BAD BLOOD BETWEEN LSU & BAMA ALREADY!?

**JFDevil** · February 8th, 2007, 11:19 AM

BATON ROUGE -- Just in case LSU fans have not already circled Nov. 3 on their calendars, LSU football coach Les Miles made darn sure they will while addressing several hundred fans at the annual Bayou Bash recruiting party Wednesday at the Baton Rouge River Center.

Nov. 3 is when LSU is scheduled to play Alabama and new coach Nick Saban, whom Miles followed at LSU two years ago and has followed into recruits' homes the last several weeks.

"We're looking forward to playing Florida," an animated Miles said, then gradually raised his voice. "We're looking forward to playing Auburn. But we have a new rival in (expletive deleted) Alabama."

And the crowd roared. Then it delivered a standing ovation.

Earlier Wednesday afternoon, a more subdued Miles answered a question about alleged negative recruiting toward LSU by Saban at a national signing day news conference at LSU.

Former LSU commitment Luther Davis of West Monroe told reporters last month that Saban told him his coaching staff was better than Miles' staff. Davis later switched his commitment to Alabama after visiting that campus when he told LSU's coaches he would not visit. Davis, the No. 25-ranked defensive tackle in the nation, signed with Alabama on Wednesday.

Miles did not confirm nor deny that Saban and/or his staff were doing any negative recruiting toward LSU.

"I think that whatever was used against our staff obviously didn't work," Miles said of his class that was ranked No. 2 by Scout.com. "And so I would hope that they would continue to negative recruit because the recruiting that was done this year for the LSU Tigers was very capable. I would take a second-ranked class in the country for some time.

"Here's what happens, anybody that negative recruits, the student-athlete that hears that has to qualify what's being said. And if that is without basis and without what would be a logical framework by which to communicate with that student-athlete, it immediately discredits them. So I can tell you that there was some negative recruiting going on out there."

Tony Jones, the father of LSU signee Phelon Jones of McGill-Toolen High in Mobile, Ala., visited with Saban and LSU coaches back-to-back shortly after Saban became Alabama's coach on Jan. 3. He defended Saban.

"He (Saban) is aggressively trying to get kids because he knows he's behind," Jones said. "He's trying to get everybody he can. I'm not going to say anything bad about Nick Saban."

Jones' son Phelon, who is the No. 10-ranked cornerback in the nation, turned down a visit to Alabama last month and signed with LSU on Wednesday. Alabama's signing class finished No. 10 in the nation after a ranking of 14 on Tuesday in Rivals.com.

"We went out and recruited the players that we thought were good enough to help us win," Saban said at his news conference Wednesday. "In some cases they were interested in us and in some cases it was difficult to change their mind."

Saban signed players from seven states in all with just one from Louisiana.

"We are going to recruit everywhere there are football players. Any place around here that has good football players we are going to recruit them," he said.

"I think you've seen an immediate impact with Saban," Rivals.com editor Bobby Burton said. "Long term, Nick Saban is going to get some good football players from Louisiana. The question is whether he can get guys that LSU wanted just as much, and if he can get enough of them to really make a difference."

Regardless of who may or may not be doing it, Miles said that negative recruiting can backfire.

"I think any time that you spend too much time on an opponent, you're wasting your moments with the student-athlete," he said. "So, what we've always tried to do is point at the opportunities that we have and emphasize those and hope that the guy we're talking to recognizes the difference."

Still, he said he has to respond to negative recruiting, for example, if the prospect brings it up.

"You have to step into the fray," Miles said. "You can't leave a void."

Meanwhile, members of No. 1-ranked tailback Joe McKnight's camp have said LSU coaches negatively recruited against USC by bringing up the investigation of former USC tailback Reggie Bush that could lead to NCAA probation.

"I heard that LSU pointed that out, and it backfired," recruiting expert Mike Scarborough of Rivals.com said.

McKnight, whom USC coaches said would be the next Bush, signed with USC over LSU, Ole Miss and Alabama on Wednesday morning at Curtis during a nationally televised press conference on ESPNU.

McKnight was asked about the investigation of Bush, who is now a star with the New Orleans Saints, at his news conference. He said it came up when USC coach Pete Carroll visited him at his home last week.

"He called Reggie on the phone and put him on the speakerphone," McKnight said. "He said he didn't have anything to do with it."

Curtis coach J.T. Curtis then said, "We addressed that issue."

At his news conference, Miles interjected that he also feels some recruiting violations may have taken place by schools he did not name.

"I can tell you that in this recruiting class and in this recruiting season, I thought that what appeared to be breaking of rules was much more rampant," Miles said. "But I wouldn't want to say that it appeared from any one school more than any other."

Asked a follow-up question about possible rules violations by other schools, Miles said, "There's a piece at the end of every recruiting season where we sit down and try to discern the legitimacy of what appears to be rules violations. We're still in that process, tying up loose ends. I can tell you this, that if in fact we find there's some irregularities, they will be turned in."

**UTVols2** · February 8th, 2007, 11:34 AM

I can't quite figure it out but for some reason I can't stand Les Miles, I can't put my finger on it but everytime I see him it puts me in a bad mood. [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]