The Controversy Known as Les Miles

Andy Staples at SportsIllustrated.com wrote an interesting piece in which he asked various other writers around the office who they would rather have as their head coach: Les Miles or Mark Richt. Everyone except Andy Staples and Austin Murphy said they would rather have Mark Richt. Honestly, Richt is a better choice at most schools... but Les Miles is a very good choice for LSU—a traditionally middling football program that has good players, but does not get the same overwhelming quantity of talent as some others in their league. They have a lot of good players, but LSU generally doesn't stockpile talent like an Alabama or a Florida. Or even an Auburn, Tennessee, or Georgia for that matter.

Les Miles needs to be audacious because he generally can't win by playing the odds. He needs to take calculated risks. It is sometimes hard to tell what his calculations are precisely, but they do seem to be there. However, his calculations tend toward going for the gusto. Whatever else you may think of him, he does not cower in the face of high-risk, high-reward situations; he actually seems to live for them. People like that are invariably going to seem crazy to some.

The thing about it is that when a couple of breaks go against him, people will inevitably sour on him. Exciting people are a lot of fun at first, but they can become tiring over the long haul. Especially when things go wrong. High-risk, high-reward opportunities are only good when they pay off high rewards. When they do not pay off, then the only thing that people see is just how high the risk was.

This sort of thing would not be particularly welcome at many schools; particularly the traditional powers. Michigan, for instance, is not the sort of school that needs a guy who will take a lot of risks just for the heck of it. While the past few seasons have been outside the norm for the Wolverines, they are usually good enough to win games by playing the odds. After all, when you are the winningest team in college football, the odds are going to be in your favor.

Notre Dame, however, does tend to lean toward the high-risk, high-reward coaches. After all, they either win a national title, or they win nothing, so what's to lose by rolling the dice? Les Miles would fit in very happily with the Golden Domers.

Ohio State, USC, and Alabama would not like Les Miles' schtick—they all tend toward a more conservative approach that allows them to use their superior physical tools to overwhelm the other teams. While USC likes to think of itself as a free-wheeling team, they were most successful when they played a pro-style, run-based game that set up their passing. Yes, Pete Carroll loved going for it on fourth-and-1, but he knew he could outmuscle just about every team he played... and let's not forget that he was taking guff from fans years afterwards for his decision to go for it on fourth down against Texas late in the title game.

Miami, yes—they thrive on gambling. Florida State before 1986 or so, yes. After 1986 or so, no—they are conservative in the USC mold. Florida, no idea, it would probably be a mixed bag.

Tennessee probably not, though they could probably use a coach like that. Auburn yes, but only so long as the risks paid off in the Alabama game.

Texas, no—don't need it to win. Texas A&M, as much as they have the right team makeup for it, no; they are just not the sort to like that type of thing. Oklahoma, maybe, but probably not because they don't need it to win. Nebraska, maybe, but probably yes because they are so conservative in general that they would likely enjoy the visceral rush of it.

Texas Tech would most definitely enjoy it. So would Purdue. So would Oregon at their present talent level. Oregon State and Washington State I'm not sure about, but probably not. Washington, Wisconsin, and West Virginia would probably like it at first, then quickly get tired of it. Syracuse and Cal I'm not sure about. UCLA would not like it, but Stanford probably would. Arizona and Arizona State probably wouldn't like it at first, but a few victories on big gambles would bring them around... at least for a little while.

Boise State, yes, because they have gotten to where they are on the strength of some very well-timed risks that payed off handsomely. Likewise with Utah and BYU. Not TCU though, they seem to be happy with the standard pro-style game.

As for most of the other schools around the country, they probably would not like Les Miles' style of coaching, because it wouldn't change their fortunes much. His incessant risk taking would frustrate the fan bases when failed plays made the teams they loved look silly, and many of the teams would not have the overall talent to execute the risky plays properly, or make the successful gambles hold up until the end of the game. Big payoffs are only useful if you can turn them into victories. There is enough talent to make things work at LSU, but a lot of other schools don't have enough to capitalize on the opportunities created. LSU has enough talent to take the momentum created by late gambles and hold onto it for the rest of the game, which makes Les Miles a perfect fit for a team that has often been overshadowed by the other members of the SEC.

And for that, we come to Oklahoma State. They did rather like the guy, but I don't remember hearing that much about his "crazy" tendencies while he was there. It's hard to say what would have happened in the long term. I think the overall talent in Stillwater wasn't enough for well-placed gambles to make up the difference against teams like Oklahoma, Texas, and even Texas A&M. I think he could have had some success there, but he would have always been limited by coaching at the fourth-biggest name in the Big XII South.

It will be interesting to see how well Les Miles holds up at LSU. Unfortunately, clock management cost him one game last year and almost cost him another this year. He's a very good coach who has kept LSU on everyone's lips in the national discussions, but it's no surprise that some fans are wondering if it isn't time to settle down with someone a little more stable. However, I think that they would come to miss him altogether too soon.