Patrick:  Last week on DraftNasty.com, a point was made that you have some thoughts about….remind us what that point was and why do you disagree or agree with those statements?

Corey:  For the most part, colleague Matt Elder went in on head coaches Les Miles and Mark Richt, and I think that’s kind of the problem with college football.  I mean you get a pretty good coach, he’s established himself as a winner, and we (media) have too much of a quick pulse when evaluating these guys.

Let’s really look at Les Miles.  If not for his coaching style, we wouldn’t have had the Fake FG attempt last weekend against Florida.  He’s just somebody that will take that chance.  Yet he gets condemned by most for the same quality that defines his coaching style. 

Patrick:  What point in Elder’s assessment (10-8-10- Matt’s Mitt) really charged you with the most reactionary emotion?   Anything in particular that was stated that you think was absolutely false, just a misunderstanding or uninformed view of the game (LSU vs. Tennessee- 10-2-10)?

Corey:  Well I don’t think there was anything uninformed on Matt’s part, and he gave a legitimate analysis, although it was an analysis most people took of the team's win over Tennessee.  I mean this (clock management issue) happened last year versus Mississippi and I think that added to why people were so trigger happy to jump on him again. 

All I’m saying is to say that a guy in the SEC, even if his team had lost the Tennessee game, is on the hot seat at 5-0?  Didn’t he win nine games last year?  His team was competitive in a bowl game last year versus a team that ended the year in the Top 10 nationally (Penn State).   And prior to that Miles had won his last two bowl games, one being a BCS national championship.  Even when he was at Oklahoma State, he beat two Top Five ranked Oklahoma teams in three years.  The Cowboys have not beaten the Sooners again since his departure. 

Too many times good programs discard a coach’s track record due to knee jerk reactions. 

Patrick:  What do you think it is about the scope of the game that makes people react in such an immediate way, disregarding history?  Particularly when it comes to coaches. 

Corey:  I just think it’s the whole scope of how much the BCS rankings have come into college football and kind of taken away the significance of even going to a bowl game.   It’s almost BCS bowl or bust for some of the coaches in these tough, major super conferences.    That’s why you have the proliferation of teams leaving to get into one of these types of conferences. 

Patrick:  Who do you think should be the voice of support within a campus?  Should it be the athletic director that makes these comments that you’re making, should it be the players, or the boosters?  Who is dropping the ball?

Corey:  When you look at someone like, say for instance Jeff Bower down at Southern Miss.  Bower fielded a consistent bowl team year in and year out (bowl teams in 10 out of 11 years before resigning in 2007), but fans got restless and wanted change.  Thus, due to increasing outside pressure, the program fired Bower.   This is becoming an increasing trend around the country.  At some point, athletic administrators have to be satisfied if you’re graduating athletes (Bower’s football players compiled well above average GSRs-Graduation Success Rates) during his tenure), and you’re keeping us (school) consistently competitive.  I just wonder what is the standard or definition for a good program anymore?

Patrick:   If a player is not getting in done in coverage or is inaccurate throwing the ball, I (coach) can’t factor in what you’ve done for us over time.  I have to win this game, even if that means substituting that player out of the lineup. Let me ask you then, should coaches be held to the same standard as players?

Corey:  I do.  But if a coach has won a BCS national championship, and I know he hasn’t won an SEC West title the last two years, but he is in the same division as Alabama.  I think few people consider that he’s lost some good assistant coaches over time.  It takes time to adjust when you lose an assistant like Jimbo Fisher from your coaching staff.  Look at what he’s doing at Florida State in his first year as head coach.  You have to give coaches time when they lose assistants of that type of quality.   Let’s face it, Miles is one of the leaders in terms of winning percentage among active coaches.  

Patrick:  How do you see this playing out?  Do you see any validity to the murmurs of the hot seat for Miles or Richt?

Corey:  I think Richt should be a little more under scrutiny because it’s been awhile since Georgia’s won a national championship.  With the money invested into these programs by boosters and alumni, there has to be some pressure.  I understand that.  Especially with the salaries these coaches are bringing home year-to-year (Richt-$2.9 million).  When you don’t win big, these boosters don’t feel as inclined to donate to the universities.  That is the argument on the other side of the fence. 

In terms of Miles, he’s currently 6-0, likely to be 7-0 after this week’s game against McNeese State, and he graduates athletes (see sidebar to story) in the hotbed that we call the SEC.  All of this in spite of very poor quarterback play for much of the 2010 season thus far. That’s very hard to do.  When you overcome poor play at that position, it generally means your team responds to your energy as a coach.  So I don’t think there’s any validity to him being on the hot seat if the LSU administration is truly evaluating the situation for what it is. 

Les Miles is what’s right about college football.  You don’t have to agree with how he goes about it, but you have to at least give him credit for his results.  This guy fields an 85-36 career mark as a head coach.  Give me a break.  This is a quality coach and you have to admit that he knows what he’s doing. 

And he graduates most of his athletes, despite having to deal with increasing early defections by many of his players to the NFL on a yearly basis.  We have to conclude, particularly when you look at Charlie Weis’ situation at Notre Dame (one of nation’s highest GSRs during his tenure), that it doesn’t matter what you’re doing academically anymore at these institutions.  It only matters what you’re doing on the field.