Paul Finebaum writes for the Press-Register that both Georgia coach Mark Richt and LSU coach Les Miles enter the 2010 season on the hot seat, in part because they have had trouble beating their chief rivals. Richt has struggled against Florida's Urban Meyer, while Miles can't seem to get past Alabama coach (and Miles' predecessor at LSU) Nick Saban.
Finebaum gives Miles a better chance of getting canned than Richt, and says simply: "If Miles loses to Saban this year at Tiger Stadium, which would mark his third straight, the end will be near." Beating the Crimson Tide this season would hardly be an easy task, seeing as how Bama brings back several key contributors from last year's national championship team. It's hard to envision Miles getting the boot if the Tigers have a great year but just lose out to Alabama (remember, the Tigers played the Tide tough last season), but if his team struggles and Miles has a few more of his patented last-minute clock management gaffs, another loss to Saban could very well be the last straw.
UPDATE: In giving his take on both Miles and Richt, Tony Barnhart of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution provides this assessment of Miles: "Let's put it this way: LSU had better beat North Carolina on Sept. 4 at the Georgia Dome or there will be folks in that part of the world with Jon Gruden's number on speed dial."
Jon Gruden? That came out of nowhere, didn't it? Since he didn't expound further, it's unclear if Barnhart is just picking up on fan chatter or if he has some inside info on the Tigers' interest in Gruden. Were it to happen, it would give LSU-Alabama games a whole new dimension.
