re: LSU fans, be truthful

I was fed up with Chavis going prevent and losing games late with the defense on the field. I don't think we lost much at this point but we'll have to see the first few games to know how we did on the hire.

What most other fanbases don't quite get is LSU fans probably would have been ok with Orgeron being named DC given his recruiting ability and the perception that the whole program needed a bit of a kick in the arse. There would have been a little grumbling about his experience at the position, but it would have been acknowledged that he could fix the pass rush and that he turned USC around.

Miles somehow talked him into being DL coach, and nabbed another elite recruiter in the process. Steele's scheme is the only unknown, but when he had the talent at Clemson he put good defenses on the field. Overall I'm happy with the way things worked out and would only take it back if Orgeron could have been brought on staff without Chavis leaving.

I was happy to see the fat frick leave as his D strategy was weak late in the game. If we lose because we are fighting our arse off so be it. But to lose when you are playing cautiously, trying to keep the O in front of you sucks!!!! One missed tackle, one good fake, LSU loses, just like last year.

Geaux EO and Steele

On 1 hand i think it was time to part ways with Chavis

I think he is an amazing coach. Knows where to put people not he field, but I can't sit here and pretend like he didn't have his issues

Shitty recruiting of the front 7 the last couple of years
Abandoning everything that made out defense work in the last 2 minutes of the game.

The last three years, 6/11 of out loses came because we couldn't stop people in the last 2 minutes.

I still think talent will take you a hell of a long way on defense. I would have been pissed about the Steele hire if we hadn't gotten Coach O to go with him. We are going to have well coached players at every position. We are going to have good talent at every position. Steele isn't that bad a DC.

Our Co-DC fiasco wasn't even that bad by everyone else's standards

tl;dr: Yeah Chavis is better but LSU+Steele> Chavis+LSU (the last three years)

Absolutely glad Chavis is gone (with Brick)

Love O and Steele will have to prove himself

Statistically, Chavis may end up better than Steele. But LSU was losing their aggressiveness. I'm happy to see a switch up on defense, it seemed like it was needed sooner rather than later

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Chavis was a great DC. But we didn't get after the qb much. Nobody knows but the secondary will be great as always.

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"Great" can be a relative term. You can have a 90% free throw shooter that hits 18 out of every 20 free throws. You think that's great, but if the 2 he continually misses is at the end of every other game costing you wins, you don't want to see him at the line when it counts.

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Good hire for A&M but they need to realize he was working with elite talent here that also contributed to his success. His scheme is very basic and he relies on talent. If they can get the talent, they will have some success.

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Chavis relies on great talent in the secondary. If the aggies don't have that, Chavis will be a big disappointment to them.

Imagine what the response would be before Chavis left that Steele was a better DC. Everyone would have said you were an awful troll. Anyone who says they would rather have Steele than Chavis right now is flat out lying to themselves. I won't be surprised if LSU has the better defense next year, but it won't be strictly because of DC quality. And I'm not saying that Steele won't have a successful career at LSU. But to suggest that right now, Steele is a better DC hire than Chavis is utter lunacy.

Chavis
Scheme/Play calling: 9
Recruiting: 5
Position coaching: 6

Brick
Recruiting: 6
Position coaching: 6

vs

Steele
Scheme/Play calling: 7
Recruiting: 9
Position coaching: 8

Orgeron
Recruiting: 9
Position coaching: 9

Overall
Coordinator
Scheme/Play calling: -2
Recruiting: +4
Position coaching: + 2

D-line coach
Recruiting: +3
Position coaching: +3

Obviously those numbers represent my perception of each coach on a 10 point scale, but no matter how much you fudge the numbers, or how much importance you put on each category, I see LSU as improving in every category except for scheme/play calling. Even with the step back here, the increase in talent and the elite position coaching should keep the unit very good.

Chavis was a great coach. He had many strengths. I think reasonable LSU fans appreciate Chavis for all of the good that he brought to the program. He had a lot of success, and was consistent. With him at the helm you knew LSU had a chance in almost every game. Chavis didn't have much of a reputation for recruiting and he made some questionable decisions in the linebackers group. His backers were a mixed bag of varying levels of performance. Some lived up to expectations and some fell short.

Brick was a good coach, who had a few great seasons with some ridiculous talent early on. As the level of talent took a step back, the play on the field dropped off disproportionately. His recruiting was acceptable, but nothing spectacular.

Both coaches showed a lack of enthusiasm in recruiting in the recent years. Both coaches had position groups that took a step or two back in recent years.

Steele is largely rated based off of a few poor games at Clemson. With that in mind, he leaves plenty of room for improvement with play calling. At LSU he is in a situation where his position coaches are all top flight. LSU should continue to field an excellent secondary. Orgeron is expected to field a top flight defensive line. With the elite recruiting staff, Steele should never be short of talent and depth. He has the opportunity to learn and correct the mistakes that he made at Clemson.

Orgeron is the real wildcard. His track record speaks for itself with regards to turning talented linemen into early round NFL draft picks. His recruiting is excellent. His enthusiasm for the program is the aspect of the hire that has most LSU fans excited. If you listen to Baton Rouge radio, you heard Orgeron on the morning radio show for months lobbying for a job at LSU. He loves the team, he loves to recruit, and he loves to coach. That enthusiasm is infectious.

TLDR: Chavis was great. His consistency will be missed. Brick was OK to good. Steele and Orgeron are better recruiters and position coaches. LSU's defense will be ok.