Less Les

It seems like everybody is just about fed up with the ole’ Mad Hatter, especially since LSU lost to Clemson in the Chik-fil-A Bowl and Alabama won its second National Championship in as many years.

Before all this, LSU head coach Les Miles was given a contract extension and everybody was singing praises because we inked him for another seven years as the head man in Death Valley. Well, we know he’ll be staying but will the players? It seems it’s not the fans and administration ready to cut ties with the one time National Championship winning coach, it’s the ones who put the pads and helmets on. Clearly they are jetting on the first opportunity at leaving.

As of right now, there are nine juniors on LSU’s football roster who have declared to enter the NFL draft in April. You mean to tell me that all nine of them feel absolutely confident enough to forgo a senior season with the Tigers and go make an impact at the professional level? I highly doubt that. It’s not anything to do with their playing talents, it’s because they know something is going wrong with the way the program is being run and they don’t want to be part of it.

Guys like Tyrann Mathieu, who was suspended from the team for the season for breaking the drug policy, collegiate career was ended because Miles was trying to be a leader and take disciplinary action. It seems there is some information not being uncovered because Miles didn’t get much respect from his players when he did that. The punter Brad Wing threw his name in the draft hat as junior. That’s unprecedented for a kicker/punter to forgo a season to go to the NFL, whether best in the country or not. Wing, like Mathieu, was suspended for drug policy and didn’t play in the Chik-fil-A bowl, but Miles’ disciplinary actions still aren’t sending the right messages to his team. He’s pushing them away, rather than showing them he wants a clean program. Where is he going wrong? Only time will tell.

Look at guys like Russell Shepard who have had great seasons on the offensive side of the ball for LSU since their arrival. In the 2011 season, he finished second on the team with four receiving touchdowns behind Reuben Randle who is now in the NFL. Coming into the 2012, his senior year, he was expected by many to lead the Tiger offense. Looking back on the season now, do you remember much of Shepard at all? He played in 13 games and finished the season with only one touchdown and it was a rushing TD. Stellar senior year huh?

It didn’t surprise me to see all those junior jetting to the draft. Their senior season isn’t guaranteed. Miles could and would easily shuffle them to the back of the roster and make them a forgotten star. With that many of LSU’s best players leaping to the league, it’s going to be interesting to see how they do against the tough Southeastern Conference that’s getting stronger by the minute with guys like Johnny Manziel and Jedeveon Clowney wowing the wowers.

Blessings