Cap’n Ken’s Homespun Wisdom

I saw this snippet today from the SEC spring meetings:

Saban’s LSU reunion a lonely ride
Tide coach will be lightning rod for ire

By Ron Higgins
Thursday, May 29, 2008

DESTIN, Fla. — Alabama second-year football coach Nick Saban is a detail-oriented guy.

Just the other day, for instance, Saban was discussing with his coaching staff the itineraries of the 2008 road trips, which include former LSU coach Saban’s first trip back to Baton Rouge on Nov. 8.

“We talk about where we’re staying and who’s going to ride on what bus to the games,” Saban said on Wednesday at the SEC’s spring business meetings. “Somebody on our staff — I’m not going to tell who — said, ‘I hate to tell you this, but when we play LSU, ain’t none of us riding on your bus.’”

Now, Baton Rouge can certainly be a hostile place (which isn’t a good thing, fellow LSU fans) for visiting teams to navigate through; especially the part between the gates of LSU and their locker room. But does anybody who had some great loathing of Fonzie last season for having left LSU for the NFL and then come back to coach Alabama still give a damn?

I mean, we beat Alabama in Tuscaloosa on the way to the national championship and Fonzie managed only a 6-6 regular season and a bowl trip to Shreveport. Then Leslie spurned his beloved alma mater (they say) to stay at LSU because he digs us so much.

I doubt most Tigers fans will ever fall back in love with Saban, but who’s still holding so much hate? If you are, just let it go.

You pissed it away, son.

It’s impossible to know what’s going on in the head of Ryan Perrilloux, but suffice it to say - that kid ain’t right. Perrilloux finally reached the breaking point of Leslie’s “10 strikes and you’re out” rule on Friday and was un-invited to the LSU football program. Was it just the inevitable outcome for a kid so cocky he came into college talking about “four Heismans”? One has to think that cockiness is at the root of Perrilloux’s sense of invincibility - tied up in counterfeiting, getting onto gambling boats with a fake ID, getting in fights, being an asshole all around town, not going to team meetings, not going to class … hey, “I’m Ryan Perrilloux” - but his degree of delusion is just staggering.

There’s also the factor of his father’s death in February, and I think it’s quite possible that any chance he had of getting right was sunk with that. The kid wasn’t prepared to just do what’s asked of all football players, so toss in the death of a parent and it’s not surprising he flamed out.

So Plan B for Ryan Perrilloux is transferring down to a I-AA program to redeem himself. That will require that he finishes the Spring semester at LSU, though, and there’s still a week and a half to go. If he can’t keep himself straight with the promise of being the starting QB at LSU, he many have a hard time just not killing somebody between now and May 13.

The book is now closed on Ryan Perrilloux. Career stats:

- 52 for 79 (66% completion)
- 704 yards
- 8 TDs
- 2 INT

And now we move on. I wouldn’t have put money down on the idea that Perrilloux would actually play this fall, but it’s more than a little troubling to face the reality now. It didn’t help that I heard this news in Athens yesterday morning from a Gator fan. Maybe Nick Saban coming over to my house to tell me would have been a worse circumstance, but just barely.

Whether it’s Harvard Boy, Jarrett Lee or Jordan Jefferson behind center, “untested” is a huge understatement for LSU’s QB prospects this season. The Tigers have enjoyed an incredibly strong thread of quarterback progression since the emergence from our Dark Days, and you can’t overestimate the significance of that. Consider this history:

2001 - Rohan Davey takes over for the Booty Who Shall Not Be Mentioned, Matt Mauck (pressed into service in the SEC Championship Game because of Davey injury) as backup, Marcus Randall in the wings.

2002 - Matt Mauck takes over for Davey, Marcus Randall (pressed into service for the second half because of Mauck injury) as backup.

2003 - Matt Mauck is the second-year starter, Marcus Randall as backup. JaMarcus Russell, Matt Flynn redshirted. Lester Ricard, Rick Clausen flee the program for lack of opportunity.

2004 - Marcus Randall takes over for Mauck, JaMarcus Russell challenges for the starting job, Matt Flynn as No. 3 QB.

2005 - JaMarcus Russell takes over for Randall, Matt Flynn as backup (pressed into service for the Peach Bowl because of Russell injury). Ryan Perrilloux redshirted.

2006 - JaMarcus Russell as second-year starter, Matt Flynn as backup. Ryan Perrilloux as No. 3 QB.

2007 - Matt Flynn takes over for Russell, Ryan Perrilloux as backup (pressed into service twice because of Flynn injury). Transfer Andrew Hatch is No. 3 QB. Jarrett Lee redshirted.

That was some serious continuity and progression to develop quarterbacks. And *poof* - it’s gone now. I don’t remember who Perrilloux may have chased off in the 2005 signing class, but having the chain broken is a huge potential for program disruption. Davey, Mauck, Randall, Russell and Flynn all had time to develop, and only during the Randall era was there much pressure to rush a young guy into the role. And, of course, during this stretch LSU has claimed two national championships, three SEC championships, four SEC West titles and six bowl wins.

At this point, I’m assuming Lee will be the starting QB come August 30. Somehow the Andrew Hatch bio page doesn’t scream “this guy’s a starter”, and unless Jordan Jefferson is truly special, I’d think Leslie would go with the redshirt QB.

So the question becomes, is Lee a four-year QB like Tommy Hodson … or like Jamie Howard?

No, it wasn’t that Glenn Dorsey got himself far enough up into guaranteed-money territory to set himself up nicely even if Auburn’s hit-job on him last season keeps him from realizing his pro potential. It wasn’t Craig Steltz and his fabulous man-mane being matched so perfectly with the Chicago Bears.

It was this:

- Former Evangel superstar QB, USC signal caller and flag-bearer for the big Booty family John David Booty sat around until the 5th round (pick 137).

- Former Evangel work-a-day fullback and LSU football plow Jacob Hester goes in the 3rd round (pick 69).

Yes, I’m happy to see John David get the snub.

The LSU football team made their pilgrimage to the White House yesterday to get the obligatory pat on the back from the President. Good job by Steltz of getting his manly mane up front for the big photo op with George:

And we gave Bush a 7 jersey, not a 1 (like Texas) or a 43 (like Florida). We gave him a 1 after the 2003 season, so I guess the athletic department was looking for something else, but I’m not sure where 7 came from. Bush’s 7th year in office? Dunno.

In any case, the ceremony was nice, but an ugly scene sort of ruined the day:

Seriously, Tubbs. Time to call them off. Glenn’s having a hard enough time already.

As the guy still holding the No. 3 spot at Google for Fire Les Miles, I feel a need to re-address my feelings toward Leslie. Googlers will continue to arrive at pieces I wrote three years ago, but for those of you who manage to find this piece, my current view of the guy standing at the front of the 2007 National Champions is as follows: - Winning isn”t what makes somebody a good coach, and losing isn”t what makes somebody a bad coach. Good coaches tend to win and bad coaches tend to lose, but the measure of that comes over many seasons and depends on circumstances. I think Mark Richt has proven himself a good coach for building Georgia back. Ray Goff showed himself to be a bad coach for letting Georgia slide to mediocrity. But is George O”Leary a bad coach because he went 12-24 in his first three years at Central Florida? His 10-3 record this year would suggest otherwise, but if you are to deem Les Miles a good coach simply for going 34-6 in his first three years at LSU, you have to call O”Leary a bad coach - at least until this year. It”s more complicated than that.

- I believe Leslie was ill-prepared to take over a program like LSU when he arrived. He talked nonsense when he was hired, he lacked good judgment early on, got completely outcoached in his first SEC Championship Game and was fortunate to draw an uninterested Miami team in the 2005 Peach Bowl. The 2006 season was frustratingly successful.

- It”s a bit of an understatement to say LSU was fortunate to play in the BCS Championship Game this season. Leslie had his share of moron moments all through the season as well. Holding that Crystal Football will silence a lot of critics, and that”s understandable.

- That said, I think Leslie is growing into the job. Compare Leslie”s first game in Tiger Stadium - where his Tigers sat on the ball with two minutes left to force overtime with Tennessee to five-for-five on fourth down against Florida and the surprise touchdown pass to beat Auburn this year. Much of that could be the difference between Jimbo Fisher and Gary Crowton, and Fisher wasn”t Leslie”s man. But while Leslie still seems to be dumber than wood much of the time, the overall execution has improved tremendously. The Florida and Auburn games this season were the first performances that left me respecting Leslie, so that”s progress.

- Leslie is making the transition from winning with Nick Saban”s players to recruiting and winning with his own. LSU is a powerhouse program again, which gives it a huge advantage in recruiting. If Leslie can keep winning and keep recruiting, that”ll show him to be a great coach. So far he”s won and he”s recruited well. But it takes time to prove his greatness.

- And for better or worse over time, Leslie is LSU”s man now. Do I buy this “loyalty to LSU” stuff as the reason he”s still in Baton Rouge? No. He wanted to go to Michigan, but the Wolverines and Leslie both were incapable of not bungling their talks, and the timing sucked. He”s right that LSU is a great job and he”s lucky to have it, but he”d rather be in Ann Arbor right now. Michigan”s big hire of Rich Rodriguez, though, means we have Leslie for as long as he keeps winning or until the Michigan job opens up again.

I support LSU, and I”ll support Leslie. He”s shown me signs of promise this year, and you can”t deny the power of the Crystal Football. I don”t consider him to be a great coach yet - but I”ll call him good. But every game is a chance to show what a coach is made of, so I won”t hesitate to criticize or praise in the future.

Last night”s BCS Championship Game started bad for LSU. Real bad. And that turned out to be good. Real good. Four plays into the game, Ohio State was up seven. LSU”s first possession went like this: Three-yard run / incomplete pass / misfired shotgun snap / punt from the six on fourth-and-24. Ohio State opened their subsequent drive with a 44-yard pass to the LSU 15.

Things were bad. And that was good.

The Tigers held Ohio State to a field goal to find themselves down 10-0 five and a half minutes into the game. And the shock of such a horrible start was just what the Tigers needed to get back into focus.

It shouldn”t be this way, and LSU knew that. Without the catastrophic beginning, the Tigers might have slogged along playing halfass football like they did against Tulane in the same building three months ago. Had Ohio State been up 7-3 at the end of the first quarter, LSU might not have found the fire.

But they did - in a big, big way.

After the Buckeye field goal, LSU rolled off touchdown drives of 80 and 66 yards and unleashed a ferocious defense that led to a blocked field goal on one OSU possession followed by the combo monster safety blitz / big hit on the QB / pick downfield thing of beauty on the next Buckeye drive and a beautiful sack on Ohio State”s final drive of the first half.

And there you had it. 24-10 LSU at the half. In a normal circumstance, this turn of events would demoralize the victim. In Ohio State”s case, it crushed them. OSU was uniquely positioned to be sent into a state of depression by such a thing, having seen it happen last year against Florida and living the past 364 days vowing to not let it ever happen again.

But it did. Once again the Buckeyes went from feeling like they owned the game to realizing they were being schooled. Yes, the SEC is much better than the Big Ten. Case closed.

Any hope OSU still had was removed by LSU”s 80-yard touchdown drive to open the second half. Killing themselves with penalties couldn”t have helped the Buckeye spirit much.

By the time Ohio State stopped the 31-point LSU run with a pick of Matt Flynn and a fourth-down TD pass, the game was already done. More indignity followed in the form of huge sacks and interceptions before the Buckeyes were able to score again against LSU”s backups.

So Ohio State limped out of the Superdome realizing their position in life relative to the SEC and these Tigers.

It was a beautiful thing.