Does Les Miles have the stones to kick his starting quarterback off the team?
February 27th, 2008, 7:38 pm · Post a Comment · posted by patrickdonohue
For the moment, it appears he doesn’t want to talk about it.
After starting quarterback Ryan Perrilloux was suspended a third time (in the last 10 months) and will miss all of spring practice, Les Miles has said that he will not be discussing Perrilloux and his future with the team. My take on the matter has been clear. If he wants to send a clear message to his team about off-the-field issues, he needs to dismiss Perrilloux. Period. LSU football may not be recruiting the brightest student-athletics in the SEC but I assure you they’re smart enough to see the hypocrisy in the star quarterback being given a third opportunity to NOT screw up when many on the time would be given their walking papers the first time they were involved in a bar fight or indicated in a forgery ring.
For the moment, Miles is, at the very least, non-committal on what Perrilloux’s future with the team will be. Miles told reporters today:
“I am not going to spend a lot of time thinking and talking about [Perrilloux],” said Miles at a pre-spring practice news conference Wednesday. “I am focusing on the guys who are competing for a position on this team now. I’d appreciate if you don’t ask me any more questions about him.”
When pressed by reporters for answers, Miles decided to take the always-wise approach of talking down to the media and explaining what being a head coach means.
“My discipline is about team discipline,” Miles said. “My responsibility is to the program and the team and not to the media. You guys get no vote and no say about the suspension. In time, you’ll get to know stuff.“
I’m sure that the reporters present at that press conference are comforted by the fact that eventually, if Uncle Les says it’s ok, they’ll actually “get to know stuff.” If Miles doesn’t suspend Perrilloux, he is taking an awfully big chance on a guy that is a repeat offender and has never actually been a full-time starter for any length of time in the SEC. This thing could all go horribly wrong for The Hat if he keeps Perrilloux on this team and he either plays horribly and costs LSU ballgames, if he gets in trouble again or both. For the moment, it appears that famous cap hasn’t cut of all the oxygen to Miles’ brain.
“The reality of it is [Perrilloux] is no longer part of the team [at this time]. It’s a very serious issue.”
The key phrase in that sentence may be “at this time.” While Miles refused to talk to reporters about Perrilloux at any length, he did leave the door open for the quarterback’s return to the team.
“He broke team rules, and I really don’t want to spend a lot of time thinking and talking about him,” Miles said. “His responsibility is to do everything right and get back on this team. And I’ll focus on the guys that are competing for jobs on our team currently.”
