HOOVER, Ala. — LSU coach Les Miles has a bone to pick with Austin, Texas.
You see, Austin did not endear itself to Miles because of one glaring geographic deficiency. Miles probably had a tan to work on this summer. He wanted fun in the sun and some relaxation time. It was a long and stressful double-digit win season — as is custom at LSU these days — and some salt water would have been nice for his pores, presumably. Instead, he got stuck halfway between San Antonio and Waco.
“I took a vacation, I went to Austin,” Miles said. “Took my three children with me, so we had six, two parents and four children on that campus. It was miserable. I hated it. But it was great fun. I mean, it was not a beach, it was not sand, but it was my family, and that was the best.”
Miles rented bikes with his family and had a two-wheeled excursion in a rainstorm. He followed daughter Smacker — a swimmer at the University of Texas — to class, a unique activity for the coach of a major college football powerhouse to partake in.
That focus on family extends from a hilly bike path in Austin to the way he conducts his locker room in Baton Rouge, La., and specifically the type of athlete he recruits to LSU.
“To be very honest with you, we enjoy developing people,” Miles said. “I want my old players — I want Jacob Hester to come down and show everybody his newborn son and his wife and I want to share their lives. … That is us, and we’re never going to stray from that fundamental premise.”
It’s all a part of the “Les Miles way.” Off the field, it’s about doing things for one another, committing to the team and graduating. On the field, it’s about playing with a physical nature, competing in all three phases of the game at a high level, anticipating victory and fighting for it.
LSU has attained victory 95 times in 119 tries under Miles, giving the coach a .798 winning percentage in purple and gold. One of his most famous victories involved Hester when the running back pounded his way to 106 yards on a raucous night and gutted out two 4th down conversions on the game-winning drive of LSU’s 28-24 win over Florida on Oct. 6, 2007.
Miles will be back in Texas at the end of next month when he leads his Tigers “into battle” to open the season in Houston against Wisconsin. When he does, it will be the kickoff to his 10th season at the helm of LSU, a ship loaded with talent and returning some of the best players in the nation. What the team lacks at many skill positions on offense however, is experience.
LSU will have new faces at quarterback, running back and both wide receiver positions. The Tigers will look to reload with four of their top-five leaders in receiving yards gone and two of their top-four leaders in rushing yards gone as well. Still optimism reigns supreme for the “Mad Hatter.”
“We return 16 starters: six on offense, seven on defense, three on special teams,” Miles said. “We're a team that's really on the cusp of an opportunity to win championships. If you look at the three games we lost, turnovers played a very significant role. It's an annual battle. Certainly we have, in my opinion, the style of team that can win championships.”
If he has his way and the young talent shines bright, Miles will be back in Texas again to end the season, hoisting the national championship trophy in Arlington. That’s arguably better than an afternoon at the beach.
LSU coach Les Miles speaks to the media at the Southeastern Conference Media Days on Wednesday in Hoover, Ala.
