Written by Chris Abshire at Bloguin
By the nature of the profession, it’s almost never pretty when the end comes for a legendary college coach, or even the very good ones who build and define their programs. The Tom Osborne moment in the 1998 Orange Bowl is rare.
One need only to look at Gary Pinkel (a tumultuous season unlikely to end in a bowl bid) or Frank Beamer (retiring in the midst of his program’s continued downturn) to understand this axiom.
There’s much debate to be had about Les Miles’ job security at LSU; whether he deserves another year; if LSU would be foolish to let him go; or who would feasibly be better. For now, there’s plenty of emotional fodder, one imbued with the bitterness of three straight demoralizing losses.
The impression that lingers is wounded pride for an LSU team Ole Miss drubbed, 38-17, on a blustery Saturday afternoon in Oxford. Sure, Hugh Freeze once again proved his teams are capable of taking down a name school in the SEC, which — it should be noted — is the chief criticism of his in-state counterpart, Dan Mullen at Mississippi State. That’s not a significant enough sea change, in and of itself.
Instead, it’s about an LSU team which, amid rumors all week about Les Miles’ job status, came out and tripped over itself at every critical juncture. Many of the majorvalid criticisms of Miles during his Baton Rouge tenure have come home to roost this season, most especially during a second straight embarrassing effort.
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