Why LSU is embracing ‘dark side of being a villain’ after Alabama loss

BATON ROUGE – Less than 48 hours after dropping a big game to rival Alabama at home, LSU football displayed new messaging around the football facility building Monday morning.

The No. 22-ranked Tigers (6-3, 3-3) suffered their third loss of the season, putting their hopes to earn a berth to the College Football Playoff in severe jeopardy. For a roster reportedly valued around $50 million, first-year head coach Lane Kiffin that the university signed up to invest more than $90 million in over the next seven years and a coaching staff that ranks among the highest-paid in college football, there were high expectations.

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In year one, Kiffin and his team haven’t quite lived up to that. So instead, LSU appears to be sinking into the “Dark Side.”

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Here’s the top of the message that is displayed on every projector screen and TV monitor in the building:

“To every player and employee: You just experienced something that comes with being at LSU. When you win, everybody loves you. When you lose, everybody has an opinion. The media questions you. The fans criticize you. People who have never done what you do tell what you can’t do,” the screens say.

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“Welcome to LSU and the dark side of being a villain.”

Kiffin wants his players to block out the “noise,” or whatever narratives are being pedaled around about their from those outside the ops building.

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LSU vs Alabama football at Tiger Stadium gallery, our best photos

LSU was favored by nearly a touchdown against Alabama and it lost by three scores. The LSU coach told reporters during his weekly press conference Monday that the new messaging to his players is important because they can’t afford to let the Alabama loss linger and let criticism of what the team does and how they operate affect them.

“I just spent time with them today discussing that, ‘Hey, you can’t listen to the noise,'” Kiffin said. “One of the hardest things to do is letting go of the previous outcome. That’s hard both ways when you got to let go of good, too. This is going to be the ‘everything we do is wrong’ noise. We lost to Alabama, especially the final score looking the way it did and it’ll be ‘They’re not playing you enough, they should be throwing you the ball more of each of them individually.’ This is what happens when you lose.

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“‘The basketball hoop is stupid and they shouldn’t have a little kid on a smoke machine.’ I just know all that’s what comes when you lose and when you win, it’s all good. Just making sure they understand not to listen to that. The loss at Tiger Stadium. Yeah, that’s bad and I feel bad for our fans, for the state. We’re supposed to win. We’re certainly not supposed to score 13 points in a game ever.”

LSU looks to bounce back against No. 8 Texas (7-2, 4-2) inside Tiger Stadium Saturday, Nov. 21. This will be the second straight weekend the Tigers will host a top-10 team for an opportunity to find a quality win on a season that’s thin on them to this point.

It’s why, to Kiffin, the shift in messaging is key for LSU this week.

“That’s the first time actually being a part of a home loss in three years. That’s not the expectations we have, what we’re used to,” Kiffin said, “and not what it’s going to be like here.”

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Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Why LSU is embracing ‘dark side of being a villain’ after Alabama loss

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