Fired Les Miles a victim of the Saban Effect
Finally, the Saban Effect takes hold
It’s remarkable in some ways that Les Miles lasted as long as he did at LSU. Four games into his 12th season, he’d won at a 77 percent clip (114-34), best in school history. The Tigers won two SEC championships and one national championship. LSU also played for another national title.
But the result in that game is part of the reason he was let go Sunday.
Alabama won the BCS national championship game in January 2012, avenging an LSU win in a regular-season matchup a couple of months earlier. Starting then, Alabama has won five consecutive against LSU. And Alabama, you probably recall, is coached by Nick Saban, Miles’ predecessor at LSU.
When Saban returned to the college ranks after a brief stint in the NFL, and dropped right into the same division as LSU, the comparison was an ever-present part of Miles’ existence at a place that already is one of the most pressure-packed programs in college football.
Firing Les Miles is a gamble, because LSU needs a big name
When it comes to Saban, it’s not just LSU. As noted by USA TODAY’s Paul Myerberg, with Miles’ departure, every SEC program has made at least one coaching change since Saban’s arrival at Alabama in 2007. The Saban Effect is very real, and it shows no sign of abating. And it’s a credit to Miles that he was able to withstand it for so long.
But as Saban built the Crimson Tide into its current state as one of college football’s historic dynasties, the contrast with Miles and LSU only became starker in Baton Rouge.
We could list multiple reasons for Miles’ ouster. Chief among them: An unimaginative, ultra-conservative offense and years of mediocrity at quarterback. Those issues came to a head late last year — and then, after Miles survived a coup attempt, didn’t improve this season. This statistic from The (Baton Rouge) Advocate is startling: A 118-yard passing total in Saturday’s loss to Auburn marked the 17th time in the last 30 games LSU produced fewer than 150 passing yards.
Auburn, by the way, did not score a touchdown but didn’t need to. LSU appeared to score a TD as time expired … but time had already run out after yet another episode of incredibly poor clock management; through the years, that too had become a fairly regular thing from Miles and the Tigers. And if it was charming when they won despite goofiness, it was infuriating when the lost because of it.
As a result of all that and more, instead of contending for the SEC West and from there the College Football Playoff — and those were the expectations, every year but especially this year — the Tigers finished their September schedule 2-2. And Miles didn’t finish September.
If Saturday’s loss to Auburn was finally too much, though, the Saban Effect was ultimately the overriding factor.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM WEEK 4
