LSU is Orgeron’s team; it’s time for Miles to move on

That former LSU coach Les Miles is no fan of his successor is no secret. Miles made it official recently during an appearance on a Houston radio show.

Miles was reacting to a comment made in the spring by head coach Ed Orgeron. Orgeron was quoted by The Advocate when asked about the LSU offense: “I ask the fans to be patient. We are not where we need to be, but we’re going to get there.”

Miles reacted, telling the Houston radio host the following: 

“Certain people need to have a safety net. If you need a safety net, you need not coach the Tigers.”

Miles defended the program while he was the head coach for 11-plus seasons. He called the Tigers “the winningest, toughest, most committed group of men I have ever been around.”

Fair enough. Miles and LSU should be proud of what was accomplished. LSU won two SEC football titles with Miles and appeared in two BCS Championship Games, winning in 2007.

But the program under Miles slipped considerably. Since 2008 under Miles, LSU was 4-4 against Ole Miss. Since 2007, LSU was 4-5 against Arkansas. The Tigers lost two of their last three games against Auburn and five in a row to Alabama. In those five losses, the Tigers scored a total of 63 points.

To say that LSU was offensively challenged under Miles was an understatement. In 2013, when quarterback Zack Mettenberger was handing the football to Jeremy Hill and throwing it to Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry, LSU had a stellar year offensively. But that season was a true outlier.

Miles totally botched his quarterback position, especially near the end when he stayed with quarterback Brandon Harris too long.

Under Miles, LSU experienced multiple episodes of clock mismanagement. If you have a short memory, go back and Google LSU at Ole Miss 2009, Tennessee at LSU a year later, and then the final nail in Miles’ coffin, the clock snafu at Auburn that negated what would have been the winning touchdown on the game’s final play.

On his Twitter feed, Houston radio host Josh Ennis says the following about Miles: “I adore this guy and miss him at LSU.”

Well, I don’t. Les Miles deserves tremendous credit for what he accomplished at LSU. He, along with Nick Saban and Paul Dietzel, are the only coaches to win a national football championship at LSU.

He deserves LSU’s respect. He’s earned it. In the meantime, we will know shortly whether Ed Orgeron is the coach to return LSU to national prominence.

Whether he is or isn’t, it was time for LSU to move on from Miles. 

It doesn’t sound like Les has done the same.

Ed Daniels is sports director of ABC26 WGNO. He can be reached at [email protected].