Stewart Mandel at SI on LSU this year

[zoogs]

LSU plays all five teams to which it lost in 2008. Is [new defensive coordinator] John Chavis really going to flip three or more of those?

-- @joeysparks (via Twitter)

 

It's asking a lot, particularly since three of those losses last year came at home against a trio of very good teams (Georgia, Alabama and Ole Miss) the Tigers must play on the road this year. They also get Florida at home. It's possible LSU could be much improved, but not improve its record all that dramatically.

But I'm a bit more optimistic about the Tigers' prospects. Les Miles is a very good coach (despite what a strange faction of continued skeptics would have you believe), but he either underestimated the impact of losing defensive coordinator Bo Pelini or failed to land a suitable replacement before promoting Doug Mallory and Bradley Dale Peveto to be co-coordinators. Whatever the case, LSU wound up fielding its worst defense in a decade. Miles corrected things in a big way by bringing in Chavis, who produced top-flight defenses at Tennessee on a near-annual basis.

 

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writ...l#ixzz0O2kFkdNH

[junior4949]

The biggest part to being a good/great coach is surrounding yourself with good/great assitants. TO did this. Bill Snyder did this. Just look at some of the head coaches that Snyder produced. Miles obviously recognized a huge hole or problem, and maybe fixed it.