Top Reasons To Fear LSU and The Hat in 2009

It is once again time to FEAR THE HAT - Those who have lost their FEAR for Les Miles and LSU had better re-think their limbic (emotional seat of the mind) and pre-fontal (executive thinking seat) functions carefully. LSU was not ranked in the top 25 to end the 2008 season (which shows how human polls are just as flawed as computer polls given GT's higher ranking than LSU's after LSU humiliated them in their home city of ATL), but folks had better realize that the massive star field that lined up in the wrong way in 2008 is phasing back in alignment for the good for 2009 - and in a BIG way.

Why is LSU looking so good in 2009?

1) LB Coaching LSU will FINALLY have a REAL LB coach. LB play is UBER-important in modern CFB. Chavis has put as many LB's in the league as any team in the country while at Tenn. Not since Will Muschamp graced the campus has adequate LB coaching been part of the LSU defense.

2) "No CO" (No Co Defensive Coordinators) - Two inferior position coaches combined as co-defensive coordinators to produce an inferior, confused and undisciplined defense for LSU in 2008. New DC "Chief" Chavis is a discipline guy who is highly organized, and has over a decade of SEC DC experience. The bonus is that Chavis's former Tenn teams have common annual opponents with LSU in BAMA and Florida, so he knows how to prepare for these 2 traditionally-contending teams.  Look for Chavis to overhaul the 2008 defensive scheme and to extract the maximum from the great LSU defensive talent base. As such, the LSU defensive brand will return with a vengeance in 2009. In addition, new Dline coach Brick Haley, the former DLine coach of the Chicago Bears, has far more talent returning to work with than folks realize, even with the loss of Francois and Jackson. "Rahem Alem and the team" will be fiercely fast and physical next year, so don't fool yourself if you expect a drop off. 

3) New DB Coach Cooper - Cooper is the best DB coach in the SEC (stolen from S Car last week) and possibly the country. He has put a pipeline of DB's into the Pros, and is projected to have four "5-star" players to work with in the LSU defensive backfield on the Ponderosa at LSU  - Chad Jones, Patrick Peterson, Janzen Jackson, Craig Loston. Of course, Loston and Jackson are only verbal committments at this point, but even if LSU loses 1 (Tenn may hire Janzen's father, and if so, speculation is that he may change his committment to follow his father to Knoxville), the defensive backfield is hardly lacking in stellar talent. Throw in the hard-hitting senior Harry Coleman, and the potential is amazing.

4) Senior RB's Charles Scott, Keiland Williams and Trindon Holiday are joined by incoming star Michael Ford {EDIT:Dexter Pratt de-committed}. Junior Richard Murphy might very well have something to say about playing time also (and don't forget about Steve Ridley, the former star of the state of Mississippi, who is a potential combination of LSU RB legends Jacob Hester and Cecil "the Deisel" Collins. It might be a stretch to label this hybrid FB/TB so highly, so lets call it only a gut feel at this stage).

5) QB Play of Jordan Jefferson (JJ) - JJ had an insanely awesome TD-INT ratio while posting a 15-0 state championship run in the big leagues of Lousiana HS football. He has good leadership skills, and has compiled two pretty good performances during his true freshman year at LSU to take into '09 - so LSU is in WAY better shape heading into 2009 than heading into 2008 at the QB spot. JJ shows good field vision, composure, mobility and ball-protection skills/ability thus far. Much-maligned Sophomore Jarrett Lee has the potential to shine if he gets the call - that is if Lee can shake the demons from his poor freshman performance. He showed brilliance along the way in the midst of his issue-filled freshman campaign.

6) Recruiting - The number 1 recruiting class in the country (at this point and likely on signing day). Using Rivals.com as a basis, Miles has actually been superior to Saban in his tenure at LSU in comparison to what Saban brought in while in BR. YES, this is true, and that is one heck of an accomplishment considering what Saban did. Miles actually has a higher average star accumulation than Saban in a similar amount of time.

7) Russell Shepard - The incoming freshman is similar to Percy Harvin athletically, and similar to Tim Tebow in his character. He is also very well-spoken and appears to have NATURAL leader skills. In addition to having one of the fastest first-steps & initial burst/accelerations in college football, Shepard is as un-selfish as they come. Shep is a great recruiter in his own right. Look for Shep to play the role of alternative to Jefferson for LSU (like Tebow did for Leak at QB in '06), combined with a bit of slot receiver and/or RB play such as Percy Harvin in '08 at UF. What a catch LSU has in this young man!

8) Rueben Randle ? (assuming the #1 recruit in the nation ends up, as expected, on the Bayou in his home state) - It is certainly not a given that he will end up on the bayou, but if he does....wow....this guy has been compared to Randy Moss in skills, but seems humble and physical much like Andre Johnson of the Houston Texans. Randle could very well have the impact at LSU that Julio Jones did at BAMA .

9) Ciron Black and the Offensive Line - Ciron's facebook status says he is coming back, and that provides great continuity and talent to ensure the LSU O-Line is retained as one of the best in the SEC and nation.

10) Pro-Caliber Recieving Corp - LaFell and Toliver are both returning, and they both will likely be playing on Sunday one day. LaFell is a beast that is the epitome of what an NFL receiver should look like. Terrance Toliver, the former 5-star receiver out of Hempstead, Tx, has emerged as one of JJ's favorite receivers, and could emerge in '09 at the level that matches his 5-star pedigree. The soon-to-be Junior is finally being used in a manner which will give him a chance to live up to the hype, and he certainly has the raw skills to give it a go. If LSU is lucky and gets Rueben Randle, then WOW, WOW, WOW!

11) TE Richard Dickson - Dickson is the best TE in the league. He is back for his senior year, and makes for a very tough match for LB's, and JJ also seems to connect VERY well with him. Tyler Edwards will be a RS freshman, so it is speculative to say that he will be very Dickson-esque this year, but he certainly seems similarly talented. If he is what folks think, that would be a heckuva TE pair.

12) BAMA and Florida are losing major components no matter what they tell you. Percy Harvin is a BIG difference maker, and he is a goner. Tebow is ticking around, but replacing Harvin's field vision and instincts are not just a matter of plugging in another 4.3 speedster. This will REALLY affect UF. However, Florida is loaded on defense and has many playmakers on offense, so they will be very strong again - but losing Harvin is anything but trivial, so don't fall for trivialization of Percy's departure. As for BAMA, 20th year Senior QB Parker (LOL) provided a stable and predominantly mistake-free style of QB which is typical of SEC championship contenders. BAMA will throw an inexperienced and young QB into the mix next year, and everyone should expect whoever gets that spot to struggle in moving the BAMA offense in 2009. Loosing Andre Smith and Coffee are big impacts, but can be offset some if the Tide can lure in Trent Richardson and with freak Olineman Fluker.

13) Status of Competition  - Traditional powers Auburn and Tennessee (not on LSU schedule) have new coaches onboard, and have depleted talent bases, so they are less of a threat than otherwise. Ole Miss is the team to keep an eye on due to the recruiting by Coach Orgeron and the solid coaching of Coach Nutt; but LSU will be really up for the Rebels when they visit Oxford. And Arkansas, that fricken ugly boot will return to BR next year.

14) UGA talent losses - The visit to UGA-land in early October is still going to be very tough, but a Moreno-less and Stafford-less UGA will make this trip far more win-able.

15) The 2009 schedule - The first few games are very manageable, so unless Miss St or Vandy pull a big surprise upset, LSU has a good chance of HOSTING National Champion Florida on 10/10/09 with an unblemished record. By then, Jordan Jefferson will have good experience under his belt, and the offense should be gellin'. The trip to UGA the week before the UF game is anything but a given, even with the loss of Stafford and Moreno, but their departure makes the UGA trip far more manageable. The LSU gets 2 weeks to prepare for hosting a re-building Auburn team before the home-stretch games against Ole Miss, Alabama and Arkansas. The schedule sets up about as good as can be expected.

16) The Hat himself - Coach Miles - Miles understands how to get his team game-ready and motivated. What you saw from Miles in 2005, 2006 and 2007 is more indicative of his coaching effectiveness than what you saw in 2008. This is because the 2008 campaign put up a terrible defensive/coaching performance, and had a struggling freshman QB at the helm. When Miles has strong Offensive and Defensive Coordinators running his team, he is at his best. Now that Chavis is onboard, he will combine with OC Gary Crowton to develop the overall team in the mold of the 2007 team. Miles is a great recruiter of players and coaches, and he is building the best combination once again -  so FEAR THE HAT and LSU once again in 2009 !

post script on Russell Shepard worth reading:

http://blog.nola.com/lsusports/2009/01/lsus_russell_shepard_entering.html