HOOVER, Ala. - Les Miles wants to make it clear that his team, the reigning national champion LSU Tigers, will not be thinking of the 2008 season as a continuation of the 2007 campaign.
"We're not defending. We're not dealing with rankings," said Miles on Wednesday at Southeastern Conference Media Days, as he prepares for his fourth season in Baton Rouge. "If you think we're defending, come see the trophy - it's in our trophy case. We got a brand new team."
While coaches usually offer such rhetoric after winning it all, a big question mark at the quarterback position leaves LSU in a bit of turmoil before it begins its quest to become the first repeat national champion since Nebraska in 1994-95.
With Matt Flynn, last year's starter, lost to graduation, Ryan Perrilloux looked to be the favorite to step right in as this year's leader behind center. Perrilloux, after all, earned 2007 SEC Championship MVP honors after stepping in for an injured Flynn and throwing for 243 yards and a touchdown on 20-of-30 passing.
Instead, Perrilloux will suit up for Division I-AA Jacksonville State this season. He transferred there following his dismissal from LSU in May after numerous legal and disciplinary problems during his time in Baton Rouge.
That will leave Miles with three options when the Tigers open two-a-days in little more than a week - 6-foot-2 redshirt freshman Jarrett Lee, 6-foot-3 sophomore transfer Andrew Hatch and 6-foot-4 incoming freshman Jordan Jefferson.
Lee and Hatch have emerged as the front-runners for the job.
"Both guys had good springs," Miles said. "Both guys are learning the offense. They had an entire summer of study where the receiving core gathered them, ran the passing that we run and really helped identify to our quarterbacks where they're gonna be."
Hatch played junior varsity football at Harvard in 2005 before transferring and walking on at LSU and eventually becoming a scholarship player. He has attempted two passes in his college career - which ranks him as the most experienced signal-caller on the Tigers' campus.
Starting senior center Brett Helms admitted the team will miss Perrilloux's athleticism and experience.
"Anybody with that much talent you'll miss," Helms said. "But you gotta move on, and that's football. We got two guys that can step up and do big things for us, and that's what we're focusing on now."
Helms declined numerous times to lean toward a projected starter, but described Hatch as more of an athletic, option-type quarterback and Lee as more of a pocket passer with a better deep ball.
LSU has had success with lesser-known quarterbacks in the past, including Flynn last year, and certainly has plenty of talent at other positions, scoring 14 preseason All-SEC nods from the coaches' vote.
"You've got great guys surrounding you," Helms said. "Whoever it is (that wins the starting QB job) just needs to go out and make smart decisions and manage the game. With our defense the way it is this year, it's going to be tough to score points on us.
"The quarterback can't do too much, try to make too many big plays. Let the playmakers make the plays."
No matter who comes out as the top guy this fall, Miles expects him to experience plenty of ups and downs in the ultra-competitive SEC.
"The most consistent performer, the guy that makes the play, the guy that is least likely to turn it over, least likely to make poor decisions, that will … allow them to get to the field," Miles said. "The ability to make those plays that your team needs to make to win games, when in third down situations, when in big play opportunities … those are things that you're really waiting to emerge."
