OPINION

By Mike DeCourcy

updated 9:25 p.m. ET Feb. 8, 2008

Mike DeCourcy

John Brady fought through a few tears to manage a farewell salute to LSU's players, administrators, friends of the Tigers program — and to himself — when he appeared at a press conference Friday to announce his dismissal as head coach.

It'd be mean to say Brady did not have a lot of company in that regard.

So I won't.

Brady did not make a nation of friends during his decade in charge of the Tigers. He had some successful years, some not so successful. He managed to charm enough recruits to give LSU consistently exciting rosters, but he failed to use that persuasive ability to convince anyone he was an outstanding coach.

He tried again Friday, too late to salvage his situation at LSU but perhaps selling himself to potential employers. He pointed out that his tenure began cleaning up someone else's NCAA problems, which was true. He mentioned winning some SEC championships, getting to the Sweet 16 a couple of times and, of course, making it all the way to the 2006 Final Four.

There will be no shortage of capable coaches eager to replace him. Shouting Tim Floyd's name is an automatic reaction, and if Floyd's most urgent desire is to win a national championship, LSU would be a better place for him than USC. If he'd rather continue living in Santa Monica and living a pretty cool existence, it'd be a move that makes no sense.

VCU's Anthony Grant is a natural nominee for any Southeastern Conference job, given his role in building Florida's two NCAA champs and his immediate success with the Rams. But look, too, at what Dave Dickerson has accomplished under dire circumstances at nearby Tulane — and, as an assistant at Maryland, he, too, had a role in building an NCAA champion.

LSU has not been the most extravagant athletic department when it comes to basketball spending, but there's a new practice facility coming and the continued success of the football program means there should be the necessary cash to fund a high-level coaching staff.

Brady got a bit of a raise after the Final Four, an unlikely achievement that probably saved his job that season. It isn't often that a coach finds himself forced out of a job so soon after reaching the college game's biggest stage. Indiana's Mike Davis made it in '02 and resigned under pressure four years later. After getting Ohio State there in '99, Jim O'Brien was dismissed in June '04, but that was the university's reaction to a compliance issue and not a performance matter. What's happening to Brady isn't far from unprecedented.

In the aftermath of the Final Four, though, the Tigers brought back SEC player of the year Glen Davis and three more of the team's top six players and still fell to 17-15. Brady had gambled on volatile point guard Tack Minor returning from a knee injury and helping direct the offense; instead, Minor got himself into serious jeopardy for the second time in his career and wound up leaving the university after playing 16 games.

The Tigers lost eight of the next nine games after he departed.

Is it Brady's fault he had no other lead guard as insurance against Minor again finding trouble?

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Well, yeah.

Is it his fault Tasmin Mitchell was lost for the 2007-08 season after injuring his knee in the third game? Of course not.

Mitchell was LSU's best player, a versatile, dynamic, energetic forward who could hit perimeter jumpshots, score on post-ups or stop an opponent's best scorer.

If it hadn't been for the collapse last season, Brady might have been given some slack this time. If it hadn't been for the collapse in '03-'04, when Jaime Lloreda simply left the team after a foot injury, there might have been more sympathy for last year's collapse.

Man, that's three in five years.

If Brady had given more people a reason to want to like him, perhaps he'd have bought himself a few more seasons to get this right. He did not. So Friday afternoon, he said goodbye. He'll be harder to miss than to replace.

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