You would think that after LSU won the Cotton Bowl, things might settle down for a while.  Well, think again.  This past week was very busy with personnel decisions being made.

Obviously, the biggest news was Michigan coming to town with their checkbook open in search of a head coach.  According to former Board of Supervisors member, Stanley Jacobs, Michigan offered Les Miles a contract of $4.25 million, and when Miles turned down their offer they were ready to up the ante. 

LSU, for their part, extended Miles' contract to seven years at his current salary of $3.75 million with added  bonuses available. 

Les Miles just completed his sixth season at LSU.  I stated before the season that this was about the time that a coach either wore out his welcome or became a fixture at a place.  After the Tennessee game, it surely looked like Miles had worn out his welcome.  However, he turned things around and won over most of the fan base with wins over Florida, Alabama, and Ole Miss.  Then he capped it off with the Cotton Bowl win over the Aggies.

I am personally glad that Les Miles decided to stay at Tiger Town.  The Tigers will now have stability in the program.  Miles has proved that he can coach with his record and the wins he has gotten over LSU's big rivals.  Will Les Miles drive us Tiger fans batty on occasion? Yes.  He will somewhere down the line mess up the clock management of a game.  He will still come across as “quirky” or eccentric.  However, he will be our quirky and eccentric coach.  He will also fake the field goal when least expected and win a game as no other coach would have done.  In short, Tiger fans, enjoy the ride for the next seven years.  If nothing else, it will be exciting.

The next big personnel change was offensive coordinator, Gary Crowton, leaving and going to Maryland.  LSU's offense the last couple of years has been anything but good.  Whether or not that was Crowton's fault, I really don't know.  However, it is probably best for all concerned that LSU starts fresh next season with a new OC. 

Now we will see who Les Miles hires for the job.  I think that the person he hires will give us a good idea about Miles' decision on whether or not to have Mettenburger as the Tiger's quarterback.

Patrick Peterson decided to go to the NFL.  That surprised absolutely no one.  Peterson will likely be a top five pick in the draft.

As far as Stevan Ridley leaving, that surprised me.  I thought that another year would have helped him.  However, as Chris Landry said on Pelican Sports Radio, his carries would have probably been reduced and that would have hurt his stock for next season.  Landry thought it was a wise decision by Ridley. 

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