Crimson Tide News Links 10/30/2007

Miles has been successful and amassed the kind of talent to continue a joyful ride as Tigers coach. But these past few games have shown sound evidence that he is no Saban.

Not even the best gambler can stay lucky for that long. Remember, there is a reason casinos are profitable ventures.

Miles will come to Tuscaloosa for one more game of roulette. Will this be the time he plays the wrong number?

If Miles leaves for Michigan, Tuberville has to be the LSU coach. He knows the league and he has his recruiting tentacles throughout the south. Recruiting analysts will tell you LSU will give borderline or below average high school kids a chance to succeed academically and that always helps a coach.

Who wouldn't you jump at the LSU job? The fans are nuts, the facilities are upgraded, and with 92,000 fans backing a winner they should be able to beat Tub's $2 million paycheck at Auburn. Miles is only making $1.8 million, which puts him in the middle of the SEC, but there is a serious upgrade due the position.

First, it's not Miles' fault that Saban is an outstanding recruiter. Nor should he be criticized for playing the amazing stable of talent that has been left behind. That to say nothing of the fact that those players have developed well in Saban's absence, which is to Miles' credit.

Second, being a second-tier coach is often all it takes to win a ton of football games. A coach doesn't need to be amazing in the off season and in the Fall to win conference or national titles. In fact, many a second-tier game-day coach has had great success with stunning talent levels (see, e.g., Tennessee circa 1998).

"I don't care what those people say," Ausberry said. "Nick was our coach and he put LSU back in the national spotlight. And Les has picked it up from there and made it continue on. I have a lot of respect for Nick and what he did for our program. We were losing for about 10 years before he came here."

"We hadn't won an SEC championship since I played before Nick got here," Ausberry said. "I don't understand the fans. Steve Spurrier (former national champion Florida coach) did about the same thing as Nick. He left Florida went to the NFL and came back to South Carolina. Florida doesn't hate him and he went to that school and won the Heisman there. He left, but he's in their ring of honor there."

"But I don't think anybody close to LSU should hate Nick Saban," Ausberry said. "We wouldn't be where we are today without Nick Saban. And that's not knock on Les at all. Les is doing great, but it was a build-up by Nick. This program was down for 10 years."

Dr. Stevenson said that noise level in stadiums should be kept low enough to make sure that the opposing team does not need to use hand signals on offense. He pointed out a Michigan-Ohio State game in which he was aghast that Ohio State incurred one false start after another on a drive because of fan noise. He thought this was horrible fan behavior.