Robert Gary Ingram
June 9, 2008
Marilyn Chapman Moore
June 11, 2008
Thibodaux had a championship feeling last week as the Tiger Alumni Federation sponsored the Louisiana State University Tiger Tour, which stopped Tuesday night at the Warren J. Harang Municipal Auditorium.
The event featured LSU Head Football Coach Les Miles, LSU Head Basketball Coach Trent Johnson and Lady Tigers Basketball Coach Van Chancellor, who all spoke during the stop. The BCS National Championship trophy was on display.
“I’m glad to be down here. I drove myself today and, boy, is it beautiful down here,” Miles said. “It’s a joy looking at the fields and the bayous. This is wonderful.”
The Tiger tour includes 12 stops; Thibodaux was the seventh. “It’s been off the charts,” the football coach said about the tour. “We’ve sold out every place that we go, and it’s always been a lot of fun seeing the people that follow our team so faithfully.”
The three coaches took the opportunity to talk about the off-season and the upcoming seasons.
Miles: Maintaining ‘winning mentality’ this year’s goal
After a season that ended with a 38-24 victory over Ohio State in the championship game, the biggest challenge Miles says he has to face is keeping his team playing at the championship level.
Since the Tigers have reached their goal of winning a National Championship, Miles said it is important to maintain the winning mentality.
“The challenge for this team is to keep the bar where it has been and collect the championships,” he said. “Every year that we’ve been here, that has been the goal. I think our team understands that is where we’re at and that’s the level we are going to play.”
In doing so, the Tigers will have to rely on youth, especially on the defensive side of the ball where they have lost several key players in the secondary and the linebacking corps.
The cornerback position is one of the biggest issues the Tigers face this season after losing both Jonathan Zenon and Chevis Jackson. This spring, the Tigers had a chance to look at Jai Eugene and Chris Hawkins, both of whom Miles said will see significant playing time.
Veteran Darry Beckwith will be called upon to lead the team’s linebackers.
“He is going to give us great leadership and we expect big things out of him,” Miles said. “Perry Riley is probably going to be another good player for us and we also have Kelvin Sheppard and Jacob Cutrera. There are a number of good guys, so I think we’ll be fine at linebacker.”
The Tigers’ strongest asset this spring has been their defensive line. Despite losing powerhouse Glenn Dorsey, the Tigers are returning Ricky Jean-Francois, Tyson Jackson, Al Woods, Marlon Favorite and Charles Alexander, among others, to carry the defense this season.
“I like our defensive line,” Miles said. “We are one of the best defensive lines in the country with the guys we have. Charles (Alexander) was very limited this spring, so it gave a lot of our younger guys a chance.”
One of those younger guys, E.D. White’s Chase Clement, will have the opportunity to learn and step in after senior players graduate.
“At some point, we are going to graduate two deep,” Miles said. “I called him (Clement) on the way in here. I think he is going to be great. He won the shot put and he is bigger and stronger than he has been in the past. I just think he is going to have a great year.”
Miles added, “We’ll have some (players graduating) there and it’s going to be important that our young defensive ends come in and start learning. It gives the young guys a great opportunity and Chase is capable.”
On the offensive side of the ball, Miles said the Tigers will be sound at nearly every position with so many players returning.
Despite quarterback issues early on with the dismissal of Ryan Perrilloux, Miles said he likes what he has seen from his two main guys, Andrew Hatch and Jarrett Lee. The coach noted he wouldn’t be afraid to look at freshman Jordan Jefferson, either.
“We’re fortunate that they took all the snaps in the spring and are going to be the guys to take all the snaps at the starting spot this fall. Andrew Hatch and Jarrett Lee both had strong springs. I think we will end up looking there first, but I wouldn’t be afraid to look at Jordan Jefferson. He’s on campus now getting ready for his summer schedule. I wouldn’t be surprised to see all three of them play.”
As for the overall spring, Miles said he likes what he has seen in the Tigers so far.
“I think it went well,” he said. “I don’t think there is a football coach in America that feels he got everything done through spring, but I think we worked and improved. I think our team can see what they have to do to be a really good football team and that’s good for us.”
Johnson looks to return Tigers to a force on the courts
After struggling through the conference slate, John Brady was fired as head basketball coach of the Tigers midway through the season. Assistant Butch Pierre took over and when the Tigers lost in the Southeastern Conference Tournament to South Carolina, the search began for the next Tigers’ Head Coach.
They found their man in northern California. After leading Stanford to the Sweet 16, Johnson decided to take over the reigns of the Tigers and become LSU’s 20th men’s head basketball coach in school history.
Johnson said the reception he has received from the school and fans is overwhelming.
“It’s been special. I said this probably three or four times,” Johnson said. “In the coaching profession you hear about the rabid fan base in Louisiana and about the passionate fans and how they support LSU. This is not my first rodeo. I’ve been around at the ripe old age of 52, and it’s been special. It’s been everything I’ve expected and more.”
Johnson inherits a team that was 13-18 overall and 6-10 in conference play. While the prior staff had already inked three Tiger recruits, he plans on honoring those commitments.
“Storm Warren and Delwan Graham are good athletes who play extremely hard. Dennis Harris has real good size, and he has pretty good skills for his size. We have three quality young men who, I believe, can lead us to a bright future,” the coach said.
The Tigers lost recruit J’mison Morgan, who was released from his scholarship so he could sign with UCLA.
With the new recruits, along with the returning players, Johnson believes he can help take the first step toward making the Tigers a force once again in basketball. That feat, he noted, will require time and patience.
“The expectations for this team are divided into three parts: academic, social and athletic,” Johnson said. “There is a definite correlation between good players and good teams and what they do off the court. We’d rather get that back to where it needs to be. It’s going to take awhile, but if we can remain healthy and they can buy into a new philosophy, we have a chance to be a decent basketball team.”
The first step, Johnson said, is getting the team healthy. That must start with Garrett Temple and Tasmin Mitchell.
Both players had surgery and missed action last season as well as off-season activities. Although Johnson said no one would ever be 100 percent after a surgery, he still believes they can contribute.
“Garrett will be cleared and will probably be ready around the first of August. Tasmin has already been cleared so we need to be careful,” Johnson said. “Our goal is, before the season starts, to be operating on all cylinders. We have from Aug. 25 to basically November to get everybody in game shape. We’ll be ready to have a productive season.”
While at Stanford, Johnson had the chance to talk with NFL Hall of Fame coach Bill Walsh, who was heading the Cardinal football program at the time. He hopes to take what he learned from Walsh, Skip Bertman, Chancellor, Miles and the numerous other coaches he has had a chance to work with, and instill a winning attitude into the Tigers.
“It’s an exciting opportunity for me and for the players – celebrating 100 years of LSU basketball. There is a lot of reputation here and a lot of high-quality players. I’m looking forward to the challenges that are in front of us and it is going to be fun.”
Lady Tigers rebuilding for post-Fowles era
Prior to last season, Chancellor knew a thing or two about winning.
He turned Ole Miss into a women’s basketball powerhouse, making the conference tournament 14 times in 19 seasons – including 11 straight appearances at one point.
He then moved to the professional ranks, leading the Houston Comets to four consecutive WNBA titles and helped them become the only team to make the playoffs every year during the league’s first seven years of existence.
Chancellor retired following the 2006 season only to return a year later at the helm of the Lady Tigers.
It was an opportunity he simply could not pass up.
“I may be a Southern boy, but I’m no dumb Southern boy,” Chancellor said. “This was the only school I was going to come back to coach. There was so much talent on this team, that it intrigued me.”
It worked out well for Chancellor, as he guided the Lady Tigers to their fifth consecutive Final Four appearance before losing in the final seconds to Tennessee.
“I was seven seconds away from getting my picture up here next to Coach Miles,” Chancellor said, pointing to the Tiger Tour backdrop behind him featuring the football team’s post-BCS Championship win. “We were that close.”
Now, the Tigers enter their first season in the post-Sylvia Fowles era, something Chancellor said this young team would have to adjust to.
“Nobody knows this, but I ran three plays last year,” Chancellor said. “First play, we give the ball to Sylvia Fowles. Second play, we give the ball to Sylvia Fowles … and if that didn’t work, we called a third play … we give the ball to Sylvia Fowles.”
The Lady Tigers return six players from last year’s team. They also have one of the top recruiting classes coming in to help with what Chancellor calls a “rebuilding season.”
“The best part about being at LSU is it basically recruits itself,” Chancellor said, chuckling. “We bring in prospects and take them to football games. When they see 94,000 fans yelling ‘Tiger bait,’ why wouldn’t they want to be a part of it. I don’t tell them that we don’t draw 94,000 for women’s basketball.”
Chancellor said he expects the Lady Tigers to bring their best game and looks for that sixth straight Final Four berth. Only this time, he hopes to get over the hump.
“It’s not coaching, it’s managing egos,” Chancellor said. “Everybody wants the basketball, and they think if you don’t have success it’s your fault.”
Chancellor added, “Right now we have camps going on. Coach Miles’ daughter is in our camp. I hear she is a little bit better athlete than I heard [Miles] was in college. When all of this is finished up, we look forward to getting back to work.”
The Tiger Tour will return to the area next season, as it makes a stop in Houma.
Louisiana State University Tiger fans greet head football coach Les Miles during a Tiger Tour stop in Thibodaux. Miles, Head Basketball Coach Trent Johnson and Lady Tigers Basketball Coach Van Chancellor spoke to fans at a sold-out Warren J. Harang Municipal Auditorium during last week’s visit. * Photo by KYLE CARRIER
