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There was noticeably less bustle and less attention when the LSU Tigers football team took to the stage at SEC Media Days in 2009, than there was the year before.
Instead of coming to the stage as the defending National Champions, Les Miles and the Tigers walked to the podium as a team coming off their worst season since the '90s, when Gerry DiNardo was the coach of the football program.
With all of the media attention on the defending National Champion Florida Gators in the SEC East, and Alabama and Ole Miss in the SEC West, the Tigers quietly went about their business at SEC Media Days, much like they have since the 2008 season ended.
For as little buzz as surrounded the LSU Tigers team at Media Days, the LSU players and coaches sure don't seem to notice.
"I think the hunger is there more than ever," linebacker Jacob Cutrera said. "From what happened to us last year, that's not our style of play at LSU. That's not how we want to be remembered. We went through the spring hungrier than ever. The intensity was there."
Sure enough, the LSU Tigers defense was ferocious under John Chavis during the spring. But the Tigers aren't content with where they're at.
"Spring has happened. It's gone by," said LSU coach Les Miles. "You can see marked improvement in the defense. I would expect the same this fall."
The Tigers are looking forward to the opportunity to fly under the radar and do what they do best under Miles: win football games.
"I just want to go out a winner. I want to win on the field and win off the field," star offensive tackle Ciron Black said at SEC Media Days.
Black also promised that the LSU Tigers football team would come out with a different level of energy and intensity during the 2009 SEC football season. It's the Tigers' goal to make the painful memories of the 2008 season a distant memory for LSU fans, and to return the program to the national spotlight it has enjoyed for the majority of the decade.
"Right now we're really hungry. We ended the season on a great note with the Chick-fil-A Bowl. That wasn't enough," Black said. "We came into the summer ready to go to work, ready to run. Coach Moffitt was trying to kill us but he wasn't going to break us because we were ready for it. We're going to camp ready to play."
When the Tigers take to the practice field on August 6th, they'll be ready to erase the memories of 2008, and forever etch their names into a new chapter of LSU history.
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SEC Football
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