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Dear Les Miles, I know right now you may feel as though you have a little egg on your face because you were caught on tape using an expletive at the annual Bayou Recruiting Bash on National Signing Day this past week. But in the immortal words of Bob Dylan, "Don't think twice. It's all right."
Just to remind you of what you said and for ease of our discussion, I will include your quote in this letter.
You told the crowd at the conference the Tigers are "looking forward to playing Florida. We're looking forward to playing Auburn, but we have a new rival in fucking Alabama."
Now it is the last part that has sparked a little controversy and caused you to issue an apology to the University for your comments. I think everyone appreciates your conciliatory statement, but it was really unnecessary. You said exactly what is on every football fan's mind as we prepare for next season. Despite the strength of next season's schedule, the game everyone is waiting for is Alabama. It'll be our first opportunity to play a grudge match against Nick Saban, who lied to the University about leaving for the NFL, and then lied to the Miami Dolphins about leaving for Alabama. And the worst part is he went to Alabama, one of our most well-established rivals in the Southeastern Conference. He could have lied about a thousand different things, and we would have forgiven him. I mean, come on, we forgave him for losing his last game at the University and then abandoning us for the pros. But lying to his former greatest fans about joining the dark side of the SEC was just flat wrong.
Les, you have performed admirably during your time at the University, and no one can complain about your performance. Some have criticized your stoic approach to coaching because you rarely show emotion on the sidelines, but in one felt swoop you have surely silenced those critics. For the first time since you joined the University, you allowed yourself to get "caught up in the emotion of the day." And darn it Les, I think we are all a bit impressed.
I agree with you that apologizing for a misstep while speaking was the classy thing to do. While it would have been fun for you to stick your guns and stand by the statement, apologizing was something you had to do as one of the University's public faces.
I only have one question for you and, by extension, all of the University's football program.
Are we really worried about offending fucking Alabama?
Your No. 1 fan,
Jeff Jeffrey
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