Dabo Swinney Can at Least Be Happy Les Miles' Seat Is Hotter Than His

In many ways, LSU's 21-0 loss to Alabama in the BCS National Championship game was even more embarrassing than Clemson's 70-33 loss to West Virginia in the Orange Bowl.

Though Clemson lost by 37 points, at least Dabo Swinney's squad showed some sort of offensive spark. Swinney, much like Les Miles, is an offensive coach, leaving the defensive efforts to a defensive coordinator.

Therefore, Miles' coaching seat should be much hotter than Swinney's this morning. While Clemson at least scored 33 points, LSU couldn't even manage to cross midfield until late in the fourth quarter.

Miles also made several questionable play-calling and personnel decisions. First, he decided not to play Jarrett Lee at all, even though Jordan Jefferson was struggling mightily.

The reason Miles said he stuck with Jefferson was that he didn't think Lee would be able to elude Alabama's fierce pass rush.

However, speed and elusiveness didn't seem to be helping Jefferson very much, so Lee at least deserved a shot. How Miles could be content watching Jefferson continuously botch snaps, overthrow receivers and make terrible decisions in the option is beyond me.

At the very latest, Lee should have been brought in at the start of the fourth quarter, when the score was still 15-0 and the Tigers at least had a fighting chance.

Jefferson should have been pulled after an inexplicable shovel pass into the arms of a waiting Crimson Tide defender in the third quarter, but that was the point where Miles seemed to throw in the towel.

I have liked Miles as a coach in the past, but giving up in the third quarter of a BCS National Championship Game is indefensible.

Despite being ill-prepared defensively, at least Swinney's Clemson team kept fighting until the very end, scoring a touchdown with just over a minute left in the Orange Bowl. Miles ordered his team to punt with just under three minutes left in the National Championship.

So this morning, Swinney should be feeling a little bit better about himself and his job security after watching the way Miles gave up against Alabama on Monday night.

Swinney kept fighting, but his team didn't execute. Overcoming four turnovers is never easy and it consistently put his defense in bad positions.

Meanwhile, Miles' play-calling and personnel decisions didn't put the Tigers in a position to succeed. And, rather than adjust his game plan at halftime, Miles seemed happy to accept that Alabama was the better team.

That's not how coaches at elite colleges should behave, and he deserves to be on the hot seat for a while.

Ultimately, neither of these coaches are likely to get fired, but if Miles turns in another performance like he had on Monday night, he might not be able to escape with his job.