Revisionist history

Former LSU coach John Brady, now at Arkansas State, spoke Monday at the Downtown Tip-Off Club in Little Rock, Ark.

Brady, it seems, is doing a little bit of revisionist history when it comes to his time at LSU.

Among his remarks: "I will never apologize for the 10½ years I was there. I left there in the right way. I feel good about it. They’re still paying me for three more years. So it all worked out."

The reason "they're still paying me for three more years'' is because of a mistake in extending his contract to the length it was extended.

Then there is this: "A coach gets fired when the program’s in disarray. That program’s not in disarray."

Maybe not in disarray, but consider the words of LSU coach Trent Johnson from Monday's SEC teleconference: "These guys have done an excellent job of changing the negativity and the culture of the basketball program.''

OK, so maybe the program wasn't in"disarray'' when Johnson took over, but it wasn't like Brady was Dean Smith stepping down at North Carolina.

Look, it's understandable for Brady to be defensive about his tenure at LSU. He inherited a mess with losing teams, NCAA sanctions and a second (or third) sport mentality. He won a couple of SEC titles and made a trip to the Final Four. But there are times when a change is needed and that time had come at LSU.

Brady's coaching career isn't done by any means. He can work his way back up to a power conference with success at Arkansas State.

But it's probably best to leave the past in the past and move ahead.