"The shame of it is, I picked the eventual national champion."

Heavy thunderstorms rolled across the Gulf Coast yesterday evening, preventing LSU Coach Les Miles from making the three-hourish trip from Destin to make his keynote speech to the DEX Imaging L’Arche Football Dinner at the South Alabama Mitchell Center.

So, he gave his address via Skype.

Seriously.

As Mike Herndon points out, the audio was spotty and we eventually lost the video feed altogether.

But not before Miles made the mixed fan crowd laugh, groan and cheer a little at the same time with this little tidbit:

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"When we were an undefeated football team and they asked me who I felt should play in that (BCS championship) game, I felt very frankly it should be Alabama so the best two teams would be represented in that game," Miles said. "The shame of it is, I picked the eventual national champion."

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Some folks in the crowd of about 700 were miffed that Miles didn’t show up personally. “He was the keynote speaker,” said one business leader whose company had bought three tables for the event. “He should have been here come hell or high water.”

I don’t have a problem with the decision to remain in Destin and address the crowd electronically. Those storms were very rough last night and probably kept some of those who bought tickets from braving the weather in town. So getting out on I-10 and heading west—right into the teeth of the eastbound torrents—is totally understandable.

But the line above would have been even more classic had it been delivered in person.

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LSU continues to churn out NFL-ready prospects

Many eyes are on the Alabama Crimson Tide in this weekend’s NFL Draft. But LSU is as poised as any team in the Southeastern Conference to send its traditional boatload of top players to suit up on Sundays. Les Miles’ Tigers could see as many as seven players taken overall, with (likely) two going in the first round.

Cornerback Morris Claiborne is a likely top 10 pick, with many mock drafts putting him in Tampa Bay with the No. 5 overall. Defensive Tackle Michael Brockers is also projected as a first rounder in many mocks. Wideout Reuben Randle might also sneak up into the first round if Cleveland thinks adding a pair of sure hands to Colt McCoy’s arsenal makes sense.

Since Miles took over the program in 2005, the seven ensuing drafts have seen 37 players selected. The 2010 draft was the only one in which LSU failed to put a player in the first round.

There have been some noteworthy busts—Jamarcus Russell being the most famous flameout. But by and large, LSU veterans have become reliable producers on the teams that signed them.

Like many states in the southeastern US, Louisiana is rich recruiting territory. LSU is the only real big boy program in the state and routinely gets its pick of the top talent that the state has to offer. Rarely does a competitor steal a top drawer recruit from Miles.

Nick Saban built a fence around the state when he took over for Gerry DiNardo in 2000. Miles has not only maintained that fence, he’s fortified it.

It shows.

Miles takes legitimate criticism for his unparalleled ability to lay an egg in a big game. None stand out more than the 2012 BCS Championship. But he has two SEC titles and a national title, and Miles excels in all the other things that coaches are supposed to do. His kids (largely) stay out of trouble. They stay in school. They develop into very good football players and go on to make beau coop bucks in the NFL.

Sunday football games are dotted with former LSU standouts, including Patrick Peterson, Joseph Addai, Brandon LaFell and Chad Jones. From tonight through Saturday evening, a half dozen or more fellow Tigers will be selected and if history is any indication, they’ll be stars.

Sweet Little Lies: Baton Rouge independent paper crucifies Les Miles

Dig, an independent publication in Baton Rouge, LA, absolutely crucifies LSU football coach Les Miles in an article entitled, “Sweet Little Lies.” 

It is must read.

Miles is excoriated for what the paper regards as deception in handling the quarterback controversy surrounding the BCS Championship game and the 21-0 loss to Alabama.

Dig covers the quarterback controversy, the Hebert rant, the conspiracy theories cropping up in the weeks after the game, the whole Jambalaya, y’all.

Here are a few appetizing snippets from the somewhat long piece:

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Imagine a man walks up to you on the street and says, “I’m a pathological liar.”

What can you make of such a statement? If the man is a liar, why is he being honest about his lies? If he’s not a pathological liar, why is he dishonestly saying he is?

In the hypothetical above it stands to reason that this man would be difficult to trust, whichever case is true.

Now, imagine a football coach is hired at a major university, and his first words to the public are: “The only thing that I can tell you is that I am relatively honest and somewhat deceptive.

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For [Bobby] Hebert, playing [Jarrett] Lee in the game wasn’t a matter of reward, or even redemption. It was just common sense. To get technical, Alabama was playing Zone Two behind heavy pressure, sealing the edges where Jefferson thrives but leaving gaps in the secondary for an accurate, quick-thinking quarterback like Lee to exploit. More simply, forgetting prejudice or redemption or anything else media members invented to sell papers: for the sake of the offense, it was time to put the ball back in Lee’s hands.

…

LSU fans, meanwhile, weren’t buying Miles’ pass-rush excuse. Callers flooded radio talk shows with complaints, which eventually berthed conspiracy theories about why Lee didn’t play. At first, these ranged from the academic (Lee was being punished for bad grades) to the pandemic (Lee was sick), but as time wore on, the theories became more twisted, even sinister.

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If you haven’t already, go get a fresh cup of whatever you’re enjoying, click here and Dig in.

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Coaching Contract Details for Nick Saban and Les Miles

James K. Gentry and Raquel Meyer Alexander of the New York Times News Service requested and received copies of the Nick Saban and Les Miles coaching contracts from Alabama and LSU. Summaries of the compensation packages for each coach are interesting:

• If LSU wins the BCS title, Miles’ salary will be adjusted so that it is the highest in the SEC plus $1,000.
• If Alabama wins the BCS title, Saban will receive a $400,000 bonus.
• Saban will receive a $200,000 bonus from Alabama because his team is playing for the national title. Miles will receive the same amount from LSU.
• Saban’s base salary is $225,000. Miles’ base salary is $300,000.
• Saban is paid $4.68 million in total compensation before bonuses. Miles is paid $3.75 million before bonuses.
• Saban’s total compensation includes a “talent fee” of $3.93 million. Miles total compensation includes a “radio/television/Internet” payment of $2.90 million.
• Every year Saban remains at Alabama, he receives an annual retention bonus of $533,333. Miles receives $550,000.
• Saban and his immediate family have two full-size automobiles for business and personal use, and do not have to pay operating expenses or purchase insurance. Miles has a “courtesy vehicle allowance” of $7,200 a year.
• Saban has the use of a noncommercial airplane for a maximum of 25 hours per year. He also gets the use of a 15-seat luxury box and 22 luxury box tickets for football games at Bryant-Denny Stadium, 12 additional general-admission season tickets, and free tickets to other Alabama sporting events.
• Saban can earn up to $100,000 if the football team’s graduation rate is in the top 25% of the SEC. Miles can earn up to $200,000 for various academic achievements.
• If Miles or Saban were fired this year, Miles would receive $18.75 million and Saban would receive his entire annual base salary and talent fee for the remaining contract but spread out over a long period of time.

The Saban Football Camps, Inc. in Louisiana remains intact, although Saban now works for Alabama. It has just been renamed Tiger Football Camps, Inc. and Miles has replaced Saban as president.

Nick Saban owns a corporation that handles his media appearances and endorsements and receives income in addition to his endorsement deals with Coca-Cola and Ford.

Les Miles and his wife, Kathy, have five registered corporations in Louisiana and his contract stipulates he can require LSU to contract with another corporation for services that are part of his fee for media appearances.

Miles has a very interesting clause in his contract. He would have to pay LSU $1.25 million if he were to take the head coaching job at Michigan, where he played and was an assistant.

Saban also has an unusual clause in his contract. He is expected to prevent “the unnecessary spatting of athletic shoes worn” in games. In other words, Tide players are not allowed to put white tape over their shoes and cover the logo for Nike, which has a contract with the University.

Roll Not Nike, Roll Not.

Read the full article here.

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Nick Saban employs time-tested approach to bowl layoff

Ken Rogers of the Dothan Eagle has a report from last night, examining the approach used by Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban to keep the team focused during the long layoff between the regular season and a bowl game. It’s a method he’s developed through trial and error during his career as a head coach.

Saban is 6-6 in bowl games as a head coach, but three of those losses came in an 0-3 run at Michigan State. Since then, his teams are 6-3 in bowls and he’s 2-0 in BCS Championship Games. 

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“Starting out at Michigan State, I used to try to carry the season to the game, you know?” the coach said. “Maybe we’d play on Nov. 28 and the season would be over. Maybe on Dec. 5, 6 and 7 we’d have three practices and then go recruiting until the next Wednesday or Thursday and have two or three more practices the next week.

“Then on Dec. 18 we’d start practicing and we’ve already had five or six practices and we’ve have some more practices and it’d be Christmas break. Then we’d do the game week stuff.

“By the time the players got to the game they were just shot. I don’t know if they were shot emotionally or physically or whatever. So we started taking more of the approach with that much time off there’s no way that you can carry the momentum of the season to the bowl game. That you have to approach it more like it’s a one-game season.”

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This is not the first time Alabama has had a long layover between the end of the regular season and its bowl game. After the 2009 season, Alabama had a five week wait between the SEC Championship Game and the BCS Championship Game in Pasadena.

Realizing that it’s impossible to try to carry season momentum into post-season play, the one-game season approach seems to strike a chord with the team and likely has them emotionally, mentally and physically ready to play when the long layoff ends.

Rogers’ report includes quotes from players indicating that they’re fully bought into the method and embrace it. “Where it really helps us is the fact that Coach Saban’s been through it,” Junior offensive lineman Barrett Jones said. “He’s got an exact plan of the best way to do it.”

They trust their coach because he’s been there, done that, and brought home the hardware.

Read whatever you want to from this, but the “preseason camp” approach employed by LSU head coach is probably a little different from the system embraced by Alabama. LSU players came back from their Christmas break carrying a few extra “holiday pounds” and Miles plans to have them in a “good sweat” during practice. But don’t laugh, sports fans. Maybe there’s a method to The Hat’s madness—Miles is 6-3 in bowl games.

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NEAUX EXCUSES

Even in the Game of the Century, when you play not to lose you usually do. That should be the lesson to Alabama Coach Nick Saban and the brain trust in Tuscaloosa.

The Alabama defense did everything it was asked to do. It shut down the LSU power running game. It frustrated the resurgent Jarrett Lee by picking off two passes and continuing a string of miserable performances against the Crimson Tide. It kept the Tigers out of the end zone—a feat not accomplished by an SEC team since the Gerry DiNardo era. The best way to beat Alabama is to have your offense sustain multiple long scoring drives, and Alabama’s defense was simply too strong to let that happen.

But the offense came with a milquetoast game plan that was so conservative, the Tea Party Express may seek to nominate Nick Saban for President, and this exposed the only fundamental weakness the of the 2011 Tide—special teams. If Alabama makes any of the three field goal attempts of the first half, there is no overtime and Alabama is on the winning side of a 9-6 score at the end of regulation. But why not take a chance and avoid having to line up for the kick at all?

Alabama’s very first possession started with Trent Richardson exploiting the weakside bubble for 40 yards in two plays and a first down at the LSU 35. With the Tiger defense reeling, the opportunity for a strike to the end zone is there for the taking. Three conservative plays later, the field goal unit trots onto the field and comes up empty. The second possession was a slightly longer replay of the first—Alabama was successful moving the ball in the first few snaps, only to go conservative as soon as the team was on the outer limits of the kickers’ limit. Two missed field goals and a blocked attempt later, Bama finally got on the board with a 34-yard field goal on 4th and 8.

With the defense refusing to let LSU’s offense get into any rhythm, the opportunities for big plays were there in the first half, but Alabama’s coaches wouldn’t take the chances. Big games call for taking risks and making big plays. Take those chances, make one or two of those big plays and the possibility of breaking the game open is there. Break the game open, and you raise the chances that the opposing coaches start taking risks. I like Bama’s chances against a risk-taking Les Miles a lot better than I do against The Hat not having to do anything special.

Ultimately, it was the poor special teams play of Alabama—and the exceptional special teams play by LSU—that decided the outcome of the game. The Alabama coaching staff had to know what the team’s greatest weakness was and had to know what to do to minimize the impact of that weakness. Instead, conservative offense put the special teams in the spotlight and allowed LSU to hang in there.

Champions play to win. When they don’t play to win and end up getting beaten—even by a better team—then there are no excuses.

Extra Point: I thought Tom Ritter’s crew of officials got most calls right. The Eric Reid interception call was a coin-flip call. It could have gone either way, and the replay wasn’t conclusive enough to reverse the call on the field. However, the flagrant horse collar foul on Tyran Mathieu againt Dre Kirkpatrick was bad enough to warrant an ejection and a suspension from the league. I don’t care how big this game is or how high emotions are running. That kind of play has no place in the SEC and there should have been consequences beyond the yardage step-off.

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New book: Michigan spurned Les Miles, not vice versa

This story has plenty of Wow Factor.

When Michigan went looking for a Lloyd Carr’s replacement in 2007, the “obvious choice” was LSU’s Les Miles. It was so obvious that Miles had his bags packed and reservations made for Ann Arbor.

Until a bungled coaching search led to the Big Blue Disaster of the Rich Rodriguez experiment, according to a new book from Michigan professor John U. Bacon.

The book, Three and Out, primarily focuses on Rodriguez’ troubled three years at the winningest program in college football history, but delves into the process that had Michigan turning Miles down.

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A December 2007 conference call with Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman, former Athletic Director Bill Martin and Miles lays the groundwork for the search to replace Carr.

Miles tells the Michigan president he "would never say no to Michigan," but insists he can't jump from LSU until after the Tigers' upcoming bowl game. If Michigan waits and asks in January, Miles says, "I will be your coach."

Bacon writes that it is Carr -- winner of Michigan's most recent national championship in 1997 -- who first reaches out to Rodriguez. It is Carr who calls Rodriguez to gauge his interest in becoming the Michigan coach. And that call takes place only hours after the conference call with Miles.

"Even if you haven't thought about it," Bacon reports Carr saying, "you should think about it now."

Readers are left to infer that Carr had a big role in picking Rodriguez, who took the job days later without setting foot on the campus. But then Carr, whose strong objections to Miles are documented early in the book, holds a team meeting after Rodriguez is introduced as the Wolverines' new coach, informing players he will sign their transfer papers if they want to leave.

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The best parts of the book for Michigan fans will be the well documented failure of Rich Rod to ever gain traction among a fan base that didn’t trust him and his inability to assert the kind of control and discipline the head coach needs to at a program like Michigan. To be the Michigan Coach, you’ve got to be a Michigan Man, and Bacon writes that they couldn’t wait for their Michigan Man to finish the business of LSU’s 2007 National Championship.

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Armageddon has a date, and it’s November 5, 2011

For either Alabama or LSU, the Mayan calendar’s end of the world will come 412 days early. When the final seconds tick off the clock at Bryant-Denny Stadium on the evening of November 5, 2011, somebody’s world will come to an end. At least for the 2011 football season.

The winner of that game is a lead pipe lock to play the SEC East’s sacrificial lamb in Atlanta for the SEC Championship. Barring a miracle game by either Georgia or South Carolina, the winner of the LSU at Alabama game will also be in New Orleans on an early January night, playing for the league’s sixth straight BCS National Championship.

The loser gets nothing. No SEC West title. No SEC Championship. No reservations in New Orleans.

This game is for keeps and it’s going to be played that way. Both teams’ players, coaches and fans know the stakes. The game will absolutely live up to the hype it will receive over the next two weeks. The talking heads on television, the radio talk show hosts and the sports columnists from sea to shining sea will be setting this game up as The Game of the Century© and with good reason.

One storyline that may not get much attention is that for the first time in the history of the AP Poll, a matchup of No. 1 vs. No. 2 will take place among powerhouse programs resurrected by one man—Nick Saban. While Les Miles is a very, very good football coach who has recruited well, hired well and managed well, no one can dispute that when Nicholas Lou Saban arrived in Baton Rouge, the LSU football program was a disaster. Former coach Gerry DiNardo ended his term with a two year record of 7-15. In the 1999 season, LSU had an embarrassing eight-game losing streak, including blowout losses to Auburn, Florida and Ole Miss. By the time Saban left to test the NFL waters after the 2004 season, LSU had two SEC Championships and a Crystal Ball. The program was hitting on all cylinders and it’s still full throttle to this day. None of that happens without Saban.

Similarly, no one can dispute that without Nick Saban, Alabama would never have resuscitated its faltering program and returned to its role of traditional powerhouse. After the back-to-back disasters of NCAA probation and the Shula era, Alabama looked lost. Two years later, Alabama won every regular season game and played for the SEC Championship. Three years later, the program repeated that run and won everything.

This game means so much to both programs because both programs are playing at the absolute top of the college football game. The comparisons between the two teams’ offenses, defenses, statistics and matchups show that they’re both about as good as it gets. None of those comparisons could be made if Saban hadn’t showed up in Baton Rouge or Tuscaloosa.

So, Armageddon has a date. Two weeks from now, one program will look back at what could have been. Its season—its football world—might as well be over. But regardless of who the winner is, it should thank the stars for Nick Saban, and give double thanks that their calendar still has a few pages to turn.

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Coaching Carousel: RichRod Fired, and no false alarm this time

 

This is an update to the story posted yesterday. Scroll down for the latest.

The Coaching Carousel, 2010-11 Edition, could begin spinning in overdrive as early as this evening, as current Michigan Head Football Coach Rich Rodriguez is set to meet with Athletic Director David Brandon this afternoon.

It has not been a harmonious tenure at the Big House in Ann Arbor, where some of his own players went public with alleged NCAA violations regarding excessive training and illegal practices. 

These kinds of things can be overlooked if the team is winning. But RichRod’s record at UM is 15-22 overall and 6-18 in the Big TenlevenTwelve. 0-3 against Ohio State.

Via a report at USAToday’s CampusRivalry blog:

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Michigan will have a decision about the future of coach Rich Rodriguez on Tuesday. Rodriguez is set to meet with athletic director David Brandon this afternoon to talk about his job status, according to annarbor.com (LINK DOWN).

The website also is reporting that Wolverines players will learn of the decision at a 7 p.m. ET meeting.

Brandon said after Michigan's loss to Mississippi State in the Gator Bowl that he would be completing his evaluation of the program under Rodriguez at some point this week.

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Some high profile Bowl Division jobs have already been filled. Miami hired Temple’s Al Golden to lead the Hurricanes. Colorado hired alumnus Jon Embree to coach the Buffs.  Pitt hired—then fired—Mike Haywood after his arrest on domestic violence charges. Florida hired one-time Texas coach-in-waiting Will Muschamp to replace Urban Meyer and Vanderbilt stole offensive coordinator James Franklin from Maryland. Add that to the slew of NFL jobs opening, and the carousel is already spinning fast.

But Michigan is one of the top jobs in the country, much like Alabama, USC, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Oklahoma. This is a big boy job and if RichRod is canned—as many suspect he will be—the domino effect on coaching changes across the country could be paradigm shifting.

Speculation has swirled that Stanford’s Jim Harbaugh—a Michigan Alumnus—might be tempted to leave the Cardinal if “Mama called.” But the Detroit Free Press says “not so fast, my friend!”

Another Michigan Alumnus is out there, though. And this one has championship credentials to go along with his quirky personality. That’s LSU’s Les Miles—the hat wearing, grass-eating, BCS Championship winning coach that took over the Bayou Bengals when Nick Saban left for Miami and NFL bucks.

Stay tuned, sports fans.

UPDATE: Fox 2 News is reporting that Rich Rodriguez has been fired from the University of Michigan.

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myFOXdetroit.com Staff - Sources tell Fox 2 that Rich Rodriguez was fired as head coach of the University of Michigan football team Tuesday.

The decision came just three days after his team suffered the worst bowl loss in school history, a 52-14 trouncing at the hands of Mississippi State in the Gator Bowl.

Rodriguez was 15-22 during three seasons in Ann Arbor. He lost a school-record nine games in his debut with the Wolverines two years ago, was 5-7 after starting 4-0 last season and turned a 5-0 start into a 7-5 finish this fall.

The Wolverines were also 1-10 against ranked teams and were 0-3 against rivals Michigan State, Ohio State and Wisconsin during Rodriguezs tenure.

Athletic Director David Brandon would not immediately name a replacement.

Rumors have swirled that Stanford's Jim Harbaugh, a former Wolverine quarterback, and San Diego States Brady Hoke, a former U-M coach, are on the list of possible candidates.

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Additional updates as they become available.

Samsung 55" LED-LCD HDTV "The best television I've ever seen."

Update II: The Wolverine says that the Fox 2 story is premature, and that the team meeting scheduled for tonight at 7:00 pm has been rescheduled for tomorrow.  The plot thickens…

Update III: This time, it’s official. Rich Rodriguez has been fired.

@chengelis is the Twitter account linked to the Detroit News Michigan Beat.

Solid source, so it looks like it’s for real this time.

Update IV: A close friend, booster and graduate of LSU tells me that Les Miles is not interested in moving back to U Mich because the Big House has artificial turf. #rimshot

Update V: Here’s the Associated Press account of Rodriguez’ dismissal.

Update VI: Adam Rittenberg of ESPN explores the possible replacements—and the obstacles they face. I found this quote interesting:

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Both Miles and Hoke have the Michigan ties that Rodriguez lacked, but I'm not crazy about either one as the next Wolverines coach. Miles has too many red flags with clock management and other areas, and while Hoke has done masterful work in turning around both Ball State and San Diego State, he's unproven at the highest level. Miles certainly can recruit and his defenses have been strong, which would be a plus for the Wolverines.

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Update VII: I caught most of David Brandon's presser this morning. A few key points:

• He is convinced that he has NO SHOT at getting Jim Harbaugh. Said he personally believes JH is headed to the NFL.
• The next coach doesn't have to be a "Michigan Man," but he does need to understand what this place is all about.
• No search committee--says he has more than enough advice in this job.
• Said RichRod was evaluated on a variety of factors, including on-field competition, recruiting and university image. Ouch on the last one...
• They are DELAYING official recruiting visits for this weekend. Makes sense, since RR's entire staff was dismissed.
• Said that firing in December would hurt recruiting.

The last one puzzled me. Firing in December means getting a coach before the bowl season ends, which means you don't compete with the NFL for the top candidates. I firmly believe that if Domino's Pizza boy had canned RichRod after the OSU game, he might have had a shot at Harbaugh.

Now he's stuck with a whole bunch of second choices.

Coaching Carousel: Rich Rodriguez FIRED from Michigan UPDATE: Or has he? UPDATE: GONE

 

 

Please see the new post for the latest information, linked here.