SEC football media days notes: Les Miles defends LSU's purchase of videos from Willie Lyles' controversial scouting service
HOOVER, Ala. -- LSU coach Les Miles defended his program’s purchase of videos from a controversial scouting service run by Willie Lyles, saying the Tigers needed the package to see game action of recruits.
“The only thing I can tell you is we look for film and video anywhere we can find it,” Miles said. “Those people that provide those services, we need to cover a broad area, and we want to evaluate our guys from a bunch of different spots.”
The Tigers are under investigation by the NCAA for their dealings with Lyles, a talent scout whose recruiting videos have been reported to be outdated and incomplete. The NCAA was already looking into the $25,000 fee Lyles charged Oregon for his services.
LSU paid $6,000 for Lyles’ junior college package, which Miles said was helpful in scouting junior college quarterback Zach Mettenberger.
Whose state?
Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen has made a habit of poking rival to the north Ole Miss at every opportunity, embracing a new billboard campaign on the borders of the state of signs featuring the Bulldogs coach welcoming drivers to “our state.”
Mullen’s Bulldogs have bragging rights, having won the last two Egg Bowls and shot past Ole Miss in the standings (MSU was picked fourth in the West this year; Ole Miss was sixth).
Rebels coach Houston Nutt and his players brushed off the bit of gamesmanship.
“Everybody in Oxford thinks it’s funny,” running back Brandon Bolden said. “If it’s their state, why isn’t the state capital there? Why does everybody else go to Ole Miss?”
Nutt said it hasn’t affected recruiting as much as people like to think. The numbers back him up. Ole Miss had the No. 19 class nationally last year, according to Rivals. Mississippi State was No. 44.
“Using valuable energy on something like that is a waste of time,” Nutt said. “You better be concentrating on recruiting, concentrating on winning, helping your players become a better person and a better football player.”
Auburn gets JUCO commitment
Will Latu, a junior college offensive tackle from the College of the Canyons, has switched his commitment for 2012 from West Virginia to Auburn.
The 6-foot-5, 315-pound Latu committed to the Mountaineers earlier this month before changing his mind.
Originally from St. Petersburg, Fla., he played one year of high school ball before heading to Northern State, a Division II school in South Dakota, where he redshirted. He transferred to College of Canyons in Santa Clarita, Calif., in 2010.
He plans to graduate in the spring before transferring to Auburn, where he’ll have two years of eligibility remaining.
Latu is the Tigers’ 13th commitment for 2012 and their second offensive lineman.
Latu has SEC ties. His cousin, Jon Halapio, is a sophomore at Florida.
This story was originally published July 23, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "SEC football media days notes: Les Miles defends LSU's purchase of videos from Willie Lyles' controversial scouting service."