LSU Tigers

Less and Les: Why Les Miles Seat Is Ablaze

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Sep 3, 2016; Green Bay, WI, USA; LSU Tigers head coach Les Miles calls a play in the 2nd quarter during game against the Wisconsin Badgers at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

If you listen closely, you can hear the LSU fans amp up their angered voices and express their displeasure on a coach who is walking on hot coals.

With a loss to the unranked Wisconsin Badgers this past weekend, head coach Les Miles has is now in the doghouse with many of the fan base and more than likely the LSU administration. It’s not often you see a coach of his stature with the pressure of quite possibly losing his job. Miles has accumulated 112 wins during his 11 full seasons in Baton Rouge. Along with those 112 wins are at least eight wins a season and seven seasons reaching double-digit victories plus a national championship. Yet, even with his wins, his two SEC titles, the one national championship, Miles finds himself staring reality clear in the face.

Hidden under the amount of success is the fact that Miles has had to coach in the shadows of Nick Saban over the years, easily the best coach in college football the past 20 years and what some view as a coach in the same light of the legend Bear Bryant. Miles is 3-6 against Saban during his tenure and at a school such as LSU, that won’t cut it. As it may be, with Saban at the helm in Tuscaloosa, the odds of an LSU national title seems bleak every season.

The loss to the Badgers on Saturday may very will be a knee-jerk reaction. However, I highly doubt it.

Simply because these are the type of losses that has doomed Miles and the Tigers over the years. Just like the 17-0 loss to Arkansas in 2014 to a mediocre Razorback team that lost eight straight SEC victories. The head-scratching moments has also quietly manifested, such as the failure to properly utilize time management in the road contest against Ole Miss in 2009 which cost the Tigers a chance at a key conference victory.

As you already know by now, there are different classes of college football programs. You have your prestigious schools such as Alabama, Michigan, Texas, USC, Oklahoma just to name a few. Then there are your elite programs with some programs such as Georgia, Ohio State, Miami, Florida State, UCLA, Clemson and more. At the LSU, the standards fall in the same line. A lot of programs would love 112 victories in 11 seasons with a number of bowl wins. While that is good for some, the LSU fan base feels slighted. Those numbers only hold but so much value. Especially when the program seems to trip itself up season after season just enough to watch other SEC teams absorb the success that eluded them.

What we witnessed against Wisconsin was a team simply getting outplayed for four quarters even though talent level is incomparable between the two schools. Not to mention that it occurred on a national stage at an historic venue and it’s hard not to feel slightly embarrassed.

Plus, we can’t forget what almost happened last year and how Les Miles was closer than we thought to getting canned during the regular season. The 2016 season has already gotten off to a start where it’s quite possible Miles enters must-win territory from here on out in order to save his job before the second week of the season. You somewhat hate to see an overall solid head coach such as Les Miles have his job in jeopardy but when you’re leading a squad of Tigers in the Bayou, anything less several wins here and there is unsatisfactory.