Ye Olde Green Wave Forum

Two of Miles’s assistants are waiting for the coach as he arrives at his office at 7:15 a.m. on National Signing Day morning. In an unmistakably grave tone, one of the men tells Miles the bad news: “Marcus Harris’s mom called.”
Harris is a three-star defensive end from Alabama who had told coaches the day before that he planned to shun local offers from schools like South Alabama, Southern Miss and Tulane to sign with Kansas. Now he’s having cold feet, and so is his family. What happens next speaks to the recruiting power of Miles, a key reason Long brought him here. He’s charming and comforting in front of fans and families, with a disarming, goofy personality. Tight ends coach Jeff Hecklinski witnessed it this winter during in-home visits as Miles, surrounded by recruits’ family members, put everyone at ease and then flaunted his national championship ring. “It gets passed around,” Hecklinski says with a laugh. The jewelry is far from the only selling point. Miles lasted more than twice as long as the average head coach in the SEC. “We use that,” Eliot says. “He’s got to be a great coach to go 12 years in the SEC.”
Miles hurriedly gets on the phone with Harris’s mother, settles the family’s nerves and gets his reward later that morning when Harris’s paperwork arrives. Defensive line coach Kwahn Drake bellows a “Booooom!” across the hallways of the football complex, and Miles emerges from his office. “Marcus is in?” he asks. Marcus is in, he’s told. The excitement over landing the 247Sports Composite’s 120th-ranked strong-side defensive end, who held one other Power 5 offer, is one of the biggest celebrations of the day, an indicator of the situation Miles inherits.

Lasting 12 years at LSU is not that hard for a solid coach who inherited what Miles inherited. And he got lucky, of course. If the stars had not aligned his way at the end of 2007, he would not have made it to his peak years of 2010-2012. And of course he’ll be 66 during the next season.

To make it even a little he needs Chris Klieman to be a dud and for someone to get Matt Campbell out of Iowa State.

In fairness, along with all that talent, he also inherited about the most unrealistic expectations possible. Luck almost always plays a role in being that successful, but I've never seen a team luckier than those under Miles.