From hot seat incompetence to seat of his pants brilliance

I’m still trying to wrap my brain around LSU gaining more yardage in the second half yesterday than ‘Bama did in the entire game.

We can’t handle the truth.  Les Miles is a grass-eating genius.

… Miles downplayed his whole “Mad Hatter” image. Deep down, though, he almost seems to enjoy it.

“I think that’s overblown,” Miles said. “I promise you that it’s not in my hat. I don’t think I’ve done anything that 50 or 60 high school coaches in this state wouldn’t do. I think if you like football and have a feel for some stuff, you let it ride sometimes.”

Or a lot of times.

“When he calls something, there’s a good percentage that play is going to be there,” said LSU defensive coordinator John Chavis, whose unit held Alabama to 325 total yards. “He knows. He studies. He’s worked it.

“I’ll be honest with you. The guy’s a brilliant guy when it comes to strategy in football games.”

35 Comments

Filed under Wit And Wisdom From The Hat

35 responses to “From hot seat incompetence to seat of his pants brilliance

  1. Normaltown Mike

    Let’s just hope he won’t start wearing hot pants.

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  2. Scorpio Jones, III

    Chavis is right, maybe, but Miles still claps funny.

    Push off and hoses out.

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  3. Scorpio Jones, III

    If you don’t understand pushing and hoses….well, the Senator may have to sit next to you sometime.

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  4. Hogbody Spradlin

    Regardless what else makes up Les Miles, he looks like he’s having fun. His palms only clapping and smile appear genuinely warm on TV.

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  5. The Original Cynical in Athens

    It’s got to be weird being an LSU fan.

    Booing vociferously as your team heads to the tunnel at the half, then cheering deliriously as the final seconds count down.

    Whatever John Chavis is making, he should be getting double, because that defense allows Miles to hide a lot of stupidity.

    Did you see how many freshmen LSU had out there on defense? LSU is what UGA would be if the state of Georgia were not surrounded by other SEC competitors. It’s amazing how much talent there is in Louisiana, and as long as LSU is decent, they are going to get nearly all those kids.

    The end-around on 4th down was genius. No other way around that. But the backup QB making a 3rd and 8 pass under duress, that is just….I don’t even know what to say.

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  6. Macallanlover

    It is time the public, including LSU fans and internet posters anywhere, stopped with the ridicule of one Lester Miles. The man may get burned and look silly when a play blows up on him occasionally, but how many times does he outwit the other coach with gutsy playcalls that, somehow, work brilliantly a high percentage of the time? Frequently enough for me to say it defies being “lucky”.

    One of the big advantages of being considered “crazy” is your opponent cannot do all they want because they have to be prepared for that unconventional move you may make…..at any given time. Despite that reputation LSU still executed a fake punt, plus a reverse and two long passes on short yardage plays. Damn! The players executed brilliantly, but The Hat ate Satan’s lunch and dinner yesterday. Give the man just a small portion of the respect handed to Corch and Little Nicky.

    I cannot take 4 hours of F’Bomb a day, but I might have to point the satellite dish his way tomorrow afternoon.

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    • I agree–Les has poor clock management skills, but the decision to forego the FG and go for on 4 down was the right decision. If LSU makes the FG they still have to not let Bama score another TD. The reverse call was a great call in the situation.

      Also Les’s teams play hard and never quit. Les should get some credit for that.

      He is still crazy as bat shit (eating grass?) but he is not stupid

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  7. Rival

    “Push off and hoses out.”

    What in the what does this mean?

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  8. Pumpdawg

    I wonder if Saban came home and found bricks had been thrown through his windows.Two losses.Let the death threats begin.

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    • Mayor of Dawgtown

      Not yet. That’ll only start when Bama loses to Auburn. Just ask Bill Curry who was undefeated at Bama, then lost to Auburn and lost the bowl game to Miami. He was SEC Coach of the Year that season and getting death threats.

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      • Bryant Denny

        Bricks are reserved for special occasions – not road losses to top 10 teams.

        Also, did you know Coach Curry was the last player taken in the draft?

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        • Mayor of Dawgtown

          I don’t want this to look like I am a Curry fan but did you know that Curry was the center on the first Super Bowl Champion team (Green Bay Packers) and has one of the first game’s Super Bowl rings? I guess it is what you do with your opportunities that really counts in life.

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  9. anon

    Crazy > Complacent.

    What they have vs. what we have.

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  10. PH

    Anytime Miles and Richt win on the same day, it jabs at Finebaum and his idiot callers. Maybe just maybe, UGA can find a way to beat Auburn and Ala beat them too, LSU is in the game in the Atl.

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  11. W Cobb Dawg

    Chavis’s D keeps the game close, and Miles shakes things up on O and special teams when necessary. Hard nose D, and being innovative and unpredicatable on O and special teams – who’d a thunk something that basic would work!? It was a classic sec game.

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  12. East Cobb Devildawg

    To his credit Miles is 2-2 against Saban and 3-3 against Meyer. Yeah he’s psycho but he wins ball games. So you gotta respect him.

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  13. Regular Guy

    he might make terrible decisions at times (tho none yesterday) but he plays to win every time. Case in point is them taking the ball over deep in their own territory just before the half. Almost all coaches and certainly Richt would have been content to just run out the clock and go into the half. Despite his poor QB play all year, Miles chose to play, and they damn near got into FG position. You gotta respect a guy who coaches to win instead of not to lose, even if some of his decisions go poorly. I still say some his decisions are beyond idiotic, but I love his mentality.

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    • Gen. Stoopnagle

      +10000000000

      What he said.

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    • Bryant Denny

      Actually, didn’t he take two time outs into the half with him yesterday? They actually displayed some pretty poor clock management to end the half, not that it matters today. 🙂

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      • Regular Guy

        I don’t remember them having the timeouts left, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen, you may be right. His clock management issues are well documented though……….which is mostly what I was referring to with some of his decisions being idiotic.

        But it doesn’t change the fact that he came out gunning on that drive to try to get into scoring position, when 90% or more of coaches out there would have just tried to run out the half, especially against a ‘Bama caliber defense – and despite having a QB (Jefferson) who has been a disaster in the passing game this year. Even Gary Danielson was shocked that they were trying to actually advance the ball, he kept talking about how a turnover would be such a killer at that point. And yes, that’s absolutely true, and if they had turned the ball over leading to another ‘Bama score right before the half, Miles would’ve been blistered for the decision. But that’s my point — even though he knew the risks and potential fallout, he still went for the score, and I love that mentality. That mentality absolutely will get you in trouble sometimes, but it sends a message to your team that you believe they can do it, and many times that is enough to get the guys believing they can do it, then next thing you know they’ve actually done it. Whereas our (UGA’s) mentality the past few years has been to just try to avoid making mistakes, rather than trying to make plays. The “crisis of faith” that has been well documented. Miles’s players never have to worry about if he believes they can get the job done.

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  14. Bryant Denny

    Say what you want to about the Mad Hatter, he outcoached Bama’s staff yesterday.

    Having watched most of the Bama games this season, the outcome yesterday wasn’t a surprise. Our team hasn’t put any pressure on opposing quarterbacks this year the result of which was helping Garcia play like a Heisman candidate in loss #1 and helping Jefferson/Lee get their mojo back in loss #2.

    Give kudos to Miles for this also: he had at least three starters lost in the game and he filled those holes seamlessly. I believe two of the holes were filled with true freshmen.

    One thing you won’t hear since we lost: Peterson got pretty well abused. Two touchdowns were scored on him and Julio went right at him and got the best of him.

    Oh well.

    Have a good day,

    BD

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    • Regular Guy

      Agreed, until the cramps, Peterson was clearly the man in last year’s game, but Julio got the better of the duel this year. I’d still give my right arm to have Peterson on my team though!

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    • Macallanlover

      You are right BD, there have been some nagging shortcomings all year with Bama, but all we heard was about LSU’s lack of an offense (QB particularly), and their idiot coach. I have to admit, I felt, coming off a bye week, the Tide would roll an LSU team that has been erratic this season against weak competition. That second half was a terriffic two quarters of football from the Tigers after a blase 1st half. I am not sure they will sustain this level for the remainder of the season, but I would have no kick with them representing the SEC in a BCS Bowl.

      I am usually a “player execution guy” rather than someone who puts all the blame or glory on the coaches but, as I said earlier, that second half was more about the playcalling/decisions even though the players did a great job in executing. You are very fair to admit that. A toast to the Hat, the man has taken the abuse with dignity, he deserves all the accolades he is getting today.

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  15. FRED

    WATCHING LSU HOW MANY OF YOU SAID CMR WOULD HAVE CALLED THE SAME TRICK PLAYS.
    HOW MANY? 3 PEOPLE. 2 MORE THAN I WOULD HAVE THOUGH.

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    • Ausdawg85

      (stop shouting…) We don’t even have trick plays in the book.

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      • Russ

        Richt opened the second half against UF with an onside kick in 2008 (I believe). It didn’t work and UF scored right away to open the rout. When they work, trick plays are great. However, there’s a reason they’re rarely run.

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    • Bryant Denny

      Fred,

      My coach called a fake punt in the national championship game last year (in our own territory).

      He nearly gave me a stroke.

      Be careful what you wish for. 🙂

      BD

      Like

  16. PhillyDawg

    Is anyone watching the BCS show on ESPN? Robert Smith just said TCU should be ranked ahead of Auburn at the end of the season even if Auburn ran the table.
    While I’d love to see it, the WWL has completely lost all creditability. And can someone explain to me why Boise St. is ranked below TCU? OHHHH, they beat a severely overrated Utah. TCU is Hawaii of 2007.

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    • Russ

      Not sure Utah is that overrated. TCU put an absolute spanking on them in their house. Even if Utah is only a top 20 team, a 40 point beat down in the other guy’s house is impressive.

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      • Macallanlover

        Particularly where Utah had a 19 game home winning streak and the ESPN zoo-crew was on hand. No matter how anyone wants to play that, TCU is a force that is capable of playing anyone competitively this year. Patterson is a top-drawer coach and has to be on several schools’ shopping lists. He would be in the Top 3 of mine.

        Like