Alabama football coach Nick Saban’s shadow that has been cast over Les Miles’ LSU career is shrinking. With Saban’s recruits long gone from LSU, the future of the Tigers relies solely on Miles and his coaching staff.In his four years in Baton Rouge, Miles has recorded four top-25 Scout.com recruiting classes, including three in the top 10. And Miles is poised to finish with a top-three class in 2009.Saban had top-five classes in 2003 and 2004, landing former Scout.com five-star recruits JaMarcus Russell and Glenn Dorsey along the way. “When you look at the classes Nick brought in compared to the classes Les brought in, they are very comparable,” said Sonny Shipp, Louisiana Scout.com recruiting analyst. “As far as on paper, Les has recruited just as well — if not better — than when Nick was here.”Shipp said Miles has a different recruitng style than his predecessor.”Nick was all business and more of the X’s and O’s type, whereas Les has been really successful in going in and showing the personal side of not only him but his coaching staff,” Shipp said.Rene Nadeau, football analyst for ESPN and TigerVision, said recruits are attracted to LSU because of the fan support and Tiger Stadium’s environment.”Very few stadiums can match the aura of Tiger Stadium,” Nadeau said. “That plays a lot into a kid knowing he’s going to have that kind of support, playing in front of those fans.”Nadeau said high school players are also attracted to the competition of playing in the Southeastern Conference. “[A recruit] is going to play in the best competition week in and week out, knowing that it will test you and see if you are the best at what you do,” Nadeau said. Cypress Ridge High School football coach Gary Thiebaud said Miles acted with a lot of class when he visited Cypress Ridge to recruit Scout.com five-star quarterback Russell Shepard.”He was very honest with me and what they were looking for in Russell Shepard,” Thiebaud said. “There wasn’t any agenda.”LSU had Scout.com’s No. 19 recruiting class in 2005, only a few weeks after Miles became coach. His first class brought in former defensive end Ricky Jean-Francois, rising senior offensive lineman Ciron Black and rising senior wide receiver Brandon LaFell. It was also Miles’ smallest class, with only 13 signees.Scout.com’s No. 7 class in 2006 contained 26 commits, including rising senior running back Charles Scott, who rushed for 1,174 yards and 18 touchdowns last season.The Tigers broke the Scout.com top 5 in 2007 with several high profile recruits like former wide receiver Demetrius Byrd, rising junior wide receiver Terrance Toliver and rising junior safety Chad Jones. Shipp said the 2007 class may be one of Miles’ best.Rising sophomore quarterback Jordan Jefferson has been the highlight from the Scout No. 7 class of 2008, who lead the Tigers to a victory in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.But Miles had a history of being a successful recruiter before he took over at LSU.Miles landed top-40 classes in his four years at Oklahoma State, competing against Big 12 powerhouse Oklahoma. But he showed his true recruiting potential when he came to recruit-rich Louisiana.”Oklahoma State is always going to be second fiddle to Oklahoma,” Shipp said. “When he got to LSU, he went from the school that was always behind the top school in the state to having his pick of the litter.”But Miles potentially has his best class this year — a class which is not yet complete, as some high-profile recruits have yet to make official commitments. “If you bring in Rueben Randle, Barkevious Mingo, Tahj Jones and another guy here and there, then you have a class that’s gonna be if not No. 1 in the country, you’re looking at a definite top 5,” Shipp said.Shipp said the 2009 class will be solid players as well as leaders.”Not only do they do it on the field, they are going to be those leaders off the field that the 2008 was lacking a little bit,” Shipp said.——Contact Michael Lambert at [email protected]