Joe Alleva would have been better served keeping quiet

There are a lot of folks at LSU who didn’t care for Joe Alleva when he was the school’s director of athletics.

Now there are fewer.

In the midst of perhaps LSU’s greatest football season ever, Alleva sounded off in an interview with Scott Rabalais of the Advocate.

Why is anyone’s guess.

Alleva should get credit for promoting Ed Orgeron from interim to permanent head coach. Orgeron, with a victory over Clemson in Monday night’s College Football Playoff National Championship in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, would run his winning streak to 16 games and his overall record at LSU to 40-9.

As Rabalais pointed out in his story, Alleva was also responsible for the renovation of the school’s football facility.
It is first class and a real boost to recruiting.

The men’s basketball coach that Alleva hired has won 19 of his last 21 SEC regular season games, but Will Wade’s former boss threw shade on him.

“I got some bad recommendations on that guy,” Alleva is quoted as saying in the story.

The saga of Wade, who was suspended for the post season after refusing to speak to the school about allegedly discussing payments to a prospect, was the end for Alleva.

However, what purpose does it serve to criticize Wade now?

The same can be said for his criticism of former football coach Les Miles.

Alleva and former LSU President F. King Alexander chose to retain Miles at the end of the 2015 season, only to terminate him four games into the 2016 season. Alleva was quoted in the story as saying “the program was stale.” He’s absolutely correct.

But, Alleva wasn’t finished. “Think of all the players Les Miles squandered because he didn’t use them properly,” he said.

To use a Miles phrase, Alleva’s comments are an interesting piece.

Dozens of Miles recruits at LSU have gone to success in the National Football League. Many like Patrick Peterson, Tyrann Mathieu, Jarvis Landry, and Odell Beckham Jr. have reached stardom.

Again, even if you thought this way about Miles, it is incredibly poor to say that publicly.

Miles won a pair of Southeastern Conference titles at LSU, reached two championship games and captured a national championship for the school. He deserves everyone’s respect.

Over the years, I have heard some roars from the crowd at LSU, but few can equal the ovation Miles received during the home finale in 2015.

From the Tiger faithful, it was a moment well done.

The same cannot be said for Alleva.

“Talking to Les Miles was like talking to a wall,” Alleva told The Advocate.

Again, what purpose does that serve to say that now?

Even current Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher was not spared from Alleva’s wrath.

“I have a lot friends in the ACC. I talked to them, and after that I wanted no part of Jimbo,” Alleva said in the story.

Again, why now?

What Alleva should have sad is the following: “I am thrilled for LSU. I am a big Tiger fan Monday night.”

End of story.

In the meantime, can you imagine Skip Bertman or the current director of athletics Scott Woodward ever saying such things about the coaches whether they did or did not hire them?

Of course not.

LSU compensated Joe Alleva very, very well. That is still the case, in fact.

But this week, in the midst of a great week for LSU football, Alleva made himself a headline.

Many at LSU are not surprised.