The Perrilloux Defense Ends Now

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Les Miles has been the topic of a number of columns and articles across the nation this week.  Because he’s been in the news, I’ve written about him on multiple occasions.  And because of that, more Tiger fans have been writing me.

Since comparing Miles to Barry Switzer yesterday, I’ve received about 3 dozen angry emails from Miles’ defenders.  After running through their coach’s overall record, they all toss out the same thing: The Ryan Perrilloux Defense.

Gary Laney of The Baton Rouge Advocate does a nice job of summing up the Perrilloux defense in his column today.  He writes:


“In every step of the way, LSU has been a little bit unlucky.  You can start with Perrilloux.  That left (sic) LSU in a lurch when he was booted and led to (Jarrett) Lee and (Jordan) Jefferson having to play significant snaps before they were ready. 

“In an effort to replenish the position, LSU recruited three more quarterbacks — Chris Garrett, Russell Shepard and Zach Lee — in two recruiting classes.

“Garrett had a disappointing 2010 spring and eventually left the team for Northwestern State.  Shepard moved to wide receiver in a less-than-surprising move.  Lee took the money — money few saw coming — and ran.

“So LSU is 0-for-3 (or 0-for-2, depending on how you look at Shepard) there.  Zach Lee and Garrett, have stories that make you sympathetic for Miles.  For that matter, so does the Perrilloux story.”


That’s a perfect summary.  But there are a couple of holes in this defense.

First, it was Miles who signed Perrilloux.  And Perrilloux turned out to be a bad signing.

As a redshirt freshman, the quarterback had to retain a lawyer when it was leaked that he was a “person of interest” in a Federal investigation into a counterfeiting ring.  As a sophomore he was suspended for trying to use his brother’s ID to enter a casino.  Later that same year, Perrilloux was involved in a bar fight along with two teammates.  (The teammates were booted from the team and Perrilloux was suspended for a game.)  Then Perrilloux was suspended for violating unnamed team rules.  Finally, Miles dismissed the troubled quarterback after what was rumored to be a failed drug test.

Perrilloux then transferred to Jacksonville State where he also wound up suspended for rules violations.  Even NFL teams steered completely clear of him this past spring and he’s now a member of the Hartford Colonials of the United Football League.

To recap — Miles is getting a break because he signed a kid who turned out to be a bad decision-maker.  And yet this same player who many Tiger fans believe would have made a difference for LSU couldn’t even get an NFL team to take a shot on him.  We’re talking about a league where even Lawrence Phillips and Pac-Man Jones got second chances.

So it’s hard for me to say definitively that Perrilloux would have made a huge difference for Miles had he kept his nose clean.  After all, did many people defend Mark Richt last year by saying that the Bulldogs would have been much better than 8-5 had Matthew Stafford not left Georgia early?  That answer is no.

But for the sake of argument let’s give Miles the benefit of the doubt in Perrilloux’s situation. 

Because mean ol’ Perrilloux let poor Les down, the coach had to turn to two quarterbacks (Jarrett Lee and Jefferson) “before they were ready.”  But there have been dozens of SEC quarterbacks who have had to play before they were ready due to — again — dismissals, injuries, early draft entries. 

In a perfect example of making due, Tennessee’s 2004 team suffered injuries to both of its true freshman quarterbacks before finally turning the season over to a third-stringer who’d already been let go by then-LSU coach Nick Saban.  Rick Clausen even led the Vols to a Cotton Bowl win.  (There have been other success stories, but that was an instance where three QBs all had to step up in one season “before they were ready.”)

Which brings us to Garrett, Shepard and Zach Lee.  Garrett was disappointing and transferred out.  Is that not a reflection of Miles’ evaluation skills?  Shepard has been moved to receiver.  Is that not also a reflection of player evaluation?

Zach Lee is, of course, a different beast.  The Tigers never dreamed that the cash-strapped Dodgers would sign him to a $5 million bonus.  But according to Miles’ version of things (after Lee left), the freshman was going to be a scrub this year anyway.  So saying that Lee’s departure hurts Miles this year is a stretch.  Maybe down the road, but not in 2010.

Look, it’s possible — very possible — that Miles will win big in 2010 and prove that he is among the nation’s coaching elite.  If so, I’ll be the first to say that I missed the boat on the guy.  But for now, I stick to my view that he’s a good coach who inherited a great program.

The uber-popular Perrilloux defense just doesn’t adequately cover up all of the quarterback issues that have faced the Tigers under Miles.  At some point evaluation and development become part of equation, too, and LSU has failed in those areas.

But all of this is meaningless. 

My arguments.  Miles’ defenders’ arguments.  All meaningless as of September.  Because that’s when the Perrilloux defense will end.

Had Perrilloux lasted in Baton Rouge, Miles would be breaking in a new signal-caller this year.  Instead, he’s got a pair of veterans who have multiple years in the system and multiple starts under their belts.  They’re no longer playing before they’re ready.  They should very much be ready by now.

So let’s just wait til November and see what kind of record Miles has put up.  And whether he’s leading the Tigers back to the SEC title game or back to the middle of the pack, Ryan Perrilloux will have nothing to do with Miles success (or failure) in 2010.