wonky at times to ever consistently win. And he is now hitting that 10 year wall at LSU and it will be time for him to move on soon. I don't think he has underachieved, simply because of when and where his LSU teams have played in the last 10 years.
Everyone in the SEC-W has underachieved since Saban came along. Hell, the 2011 season was no fluke for Miles. He beat Alabama, Oregon, a very good Arkansas team, and West Virginia. That wasn't luck. My knock on him is how unprepared the Tigers looked in the NC rematch against bammer. He hasn't had a losing season since his first season at Ok St. His recruiting classes are good but not consistent 3-5 good. LSU jumps around from 1 through 17 in various years since Miles took over. Saban gets all this credit for setting the table for Miles but no one mentions how Miles set the table for Van Gundy. Does anyone think Van Gundy has what it takes to resurrect a program. Hell no. Miles had it set up there when VG took over. He's gonna always be in the shadow of Saban but so are the other 122 (or however many programs there are) programs in the country. Is he one of CFB's top 10 coaches ... hell no. Is he a good coach that can win a lot of games and maintain an elite level of talent on a team? Sure he is.
He at least has two NC appearances with one win. Mark Richt can't claim that. Richt hasn't won a conference title since 2005.
The NC season was probably the biggest load of crap in college football history. Nobody deserved to win it all that year. Just a terrible year for the sport.
He's not as bad as Richt -- or even close -- but you could argue he's left a few wins on the table. The BCS championship he won was in a 2-loss year. But I disagree on the bowl record.
Recruiting rankings are dependent on the size of the class. Look at the average stars he pulls in. He's playing with some of the best talent in the country every year.
