LSU Football Letting Les Miles Go Would Be One of Biggest Mistakes in Program History

There aren’t that many excellent coaches in college football. There are many historic and storied programs, but legendary coaches just aren’t as common as many would allow themselves to believe.

In spite of that being true, the LSU Tigers have a program that seems to think differently. Under the leadership of Les Miles, the Tigers have experienced a period of sustained dominance that most programs and fanbases in this country would do anything for. Still, in the end, that may not be enough to keep the powers that be in Baton Rouge happy.

Miles holds a career record of 110-32; however, he’s gone 7-6 in bowl games and his inability to beat the Alabama Crimson Tide consistently will forever be remembered as what caused his undoing. No one seems to care about the three SEC West titles and a national championship. Apparently, in the minds of the Tiger faithful, if you’re not doing what the Crimson Tide is doing, you’re not doing a good enough job.

When you look around college football these days, programs that used to be great aren’t doing that as consistently as before. The best athletic talent in the country isn’t being lured to major programs based off of how the program used to be viewed. Most are looking for that legendary coach to restore them to the dominant levels that they used to enjoy. Most aren’t finding that guy, and the other programs that can’t seem to reach the upper echelon all hope to place themselves in a position where they can be attractive enough to lure the best in coaching talent. It’s all about being at the top of the food chain.

There are two problems, though. There isn’t a healthy crop of young or experienced coaches that are working out; and contrary to popular opinion, national championships don’t grow on trees.

So as the debates about what Miles did or didn’t do rage on, one thing can be counted on. Miles will land on his feet. He’s an excellent coach, what he’s done in the rigorous SEC gauntlet year in and year out can’t be taken for granted. Sometimes people and fanbases don’t realize what they have until it’s gone. No, Miles hasn’t done what Nick Saban has done in Tuscaloosa; but ask a serious question: who on Earth is LSU going to find that will do better?

Geoffrey Knox is a Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow on Twitter @gq_4_eva, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google+ and Linkedin.