SEC football roundup, Part I

SEC football roundup, Part I
The conference’s football coaches participated in a media teleconference Thursday morning. Here’s a quick look back at what some of the guys said:

**LSU’s Les Miles talked about discipline, especially in reference to QB Ryan Perrilloux’s offseason issues. Perrilloux was suspended for most of the spring and didn’t play in the spring game after multiple run-ins with local law enforcement. Miles talked in general about how he handles player behavior.

“If a guy misses class, if a guys (shows up) 15 minutes into a meeting, that’s pushing me pretty hard,” Miles said. “I don’t know what your limits are. As a long as he continues to pursue the classroom, as long as he continues to do the work and takes care of his business off the field, we’ll allow him to continue on the field.”

On Perrilloux: “Instead of a returning starter, or being labeled that, a guy who should be labeled a starter, he’s competing like heck for his job. So there is loss.”

**South Carolina’s Steve Spurrier discussed surrendering some of his play-calling duties for the first time in his career. He referenced a meeting last season where he wrote down plays as his assistants watched, then wondered aloud why he was doing all the work. “That’s how you do it, coach,” one of them said. Spurrier talked about the changes in being a play caller since he started, and a lesson he learned about coaching the whole team instead of just the offensive skill players.

“It’s changed in 20 years,” he said. “When I was first a play caller, sometimes I didn’t need a sheet. I had probably already thrown it down after an interception, and I just called them off the top of my head. Now a days, with so many plays and formations and shifts, you almost need a sheet with you at all times.”

On coaching the whole team: “We opened at Mississippi State, and I watched all their games from the year before. We had these pass plays ready, and when the ball game rolled around, we could not block their defensive line. Our quarterback couldn’t get a dang pass off. I just wasted all summer putting these plays in because we couldn’t block their guys.” Spurrier later said he hopes that by spreading his time throughout the roster a little more, those situations will disappear.

orlandosentinel.com
4/17/08