SEC Extra Points with Barrett Sallee: Les Miles, Pressure and the State of LSU
Two weeks ago, LSU was ranked No. 2 in the initial College Football Playoff rankings and set to visit Alabama in what was supposed to be the game of the year not only in the SEC, but perhaps all of college football.
My, how things have changed.
According to Scott Rabalais of the Advocate in Baton Rouge, the losses at Alabama and at home to Arkansas have thinned the ice under 11th-year head coach Les Miles to the point where he might have to win out over Ole Miss and Texas A&M in order to keep his job.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Pressure?
Miles isn't feeling it.
"To get back on track is a sincere feeling in this program," Miles said. "When you (lose) two games, it's painful. I don't know if there's any additional pressure than my second game. This is the style of job you get, you are expected to win and that's the kind of job I want. I enjoy going into a stadium where everybody wants you to beat the tar out of the opponent."
That's the problem, though. Miles isn't beating the tar of the most important opponents. He's lost five straight to Alabama, the offense isn't a threat to stretch the field and is trending down in 2015.
"In college football few things are more damning to a head coach than consistently losing to your rivals," said former Tigers offensive lineman T-Bob Hebert, who co-hosts Double Coverage on WWL 870 in New Orleans. "This is how, despite being ranked No. 2 just a couple of weeks ago, Les Miles is now 'coaching for his job' following losses to Alabama and Arkansas. It's the fifth time in a row the Tigers have lost to Bama and the second consecutive embarrassing loss to the Razorbacks and fifth in the last nine games. Combine this with the fact that LSU's SEC record has steadily been on the decline since 2008, and I understand why this conversation is gaining traction."
As Rabalais noted in his column, Miles would be owed $15 million over eight years if he's dismissed without cause. That's not crazy for a high-profile program that's fully capable of passing the hat around big boosters and raising that money. But for LSU, a university that's gone through some serious financial issues over the last few years, that might not be the best public relations move.
"I know these boosters are going to spend their money as they see fit, but I do wonder how the mainstream media will respond when a region's priorities are so blatantly exposed," said Hebert.
Tigers offensive coordinator Cam Cameron is on the third year of his three-year deal, and could easily serve as the fall guy if Miles is forced to jettison coordinators in order to buy himself another year. The question is, though, would it be enough?
Miles has been infatuated with dual-threat quarterbacks throughout his entire LSU coaching career, but has never truly embraced how to properly use them. That, coupled with the fact teams have to at least be capable of doing something other than playing old-school, smashmouth football these days, might make that ice crack if LSU continues stumbling down the stretch.
LSU is a mess, and Miles has two weeks to clean it up.
The Heisman Shadow
LSU running back Leonard Fournette was squarely in the Heisman spotlight for the first two months of the season, but that spotlight switched to the other sideline in early November when Alabama's Derrick Henry left the showdown with the Tigers with all of Fournette's Heisman love.
It didn't seem to phase him.
Against Mississippi State last week, all Henry did was rush for 204 yards and two touchdowns—his 15th straight game with at least one touchdown run.
How's he handling the Heisman buzz?
"He works hard and really cares about the team," head coach Nick Saban said. "He always gives the other players a lot of credit, is a good leader and sets a good example. He's a driven guy, so I don't see any issues."
He'll have two more big stages to impress Heisman voters after this week's tuneup against Charleston Southern. If he goes north of 200 against Auburn and in the SEC Championship Game against a tough Florida defense, it could be one of the most dramatic Heisman Trophy ceremonies in recent years.
Revolving Door
Another week, another open quarterback competition at Texas A&M.
In what's becoming commonplace in College Station, head coach Kevin Sumlin has again opened up the quarterback competition after dual-threat true freshman Kyler Murray threw five picks over the last two games and former starter Kyle Allen completed all eight of his passes last week against Western Carolina.
"We've turned the ball over a lot more than we're comfortable with. We're minus-three in turnover ratio for the year, and our guys have to understand that possession of the ball is key," Sumlin said. "There have been some football games that we could have won with ball possession, and having possessions end in some sort of kick rather than other teams having the ball."
Don't expect an answer for who the starter will be anytime soon, though.
Texas A&M visits Vanderbilt—which is top 20 nationally in total defense and yards per play—Saturday night, and Sumlin is content letting the mystery play out up until kickoff.
"I will announced it pretty close to game time," he said. "That doesn't mean we won't figure it out by then, because we will figure it out before then."
It's an interesting stretch for Texas A&M football.
Allen is more of a traditional passer and Murray is the dual-threat, so it's imperative for Sumlin and his staff to decide which direction they want to go over these next two weeks and during bowl practice, because as it stands, they're sort of running two separate offenses.
Sumlin needs to establish direction for the offense, and doing so against a Vanderbilt defense would be a good start.
Challenge Issued
The topic of out-of-conference scheduling came to the forefront this week thanks to the SEC's traditional Thanksgiving appetizer of cupcakes that includes Charleston Southern, Charlotte, The Citadel and others.
That prompted this hilarious, not safe for work rant from Saban.
I already discussed a few options on how to fix it, but Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema went a step further.
"I tell you a fun one to think about, there's 14 teams in the Big Ten and 14 in the SEC, kind of like the basketball one, let's have a Big Ten-SEC challenge," he said. "Let some people rank them in the offseason and let the best of the best play each other, the lower ones play each other and reserve a weekend every year. People would get into that, now."
Indeed they would.
I'm on board with Bielema's plan, but not 100 percent. The Big Ten-SEC challenge is essentially known as "bowl season" now, thanks to so many postseason games that have tie-ins with both conferences. If bowls can change that up a bit, sign me up.
It'd be a win-win.
There's only been one SEC-Pac-12 bowl game (Auburn vs. Oregon in the BCS National Championship Game in January 2014) since the 1989 Freedom Bowl between Florida and Washington. Fix that, and bring Bielema's plan on.
Lessons Learned
Get ready for the Tennessee hype train, because it's coming again this offseason.
Well, sort of.
The Vols are going to finish strong and should have a ton of talent returning for 2016, which will raise the expectation level on Rocky Top. While the expectations for head coach Butch Jones' fourth season will be high, the program won't get the offseason buzz in the SEC East thanks to the emergence of Florida as a potential power.
Jones is looking forward to learning from some of the struggles from earlier this year.
"I believe in learning lessons," he said. "Those are all lessons that can make you better if you allow yourself to make yourself better. Our players and coaches have done that, and our program has done that. Now, it's not making the same mistakes twice, it's learning from it."
Tennessee should have quarterback Joshua Dobbs, two stud running backs, a talented wide receiving corps, more depth on both sides of the line of scrimmage in the trenches and get the Gators at home next year.
The buzz won't be there, but the expectations should be.
Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Statistics are courtesy of cfbstats.com.
Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and national college football video analyst for Bleacher Report, as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on SiriusXM 83. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
