Miles won't say "adieu" to the Bayou!!

For some who apparently likes to eat grass, the turf in Ann Arbor didn't look that much greener.  For the second time in three years, Les Miles turned down an offer to coach his alma mater.

It was reported that Miles would accept the job if it were offered to him, but as we have now found out, that is not the case.  I'm sure Michigan were willing to break the bank to bring back one of their own.  Miles played for the legendary Bo Schembechler and even worked as an assistant coach for both Bo and Gary Moeller.  That would surely make him Michigan Man, right?

Here's an interesting fact to ponder, maybe some trivia if you may.  Les Miles has recorded as many wins over Ohio State as Michigan since 2001; one!!  This came courtesy of a 38-24 win over the Buckeyes in the 2007 BCS title game.  Consider yourself guidanced (I borrowed that line).

Who's that guy next to Bo?

In my opinion, I think Les Miles made a good decision to stay in Baton Rouge.  Louisiana is a state that is full of talent and unlike states such as Florida, Texas, California and Pennsylvania; LSU doesn't have a "big-time" in-state rival, which means that he will get the best players year in and year out.  The number of top rated recruiting classes he has brought in during his time at the Bayou will serve as evidence.

At Michigan, he would have to fight Ohio State for talent in Ohio, Penn State for talent in Pennsylvania, Michigan State for in-state talent, Illinois for talent in that state, Virginia Tech and Virginia for their talent and so on.  We also know what would happen if losses to Ohio State keep mounting.  Michigan fans might not want to admit it, but Ohio State have OWNED the Wolverines in this decade; that's just real talk.

Michigan are in a "win-now" mode.  They want results right now and there is no doubt that Miles can deliver.  He is in his 10th season as a head coach and he has proven that he can beat the big boys.  In 2001, he led a 3-7 Oklahoma State team to an upset victory over Oklahoma, the defending national champion.  He compiled a 28-21 record during his time in Stillwater, which was highlighted by 3 consecutive winning seasons and 3 straight bowl games.  Oklahoma State had not enjoyed that much success since the 1980's.  And even though Cowboy nation might try and deny, Les Miles kick-started the run of success that has trickled over into the Mike Gundy era.  And that is how, as Les Miles would say, you let 'er rip!!

The Mad Hatter with the mad bling

When Nick Saban left the Bayou for South Beach after the 2004 season, Les Miles took over the program and continued to win.  In six seasons, he's led LSU to: four 10-win seasons, at least 13 wins over ranked teams, 2 SEC title games (including a win in 2007) and a 5-1 record in bowl games; starting with a 40-3 massacre of Miami in the 2005 Peach Bowl (Miami hasn't quite been the same since), through the 2007 national title, and a Cotton Bowl win over Texas A&M (LSU's first since 1966).

While you can question his clock management skills (don't even get me started), the one thing you can't questions is his ability to recruit, coach and win.  At LSU, he's in a much better position to contend for and win a national championship, than at Michigan.  No disrespect to Michigan, but the man has a good thing going on at LSU and I don't know that many people who would want to trade in a good situation for a supposedly "better" one.  Actually, I do; Rich Rodriguez (see my article Coach, interrupted, which talks about how in three seasons, he turned Michigan from a storied program into a Big Ten punching bag).

So the next time Les Miles feels like chomping the turf at Tiger Stadium, you can at least be assured he knows that the grass isn't always greener on the other side.

Coach, interrupted.

If he only knew.

The "suspense" is finally over, as Michigan pulled the plug on the Rich Rodriguez Experiment, ending one of the worst 3 year runs in school history, in which the Wolverines posted a 15-22 record.  The most important stat during this period is the 0-6 record against Ohio State and Michigan State.

Bo Schembechler once said that "Only a Michigan man will coach Michigan".  According to various interpretations, I have come to understand that it means someone who identifies and understands, what it means to be associated with the University of Michigan.  I'm not really sure, but that's the vibe I get.  Of course I could be wrong, and if so, will the real Michigan men please stand up and educate me.

What I do know however, is that if you're the head coach at Michigan, you have to BEAT Ohio State.  If you're the coach at Ohio State, you do not lose to THAT SCHOOL UP NORTH!!  Failure to beat the other consistently could result in you looking for another line of work.  It's just that simple; anything less is unacceptable.  Ask John Cooper or Lloyd Carr how it worked out for them.

After Bo, there was Gary Moeller, then Lloyd Carr; Michigan Men.  So when it became news that Rich Rodriguez would be the next man to lead Michigan, that just didn't sound right.  First of all, he's a Mountaineer through and through, having played for West Virginia.  Secondly, he just didn't look like he fit the bill of a "Michigan Man".  He bled West Virginia "blue and gold" and not Michigan "maize and blue".  It was doomed from the start.

Rich Rod had taken West Virginia from the middle of the pack in the Big East, to one game short of playing for the national title.  Over his final three seasons, he had a 32-5 record and the Mountaineers were not only contending for Big East titles but BCS Bowl games as well.  From the looks of it, he had a good thing going on at Morgantown and had attained a cult hero status.

All that changed when he bailed on his team three weeks before the Fiesta Bowl, to become the next coach at Michigan.  As doomed as it seems, I can't fault him for taking the job.  How often does a job like this become available?  Whatever it is that West Virginia had, Michigan had more of it or just better; history, facilities, recruiting pool, money.  Michigan even helped buy out his contract at West Virginia.

However, once he landed in Ann Arbor, you knew things weren't going to work out when: your star quarterback transfers because he can't see how he would fit your offensive schemes, you star receiver opts to enter the NFL draft (probably because he just doesn't want to play for you) and a key lineman transfers to - get ready for this - Ohio State!!  In case you're wondering, I'm talking about Ryan Mallett, Mario Manningham and Justin Boren (in that order).

When Terrelle Pryor, then a highly recruited quarterback who would have fit Rich Rod's offensive scheme perfectly, chose Ohio State over Michigan, it really killed any chances of Rodriguez making an immediate impact in his first season.  Seeing the kind of player Pryor has turned out for the Buckeyes, you can see why his services were in high demand.

Everything else pretty much went haywire after that.  Where do you start, the back to back losing seasons?  The NCAA Violations?  The fact that his "run-first spread option" offense just wasn't getting it done (even though Denard Robinson ran it like a natural)?  Or even worse; a school that had built a reputation for being one of the better defenses in the country, couldn't even stop a 1-AA team?  If they had anything resembling a defense, they might have been better than the 7-5 record they posted in the regular season.

Having gone lost to Michigan State and Ohio State in his three seasons, the 52-14 beatdown his team suffered at the hands of Mississippi State in the Gator Bowl had all but sealed his fate.  By then, everyone had seen enough and it became a matter of just how fast can they fire this guy.  This whole situation was taking it's toll on him.  The guy was breaking down in banquets, quoting Bible verses and lines from Josh Groban (and this is when you know you can't get any lower).  In the press conference after the Gator Bowl, when reporters kept asking him about his future, his response was , "you're asking the wrong guy."  Knowing what happened next, they probably figured who the right guy was.

For what it's worth, at least he gave it a try, but it just didn't work out.  Maybe he's better off now and I'm sure he'll get another chance sometime.  Whatever direction Michigan goes from here, you can at least hope that they'll try and get it right this time.