HOOVER, Ala. (AP) Les Miles doesn't have to build a program from scratch at LSU.<br>
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He took over a talent-filled program two years removed from claiming a share of the national championship under Nick Saban. In his first year as head coach, the Tigers are overwhelming picks to win the Southeastern Conference Western Division title.<br>
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It's a very different from the situation he entered as head coach at Oklahoma State in 2001.<br>
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Miles led the Cowboys to three straight bowl appearances, something the school hadn't achieved since Jimmy Johnson started a three-year postseason string in 1983. Before the 2003 Cotton Bowl, the Cowboys hadn't appeared in a January bowl game in 55 years.<br>
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Now he's heading a team that was named co-national champions just two years ago.<br>
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``The fact that we have some talent, the fact that this football team comes in expecting to achieve, certainly that's what we want. That's what any coach would want, so I enjoy that,'' Miles said Friday at SEC media days. ``I don't have to convince anybody.<br>
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``We understand that if we do the things that we're capable of doing, we have a chance to have a special season.''<br>
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After becoming coach, Miles traveled around Louisiana so that LSU fans could get to know him, but the trip was filled with lessons for him too. At every stop, he said, were loyal fans passionate about LSU football. Miles wants to continue the legacy left by Saban, who won two SEC titles in four seasons before leaving to coach the NFL's Miami Dolphins.<br>
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Continuing that legacy begins with a starting quarterback, who he hasn't picked yet. The competition is between sophomores JaMarcus Russell and Matt Flynn. Miles would prefer to have one starter, but isn't counting out using two quarterbacks.<br>
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``I only know this: that if the quarterbacks are comparable, you would like to get your best quarterback every (repetition) because as you train him and you go into the games, the number of times he's in situations is the best trainer,'' Miles said.<br>
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The main difference between Saban and Miles is that Saban focused more on defense, and Miles is known more as an offensive coach, said senior running back Joseph Addai, when asked how the two meen are different. ``Both are great, they just have different styles, different ways of getting their point across,'' Addai said.<br>
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It doesn't matter to Miles that he didn't personally recruit many of his players this season. He didn't spend time with their families, or visit their homes, but the goal is the same: bring a championship trophy back to Death Valley.<br>
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``I am thrust with the position to represent LSU and to be the head coach and help the football team pursue a championship,'' Miles said. ``They are getting to know me and I am getting to know them and we're in this together, period.''<br>
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(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
