They told you college sports needed saving. That it needed rules. Structure. Control.
But when has that ever been what put fans in front of television screens? When have 100,000 screaming fans shown up to celebrate proper regulation?
What gets people going in sports is the drama. And what creates drama more so than a villain?
Nick Saban. Tom Brady. Michael Jordan. Tiger Woods. Darth Vader.
These are the great Villains of our generation. You either loved them, or loved to hate them.
These icons were the villains because they did what it takes to win and apologized for none of it.
Enter - LSU.
After the controversial hiring of football coach Lane Kiffin and basketball coach Will Wade, the Bayou Bengals find themselves as public enemy number 1.
They said villains cheat the game. LSU? It changed the game.
You don’t hire safe. You hire chaos.
Will Wade - A name they tried to erase.
Lane Kiffin - The architect of offense… and controversy.
Kim Mulkey - A maverick they love to hate.
Jay Johnson - Cold. Calculated. Relentless. Champion.
That isn’t a coaching staff. It’s a league of mercenaries. They are proven winners who apologize for nothing.
After all, Will Wade was fired from LSU for cheating four years ago. Many would argue that you can’t do that ethically.
“They shouldn’t be allowed.” LSU never asked.
“You can’t do that.” LSU already did.
“They’re ruining the sport.” No, they’re exposing it.
Everyone hates the villain, but I think we really hate what a villain exposes. That winning isn’t something given to the nice guy in the room.
It’s taken by force.
After all, Darth Vader didn’t conquer the galaxy for decades by being the nice guy. Anakin was loved. Vader was feared.
So, for LSU fans, I think the mission is simple: embrace your role as the new villain of college athletics.
If you don’t like being the villain, there’s only one way out - lose enough where they start feeling bad for you.
And LSU didn’t invest $200 million to obtain this coaching staff to do that.
So until that happens, get used to the hate comments from the national media.
Embrace it. Put on that mask, Tiger Fans. Villains don’t play the game - they rewrite it
Every era needs a villain and this one is - Just Different.
