A visibly more at-ease Les Miles mingled with the capacity crowd at Thursday’s Webster Parish LSU Alumni Association 25th Annual Luncheon and Golf Tournament at the Pine Hills Country Club.

Last year, Miles seemed more reserved, but this year Miles worked the crowd, shaking hands and posing for pictures before the fish-fry lunch and after lunch speeches began.

A National Championship has a way to loosening  up a guy.

Phil McInnis played host for the event, in the absence of J.C. Johnson, the long-time host who had the bad fortune of being out of town.

McInnis, Miles and Dr. Charlie Roberts (President and CEO of the LSU Alumni Association) all took some light-hearted jabs at Johnson in his absence, much to the delight of the crowd.

As Dr. Roberts introduced him, Miles was greeted by a standing ovation from the crowd.

A very appreciated Miles talked about how, although his schedule is full at this time of the year, he enjoyed making trips like this to meet the people who are the ‘grass roots’ of LSU’s support.

He also went out of the way to praise the work that the Webster Parish Alumni Association did putting on the event.

Miles said coming to events like this was his way of sharing the National Championship with the fans.

“I know LSU brings  so much pride to the people of Louisiana,” he said. “I’m here to share that feeling with you.”
Miles said that even though his mind is totally on the upcoming ‘08 season, he knows that people want to go back and relive the ‘07 season.

He said he remembers being asked when he first thought the ‘07 team could be special, and he remembered his answer.

“Way back last summer,” he said. “When I saw Matt Flynn taking a leadership role with his teammates during the 7 on 7 sessions, working with his receivers. Seeing Jacob Hester working hard to have his best senior season possible. Watching Glen Dorsey as a person, working hard during the summer, made me sure that the leadership on the team would be there. So, I knew we’d have a great fall.”

Miles also briefly talked about last season, starting fast at Mississippi State and against Virginia Tech.

He also talked about the Tigers big home win over Florida.

“It was a dog-fight,” Miles said. “Went for it on fourth down five times and got them. Late in the game, we were moving the ball, but it seemed like we we stalled around midfield, and then they announced that Stanford had beaten USC.”

Miles stated that the stadium erupted with noise.

“That was more noise than I had ever heard,” he said. “I didn’t know what was going on. But I tell you what, that eruption helped our team.”

Miles spoke about the up and down nature of the rest of the season with the losses to Kentucky and Arkansas and the wins over Auburn and Tennessee in the SEC  Championship Game.

He also spoke of the controversy of ESPN’s report that came out the day of the SEC  Championship game that he was leaving LSU for Michigan.

“At first, I didn’t know what was happening,” he said. “My Blackberry started buzzing, and I was getting messages from Louisiana that said, ‘Sorry you’re leaving’, and some from Michigan saying, ‘Glad you’re coming.’ I even got some from Louisiana saying, ‘Glad you’re leaving, but we’ll miss you.’ I don’t like speaking to the media right before a game, but I had to do it. My team knew the truth, but I didn’t want the team bothered by anything or nobody outside the team. I didn’t like people trying to undermine my team before their biggest game of the year.”

Then Miles touched on two special moments from after the National Championship Game. A couple of hours after the game, after doing ESPN GameDay, Miles was asked to bring the Crystal Football trophy to the French Quarter.
“I didn’t think anybody would be there,” he said. “After all, it was Monday night and people had to go to work the next day. Well, we left the hotel, where there was nobody around, and we had a police escort, I couldn’t believe it. But when we got to Bourbon Street, it looked like there were 50,000 people there. I held up the Crystal Ball and they went wild, it was wonderful.

“Then, the next morning around 9 a.m.,” Miles continued, “I was down in the concierge area, getting some coffee and my cell phone rang. A women’s voice asked, ‘Is this coach Miles?’ I wanted to tell her she should know, since she dialed the number, but I didn’t. I said yes, and then she said please hold for the President of the United States. So, that was nice.”

Miles talked about this year’s team, highlighting each position. He said not to let the inexperience at quarterback fool you, there is plenty of talent there with Andrew Hatch, Jarrett Lee and Jordan Jefferson.

He talked about all the talent in the backfield and at receiver, and about the veteran offensive line. He also talked about the defense and how strong it would be this season, especially with what he called “The best defensive line in the country.”

Miles also talked about this year’s tough upcoming schedule and then wished the school’s baseball team luck in their game Thursday night (that eventually got rained out). He also talked about his family and how they love Louisiana and that around them, he’s just dad.

He also fired up the crowd when he said he couldn't foresee his Tigers not winning the west, and not winning the SEC Championship against a Florida or Georgia team they had already beaten earlier in the year.

After a brief question and answer period, Miles posed for pictures and then rushed off for another appearance.

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