Columns

There is no doubt: LSU is the place for Miles

With a national championship, the coach has found his niche.

By GARY SHELTON
Published January 8, 2008

NEW ORLEANS - Perched on top of the world, a man can see a lot of things.

He can see his past, and he can see his program's future. He can see fame, and he can see fortune. He can see success, and he can see celebrity. If he looks hard enough, perhaps he can even see home.

For Les Miles, a man who has looked around some in recent weeks, there was also this:

Clearer than ever, he could see where he belongs.

Can there be any doubt now? This is Miles' place. These are his people. It no longer matters where he went to school or what job he thought he had wanted all of these years. Miles belongs to Louisiana, now and forever.

Miles put his name on LSU history Monday night when his Tigers won the BCS National Championship Game (also known as the game in which some SEC team gets a trophy for spanking Ohio State). A month after resisting overtures from Michigan - and some insist he said no to his alma mater only because of the timing - Miles coached his team past the Buckeyes, 38-24.

"I'm so fortunate to be the coach of this team," Miles said. "I'm so fortunate to represent LSU."

Miles paused for a moment. Then he let out a loud, shrill howl.

"I just had to do that," Miles said. "It's one of those things."

More than anyone, more than the magnificent Glenn Dorsey, more than the gritty Jacob Hester, this trophy belongs to Miles. If you must, argue whether he is the brightest coach in the country. If you prefer, debate that he is the luckiest. But more than anything else, LSU won this title because Miles was the boldest coach in America this year.

Remember all the fourth-down attempts against Florida? Remember that last-second touchdown pass against Auburn? There were times when Miles looked gutsy and times when he looked plain goofy. It is fair to say that if his gambling hadn't paid off most of the time, then LSU fans might have hummed "Hail to the Victors" as they packed his bags for him.

But judging from the sight of Miles lifting a crystal trophy into the swirling confetti, it worked. When you consider what a wild and crazy season this was in college football, perhaps a wild and crazy coach such as Longshot Les was destined to win it.

Given all of that, perhaps you expected something outlandish out of Miles on Monday night. A fake punt, perhaps. A triple reverse. A decision to go for it on fourth and 11.

Against the Buckeyes, however, Miles didn't have to buck the odds. He just had to play the part of the calm sideline presence as Ohio State surged to a 10-0 lead. After that, he had to spread the ball around an extremely talented depth chart until LSU took over the game.

Did this game look like a rerun to anyone else? Against Florida a year ago, Ohio State took a quick lead and then spent the rest of the night showing it was less than advertised. To be honest, USC, Georgia, West Virginia or Kansas would have put up a better fight.

Ah, poor Ohio State. It is on the verge of becoming college football's version of the Buffalo Bills. The team is good enough to reach the title game, but once it's there, awful things seem to happen. Word is, those shiny helmets of the Buckeyes are molded out of old silver medals from all the second-place finishes.

This time, it was a supposedly wonderful defense that was slashed and sliced by LSU's offense. The Buckeyes had allowed only 10.7 points per game coming in, and the prevailing notion was that if Ohio State could get an early lead, the defense could make it stand up.

It didn't happen that way. After stumbling early, LSU scored 31 unanswered points. And once Ohio State fell behind - and the offense fell more into the hands of Todd Boeckman and less into that of Beanie Wells - it was over.

Was this about speed? In the coming days, you'll hear that. But speed wasn't really the difference. As Wells showed, the Buckeyes are fast enough. Was it about conference affiliation? Well, the Buckeyes did fall to 0-9 against the SEC in bowl games. Even Ole Miss would be ashamed of 0-9. But that's oversimplifying things, too.

What did seem to matter is that LSU had played in more difficult games this year than Ohio State. Yes, that matters. For LSU, a lot of games could have gone the other way. Ohio State, on the other hand, played two pretty good teams in Illinois and Michigan. Everyone else on Ohio State's schedule could qualify as a speed bump.

Perhaps that was really what tempted Miles about Michigan. Perhaps he wanted to coach against Ohio State every season.

Still, this is better. At LSU, from its roster to its recruits, the Tigers have their program in motion. At Michigan, for all of its history, Miles would still have a lot of work to do to get to the point where he finished Monday night. And even Miles wouldn't want any part of those odds.

Now that his team has conquered college football, Miles must feel better than ever about his decision. He has won it all. He has become the face of a program. He has become as much a part of this state as Cajun food.

Now that he has arrived, why would he ever want to go anywhere else?

[Last modified January 8, 2008, 01:37:45]