In 2003, Nick Saban delivered LSU its first National Championship since the duo of Paul Dietzel and Billy Cannon led the Tigers to their only other title.
Fast forward a decade and a lot has changed.
A year later, Saban left Baton Rouge for a two-year NFL experiment with the Miami Dolphins. Then he returned to the Southeastern Conference — only this time, he traded in the purple and gold for crimson and white.
Three BCS National Championships later, he is public enemy No. 1 among the fanbase he once led to the promised land.
LSU fans have labeled Saban everything from a traitor to the devil himself since he took over in Tuscaloosa. His likeness is burned in effigy at tailgates, and his presence has made Alabama not just the biggest game on the schedule every season, but elevated the Tide to the Tigers’ most hated rival.
Because of Saban, everything LSU does is measured against the Tide. And from the 2012 BCS National Championship debacle to falling short last season, the constant comparisons have whipped Baton Rouge into a jealous rage that led to the annual celebration of “Alabama Hate Week.”
For their own good, LSU fans need to realize that Saban is gone and he’s not coming back. It’s time to get over the obsessive hatred and jealousy and appreciate the fact that they got an excellent football coach in Les Miles to come in and replace Saban.
Miles won his own crystal ball in his third season in Baton Rouge. Cynics will point out that Saban recruited most of the key players on the 2007 team and that the Tigers lost two games that season and needed numerous upsets to get them into the title game against Ohio State.
It’s debatable whether that devalues what Miles accomplished that season. However, his body of work at LSU can’t be questioned. Miles has the highest winning percentage of any coach in LSU history, higher than Saban or past legends like Dietzel or Charlie McClendon.
Saban should be credited with reviving a struggling program and returning LSU to national relevance. But Miles built on what Saban started, and his tenure has launched the program into the highest order of national powerhouses.
In little more than a decade, a 10-win season at LSU has gone from a pipe dream to a disappointment. The Tigers have become a perennial top-10 team and Miles doesn’t receive nearly as much credit as he deserves for that transformation.
The reason is his persona. To the outside observer, Miles appears zany and borderline clueless, and when his teams finish second to an iron-willed disciplinarian like Saban, his player-friendly coaching style is pointed to as the reason.
A fellow Reveille reporter recently told me Miles would never win another championship at LSU because he’s too friendly with his players. That’s an asinine statement because Saban is the only true disciplinarian still having success in today’s NCAA environment.
The real reason Saban wins is he’s the most insanely driven coach around. He eats, drinks and sleeps football 24 hours a day, and doesn’t stop working to celebrate the National Championships he wins along the way.
But since Saban left and is now winning at Alabama, his relentlessness and cold demeanor is unfairly portrayed as Miles’ shortcomings.
The truth is that Saban is the best coach in the country and one of the greatest of all time, but besides him there is no coach proven better than Miles. The constant jealousy of Saban will lead to nothing but insanity. Instead, appreciate how much Miles has done for this program.
Before typing out a “Fire Miles” thread on a message board if LSU loses on Saturday, remember that this program was worse off without him and would go nowhere but down if he left.