On the first drive of the first game of his first season at LSU, Les Miles called for a fake punt pass out of the back of his own end zone. Like the many crazy Miles decisions that followed, it somehow worked for a first down.
Without missing a beat, my father turned to me after the play and gave the best description of Miles’ LSU career I’ve ever heard:
“This is not Nick Saban,” he said.
There’s no point in asking how LSU pulled out a 30-27 win against Florida on Saturday night in The Swamp. The unexplainable has always been the norm with Miles, and it’s worked too many times for fans to inquire about his operation.
Saturday was Miles’ 100th victory at LSU, and it featured fourth-down conversions, wacky turnovers, special teams miscues, questionable clock management decisions and enough momentum swings to put a Tigers fan in the hospital. As usual, people talked about how lucky Miles got and the mistakes he made.
Not many people will mention LSU still won the game, and even fewer will acknowledge how much they enjoyed the rush. Miles has won as many games as almost anyone in college football, and the victories are entertaining as hell.
In the final five minutes of Saturday’s win, there were 10 different times when it seemed like the Tigers blew the game. LSU answered each score with a big play, as if divine inspiration had come to help players clean their messes. It’s what you get when Miles is your coach.
Most importantly, and like my father told me in 2005, he is nothing like the infamous coach who came before him.
Saban had his own close call Saturday, but his featured far less dramatics. Alabama won a boring 14-13 game at Arkansas with 15 punts and little to no dramatic plays down the stretch. It was everything you should expect from a Saban victory.
LSU fans could go on and on listing the climactic and memorable games Miles has coached during his tenure in Baton Rouge.
Ask an Alabama fan for the same thing during Saban’s career, and the list is far shorter.
For better or worse, Miles’ unconventional style of winning has become LSU’s identity. It may be a little less successful than the identity Saban has built at Alabama, but it’s considerably more entertaining.
The LSU players have a similar affinity when it comes to their coach, just for different reasons. Miles tries to keep the talk about himself down and shifts the focus to the team, and players respect his lack of self-promotion.
Reporters asked Miles about his 100th win a few times leading up to the game, and he made it clear he’d given little thought to the matter. His biggest issues are winning the next game and making sure his players are in the right mind, not how his legacy will be seen.
Only one other LSU coach has won 100 games, so any talk about Miles not being a great coach is foolish. There aren’t many other coaches who give that much production, and nobody carries the same style.
Les Miles has put LSU fans on a wild ride ever since he called a fake punt pass in 2005. Some fans won’t acknowledge it, but it’s a ride they want to stay on.
Tommy Romanach is a 22-year-old mass communication senior from Dallas, Texas. You can reach him on Twitter @troman_92.