The LSU football team kicked off its first season in 1893. Today – 118 years, 733 wins, 13 conference titles and three national championships later – the program is arguably at its highest point ever.
LSU coach Les Miles is just two wins away from being the first coach in school history to pocket two national titles in his tenure and just the fourth coach to earn two Southeastern Conference titles.
If Miles successfully puts the finishing touches on the season, is it safe to say Tiger fans are witnessing the greatest coach in LSU history?
Based on his seven-year track record in Baton Rouge, one could certainly make such an argument.
Miles’ 81.3 winning percentage is the highest among all LSU coaches with at least 25 games in purple and gold.
He would be the only coach in school history to finish 12-0 in the regular season and post three straight 11-win seasons.
Miles is third all-time in games coached and games won at LSU and is the quickest coach to reach 30, 50 and 70 wins as well as a national championship.
“To compare me with other great coaches that went before me here, I don’t know that it’s fair,” Miles said. “I think that [Charles] McClendon and the great names that have gone before me are in a class by themselves. I’m very honored to be mentioned along those guys.”
Miles’ accomplishments aren’t limited to the field.
The seven-year coach has compiled five top-10 recruiting classes and is on pace for a sixth – signs that Miles’ supremacy may continue.
The former Michigan man credits his success to the self-proclaimed football town of Baton Rouge.
“I’m very fortunate to be here,” Miles said. “It’s a very special community in college, and I think the opportunity that I’m able to offer to a prospective student-athlete allows me to have advantages. This school, this place, this opportunity would afford a coach the ability to achieve.”
While it may be a little too early to reserve Miles a seat at the top, some of his players feel otherwise.
Sophomore defensive end Sam Montgomery called Miles a friend, boss, father, head coach and brother, and said the two have meshed closer together the past two seasons.
“I think with everything in my heart that with everything that I will achieve here and when I get my degree, I think Les Miles deserves to be one of the best head coaches here,” Montgomery said. “Les Miles has truly grown into the team. He feels like he’s one of us. We’ve all become better, and now we’re all on one same page.”
Senior linebacker Ryan Baker said that along with his keen football mind, the player-coach connection Miles makes with the team is what makes the quirky coach truly unique.
“He’s a great guy, first of all, and that’s the most important thing,” Baker said. “A lot of guys know the X’s and O’s of being a coach, but he knows how to relate to players and he’s one of the best I’ve ever seen. As far as coaching goes, as long as he can relate on that personal level, I think that sets him apart from others.”
 
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Contact Mark Clements at [email protected]