The Firings of Les Miles and Joe Girardi

Many coaches get fired for what appears to be nothing. But I want to focus on two imprudent firings: Les Miles at LSU (college football) and Joe Girardi at the New York Yankees (professional baseball). In both of these cases, it seems like one or two losses sealed their futures at their respective programs.

Les Miles and LSU started the 2016 season with a 2-2 record, which is not so great for the program. The second loss, which was against Auburn, drew censure from the athletic department at the university. However, I don't the Auburn game was really a loss; I think we actually won that game, and the officials made a mistake. Let me explain: LSU was losing 18-13, but had the ball. With as time expired, Danny Etling threw a touchdown pass to DJ Chark to win the game. But the officials said that Etling didn't get the snap off in time, and Auburn won the game. However, I think that the officials were wrong; I think the Etling did get the snap off in time, and that LSU should have won. I also think that if LSU would have beaten Auburn, then Les Miles wouldn't have been fired. This one little loss, which shouldn't have happened, skewed the minds of the LSU athletic department, and thus Les Miles was fired.

Joe Girardi's 2017 firing was really a decision by the Yankees to not renew his contract. However, I don't think this was such a smart move. This decision came after the Yankees made it all the way to the ALCS (the semifinals), but lost to the Astros, who ended up winning the World Series (the championship). Still, Joe Girardi, who was in his ninth year of coaching the Yankees, led his team to the SEMIFINALS, and the Yankees (in my mind) said: "sorry, that's not good enough." I bet that if that Yankees made it to the World Series, Joe Girardi would be returning next season. But no, being the third or fourth best team in the country just isn't good enough for the Yankees.