Be careful what you wish for

By Tom Dodge

The firing of Les Miles was not a big surprise – but the timing was unxpected.
I like Les – I think he is a man of character and loyalty.
LSU won the 2007 national championship and Miles finished second only to Charlie McLendon with 114 Tiger wins.
Six straight losses to Alabama and the seventh looming ahead on Nov. 5 didn’t help Miles have a chance to keep his job.
McLendon had 137 wins – but he too had trouble beating Alabama when Paul “Bear” Bryant roamed the sidelines.
Miles, who turns 63 in November, had an overall record of 114-34 and a winning percentage of 77.0 percent, tops among LSU coaches since the school joined the SEC in 1933.
He is 62-28 in SEC games, a winning percentage of 68.9 percent, and led the Tigers to a bowl game in each of his first 11 seasons, going 7-4.
The problem shows in the fact that LSU is 12-10 in its last 22 games against Power Five conference teams since 2014.
The Tigers went 39-17 overall and 21-13 in the SEC since losing to Alabama 21-0 in the 2012 BCS championship game.
Miles won at least eight games 11 straight seasons and most likely could have done that again this season even at 2-2 after four games.
The only SEC head coaches with longer streaks were Bryant, Tennessee’s Phillip Fulmer and Steve Spurrier all at 12 seasons.
The problem is a championship is the only way a coach is judged now-a-days.
Mark Richt was let go at Georgia at the end of last season after going 9-3.
Richt’s teams had won two SEC championships. six SEC East titles, nine bowl games and finished in the top ten of the polls seven times from 2000 to 2015.
Not enough wins is what caught up with Miles as well.
The stunning reversal of the final score in the 18-13 loss to Auburn sealed his fate as the LSU head coach.
The clock went down to zero before the touchdown toss from Danny Etling to D.J. Clark in the corner of the end zone so the points were erased from the scoreboard – and thus ended the Miles era at LSU.
Since 2005 when Les arrived at LSU, the Tigers earned 42 wins over ranked opponents but none this season.
LSU President F. King Alexander nixed a plan in November to fire Miles at the end of last season, following a sudden and dramatic three-game losing streak, the program’s first since 1999.
The losses were not close: 30-16 at Alabama, 31-14 to Arkansas and 38-17 at Ole Miss.
It was the first time since 1966 the Tigers had lost three consecutive games by double digits.
The 2016 team has struggled offensively and that cost Miles and offensive coordinator Cam Cameron their jobs.
But remember the old saying “Be careful what you wish for.”
Tennessee showed Philip Fulmer the door in 2008 after a 152-52 record that included the 1998 national championship.
The Vols went with Lane Kiffin (7-6) and Derek Dooley (15-21) before Butch Jones (20-17) began the Tennessee revival.
LSU fans and supporters will argue that the Tiger program is better and will draw the attention of top-tier coaches.
But I will miss the post game comments from Les and I doubt the next guy will be as entertaining as the “Mad Hatter.”

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