LSU coach Les Miles, South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier, Ole Miss coach Ed Orgeron and Florida coach Urban Meyer are all entering their third seasons at their respective schools after bringing along an abundance of goals and expectations with them.
Those ambitions included winning championships, and Meyer realized that quickly this past season when he guided the Gators to a 13-1 record and their first national championship since Spurrier led Florida to a 12-1 record and national championship in 1996. This past season also marked the Gators’ first Southeastern Conference title in six years.
Some of those objectives were to show progress in the overall stature of the program. The Gamecocks had a 16-19 record in the three seasons before Spurrier’s arrival, and this off-season South Carolina rewarded Spurrier’s combined 15-10 record with a contract extension through 2012 and a raise in yearly salary to $1.75 million.
Some of those aspirations were to restore past glory. Orgeron took over a Rebels program two years removed from the Eli Manning era and an SEC West title and has posted seasons of 3-8 and 4-8.
Then there is Miles, who has an SEC West Division title under his belt and has tied Meyer’s 22-4 regular-season record in the past two seasons. But some players said Miles still coaches in the shadow of former LSU and current Alabama coach Nick Saban.
Miles and Meyer have gone a combined 4-0 in bowl games at their respective schools, while Meyer’s one-game overall win advantage comes from the Gators’ SEC title game victory this past season against Arkansas.
Senior running back Jacob Hester said one difference he has seen under Miles’ regime is a shift of focus by the head coach from defense to offense.
“Coach Saban was with the defense, so you never really got to see the head coach,” Hester said. “Coach Miles deals more with the offense. We have more interaction with coach Miles. All the players really like him. His chemistry with the players is just really strong.”
Hester is one of several players on the team, including starting quarterback Matt Flynn and No. 1 receiver Early Doucet,both recruited by Saban.
Only six players on the Tigers 2007 roster were members of the 2003 BCS National Championship team. Quarterback Flynn, cornerback Jonathan Zenon and offensive guard Will Arnold redshirted that season, while offensive tackle Carnell Stewart, tight end Keith Zinger and defensive end Kriston Pittman saw action.
Hester said while Saban recruited some of the older team members to LSU, Miles shaped them into the players they are now.
“All of [Saban’s] players are kind of weeded out, and all of us were young when Saban was here,” he said. “Only a couple of us played [for Saban] so we’ve pretty much only played for coach Miles.”
As he enters his third year, Miles is facing more preseason expectations than ever before. Both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today polls list LSU as the No. 2 team in the country. The Tigers have not been ranked that highly in the preseason since 1959.
Miles said the hype and expectations will mean nothing if the Tigers do not build on the success of his first two seasons.
“The hard work and the want is there, but you can’t win a championship until you’ve won a bunch of games. And right now we’re preparing to play our first,” Miles said. “I understand [the expectations] and enjoy them but don’t move too fast.”
Miles said the increased attention isn’t affecting him.
“[The pressure] doesn’t seem any more or any less to me,” Miles said. “The only reason I talk about high expectations today is because I’ve got a room full of media.”
Senior safety Craig Steltz said Miles’ handling of the team is the same as when he held his first practice in 2005.
“Everybody was on him about [replacing Saban], but he’s done a great job,” Steltz said. “He’s gotten more comfortable with us. This is his team now.”
With the last Saban-hired coaches – offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher and offensive line coach Stacy Searels – leaving in the offseason, Miles has a staff completely filled by his hires. He replaced Fisher with former Oregon offensive coordinator Gary Crowton and Searels with former Bowling Green offensive coordinator Greg Studrawa.
“When you have holdovers from coaches, they kind of want to do stuff the old way like they had been doing it,” Steltz said. “Now that everybody is on the same train as coach Miles, we’re all going in one direction. There’s not someone pulling you away saying ‘That’s not how we did it last year.'”
Steltz said Miles realizes the success or disappointment of LSU will rest squarely on his shoulders and not on the shoulders of Saban, Meyer or any other coach.
“He knows when the game’s on the line. He’s the one wearing the LSU hat,” he said. “He knows the players put their trust in him.”
—-Contact Tyler Batiste at [email protected]