Take it from Alabama: LSU needs to embrace change after Les Miles

Five years ago, everything was fine at LSU.

It was the first week of November, and the Tigers were undefeated and No. 1 in the country. The marriage with Les Miles was still going strong, with his quirky Mad Hatter persona more endearing than dumbfounding. His was a program that ran the football and played top-notch defense, and that was more than enough to get by.

Alabama was doing essentially the same thing. Nick Saban had as many national titles at Alabama as Miles had at LSU, and he had a first-year quarterback in AJ McCarron whose specialty was turning and handing the ball off to Trent Richardson. The offensive and defensive lines did all the work, and the Tide were undefeated as well…