Beth Hall, USA TODAY SPORTS
Les Miles has been called many things during his tenure as head coach of the LSU Tigers. No, not THOSE things. He has been called the Mad Hatter, a riverboat gambler and many other terms that would describe his eccentricity. This is, after all, a coach who has eaten grass on the sidelines.
One thing Miles has not been called is a strict disciplinarian. In fact, there have been multiple LSU players in trouble with the law during Miles’ time in Baton Rouge.
There was quarterback Ryan Perrilloux. There was the Honey Badger, Tyrann Mathieu.
And now there is Jeremy Hill. The same Hill who led the Tigers in rushing last season with 755 yards as a freshman. Hill has pleaded guilty to a pair of misdemeanor charges over the last two years, yet he was reinstated to the Tigers squad prior to the 2013 season.
This continues a trend of Miles forgiving his most talented players when they get into trouble, and that is a troubling trend for the program.
The more times that Miles forgives and forgets, the more often that players are going to get into trouble, because they know they can apologize to the Mad Hatter and return to play on the field.
Miles has shown no signs of changing his policy. For the Hill situation, Miles said that the punishment was handled internally, and that he’s not really concerned about what those outside of his program think about his brand of discipline.
While this has not yet come back to bite Miles, he’s walking a fine line that could one day end up costing him and his program.
Tim Letcher is a contributing writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @TimLetcher , on Facebook or add him to your network on Google
