Rogers column: No looking back for LSU coach

HOOVER — Darth Vader arrived at SEC Football Media Days without his black cape, breathing apparatus and mask — or even his white ball cap that looks a couple sizes too tight.

Les Miles has what everybody else wants, the national championship trophy. But the LSU coach, who became the fifth active coach in the league to win a national title when the Tigers whipped Ohio State in January, said that’s over.

“We’re not defending. We’re not dealing with rankings,” Miles said. “This is a brand-new year. If we’re defending, come see the trophy. It’s in our trophy case. We’re not defending. We got a brand new team.”

Sounds normal, right? Miles says all the right things most of the time. He may even mean them. But he just can’t help creating some buzz.

He recently told an LSU group not to put too much on the Alabama game because a lot of Louisiana teams beat the Crimson Tide last year.

It was an easy — and funny — jab at Alabama losing to LSU and Louisiana-Monroe last season.

Of course, he had to answer for it Wednesday — in Alabama.

“The state of Louisiana has 12 colleges that play football,” a writer began. “If Alabama played those 12 as a schedule in the season, what do you think their record would be?”

It drew laughs, even from Miles.

“I want you to know something: I have great respect for the University of Alabama, the history they have presented to college football, the competition that they put on every time they take the field. I promise you that any fun and entertainment that I have with supporters is very respectful. I love college football, the competition and the young men that play it.”

Miles, who joined Steve Spurrier, Nick Saban, Phillip Fulmer and Urban Meyer as SEC coaches with national championship rings, earned some respect during last year’s title run.

“I thought Les and his staff did a great job,” Mississippi State coach Sylvester Croom said. “When they lost (Glenn) Dorsey, had those injuries down the stretch, for them to still win the championship, that was a tremendous job of their players and coaches staying focused on what they had to get done.

“Had they not had the injuries they had last year, I think it would have been a breeze to the national championship.”

Meyer didn’t talk about Miles specifically, but discussed the respect he has for the league’s coaches. He recalled a coach’s meeting during the SEC meetings in Sandestin in June.

“I don’t get in awe very often — well, I don’t want to say I was in awe — but you look around the room, there are some fine coaches in this conference,” the Florida coach said.

“I looked around that room, understand I counted right off the top of my head nine programs that think they’re going to win the conference championship,” Meyer continued. “There’s others that could do very well because they’re very talented. ... I don’t know if I feel you see that anywhere else in America.”

And the one who whipped them all last year was Les Miles — to the acclaim of the Bayou Bengals and the disdain of nearly everyone else.
“For me and the fans, I think the ones that like me, like me,” the coach said. “And the ones that don’t, don’t.”