Leslie Edwin "Les" Miles (born November 10, 1953 in
Elyria, Ohio) is an
American college football coach and the current head coach of
Louisiana State University football team. Prior to holding that position, he was head coach at
Oklahoma State. He was formerly an assistant at
Oklahoma State University as well as with the
University of Michigan, the
University of Colorado and the
Dallas Cowboys. Miles has held the head coaching position at LSU since January 2005 and coached the Tigers to a win in the
2008 BCS National Championship Game against
Ohio State, 38–24.
Playing and assistant coaching career
Miles earned all-state honors in football at Elyria High School in Ohio as well as letters in baseball and wrestling. He attended the
University of Michigan where he was a two year letterman under Coach
Bo Schembechler from 1974 to 75. In 1980, Miles returned to Michigan as an assistant coach to Schembechler. He left Michigan in 1982 to coach at the
University of Colorado where fellow Michigan assistant
Bill McCartney had just been named head coach. Coincidentally, one of his fellow assistants on the Colorado staff was another future LSU head coach,
Gerry DiNardo, who coached at LSU from 1995–99.
He returned to Michigan in 1987 where he helped lead the team to eight consecutive winning seasons and bowl appearances, including four Rose Bowl appearances. After Gary Moeller's resignation, Miles left Michigan again to join former Colorado assistant Bob Simmons staff at Oklahoma State as offensive coordinator. A rift with the University of Michigan occurred near the time of Moeller's resignation, forcing him to seek employment elsewhere. During the 1998 through 2000 seasons he was the tight ends coach for the NFL's Dallas Cowboys.
Head coaching career
Oklahoma State
Miles returned to Oklahoma State in 2001 as head coach. In the three years prior to Miles's arrival in Stillwater, the Cowboys finished 5–6, 5–6, and 3–8. Oklahoma State posted another losing record (4–7) in Miles's first season at the helm, but subsequently achieved winning records during each of the following three seasons - 8–5, 9–4, and 7–5, respectively. His last three seasons at Oklahoma State ended in invitations to the Houston, Cotton, and Alamo Bowls, respectively.
During the last game of Miles's first season as head coach, OSU faced Oklahoma, who was ranked #4 in the nation. Despite the fact that OSU was facing Oklahoma on the road, Miles led his team to a 16–13 upset victory over the Sooners (who ended up finishing the season ranked #6 after winning the Cotton Bowl Classic).
During Miles's second season, OSU again ended the regular season with a game against Oklahoma. This time Oklahoma was ranked the #3 team in the country. And yet again, Miles led his team to a 38-28 upset victory over the Sooners (who ended up finishing the season ranked #5 after winning the Rose Bowl). As a result of his teams performance during his second year, Miles was named the Big 12 Conference Coach of the Year by the Associated Press in 2002.
LSU
after a kickoff return against Ole Miss.]]
On January 2, 2005, Miles was named the 32nd head coach of Louisiana State University. He replaced
Nick Saban, who had left LSU to take over the
Miami Dolphins. In August 2005, days before Miles was to make his debut as the coach of LSU,
Hurricane Katrina struck southern Louisiana. LSU's first game, a home date against
North Texas, was postponed until later in the season. The Tigers second game, against
Arizona State, was moved from
Baton Rouge to
Tempe because the LSU campus was still serving as an emergency center for Hurricane Katrina relief. The conference opener against the
University of Tennessee was also delayed, this time because of
Hurricane Rita. The game was played two days late.
In his first season as coach LSU won the 2005 SEC Western Division title with a 10-1 regular season record – including wins over #15 Arizona State (9/10/05), #11 Florida (10/15/05), #16 Auburn (10/22/05) and #4 Alabama (11/12/05). LSU's only regular season loss was an upset at home to #10 Tennessee (9/26/05). In the Tennessee game, after building a 21–0 lead at halftime, the Tigers failed to score another touchdown and lost to UT 30–27 in overtime. In the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta, Georgia, the #3-ranked LSU Tigers, though favored, lost to #13 Georgia 34–14. LSU recovered to win the 2005 Peach Bowl with a 40-3 romp of the #9-ranked Miami Hurricanes. Miles finished his first season at LSU with an 11-2 record, a #6 ranking in the USA Today Coaches Poll, and a #5 ranking in the AP Poll.
In 2006, LSU finished the regular season with ten wins (10-2), and ended the season with six straight wins. 2006 marked the first time in LSU history that the Tigers finished with back-to-back 10-win seasons. Miles was able to do this in spite of his team playing its four toughest games on the road. All four games were against teams ranked in the top eight when the game took place, with three of the teams in the top five (Auburn, Florida, Arkansas). LSU split those four games, losing to Auburn and Florida, but beating Tennessee and Arkansas. LSU did not win the SEC West title, finishing one game behind Arkansas. However, the Tigers were ranked ahead of Arkansas at the end of the regular season, and were rewarded with an invitation to face Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl where they defeated the Irish 41–14. LSU finished the 2006 season ranked #3 overall in both the AP and ESPN polls.
.]]
In 2007, Miles gained national attention due to numerous unconventional play calls during nationally televised games. LSU was ranked #1 twice during the regular season, but lost at #17 Kentucky in triple overtime 43-37 before losing its final regular season game at home to unranked Arkansas 50-48, also in triple-overtime. As of the end of the 2007 regular season, which featured victories over six different coaches with national championships, Miles' record as head coach at LSU is 34-6. Coincidentally, the 2007 regular season also ended with a loss to Arkansas in a game marked by several of Miles' hallmark unconventional calls. Despite the loss, LSU would go on to the SEC championship game. On the day of the SEC championship game, Kirk Herbstreit wrongly reported on ESPN's College GameDay that Les Miles had accepted an offer to succeed Lloyd Carr as the head coach at the University of Michigan. LSU officials quickly responded to Herbstreit's announcement and confirmed that Les Miles would not be taking the Michigan position and would be staying at LSU. Miles cleared up any confusion himself in a last minute press conference to reporters saying,
"There was some misinformation on ESPN and I think it's imperative that I straighten it out. I am the head coach at LSU. I will be the head coach at LSU. I have no interest in talking to anybody else. I've got a championship game to play, and I am excited about the opportunity of my damn strong football team to play in it. That's really all I'd like to say. It was unfortunate that I had to address my team with this information this morning. With that being done, I think we'd be ready to play. There will be no questions for me. I represent me in this issue. Please ask me after. I'm busy. Thank you very much. Have a great day."
The speculation resurfaced two weeks later when The Detroit Free Press reported that Michigan athletic director Bill Martin and university president Mary Sue Coleman spoke with Miles directly over the phone a few days after he signed a contract extension with LSU. In response to the report, Miles issued a statement acknowledging the conversation, but claimed that he was merely offering advice and assistance to Martin on Michigan's search and that he is not a candidate for the vacancy. Miles reaffirmed his commitment to stay at LSU, declaring "I'm going to be the coach at LSU next season." Any remaining speculation that Miles would still consider the job ended on December 16, 2007 when West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez accepted the head coaching job at Michigan.
Michigan head coach speculation 2011
The speculation was renewed three years later when Michigan fired Rodriguez on January 5, 2011. Michigan officials met with Miles in Baton Rouge about the Wolverines' coaching vacancy on January 10, shortly after the LSU Tigers coach said he is "extremely happy" with his current job. "A source tells colleague Joe Schad of ESPN that if offered the Michigan job, Miles would accept. Michigan is willing to ante up for its next coach, and Miles could expect an offer of more than $4 million a year." However, Miles again decided to remain at LSU.
Controversy
In 2010, Miles was the subject of numerous allegations of
oversigning. Oversigning, in the context of college football, refers to the practice of accepting more binding
letters of intent than a program has the capacity to accept within the
NCAA mandated limit of 85 scholarships per season. To narrow their football rosters down to 85, programs may ask players to accept a deferred scholarship at a later date ("grayshirt") or may reneg on their offer altogether, even after a player has enrolled in their school. In other instances, players already on scholarship may have their scholarships revoked to make room for incoming players.
In August, with his program at the 85 scholarship limit for the year, Miles asked two recruits, Elliot Porter and Cameron Fordham, to grayshirt in the fall semester and accept their scholarships in the spring of 2011. Fordham accepted the offer, but Porter decided to leave the school. He ultimately received a scholarship from Kentucky. A third player, Houston Bates, was also asked to grayshirt and decided not to attend LSU, instead signing with Illinois. In December, ESPN's Outside the Lines broadcast a report in which former LSU quarterback Chris Garrett claimed Miles and LSU lied about the circumstances surrounding the school's decision not to renew Garrett's scholarship and Garrett's subsequent departure from LSU.
Head coaching record
References
External links
LSU profile
Category:1953 births
Category:Living people
Category:American football offensive linemen
Category:Colorado Buffaloes football coaches
Category:Dallas Cowboys coaches
Category:LSU Tigers football coaches
Category:Michigan Wolverines football coaches
Category:Michigan Wolverines football players
Category:Oklahoma State Cowboys football coaches
Category:People from Elyria, Ohio
Category:University of Michigan alumni
![Clap ham Common is an 89 hectare (220 acre) [1] triangular area of grassland situated between Clap ham, Battersea and Balham in south London, England. It was historically common land for the parishes of Battersea and Clap ham, but was converted to parkland under the terms of the Metropolitan Commons Act 1878](http://web.archive.org./web/20110404174045im_/http://cdn.wn.com/pd/aa/70/302f5b1d5c763f01ed900ef9c106_grande.jpg "Clap ham Common is an 89 hectare (220 acre) [1] triangular area of grassland situated between Clap ham, Battersea and Balham in south London, England. It was historically common land for the parishes of Battersea and Clap ham, but was converted to parkland under the terms of the Metropolitan Commons Act 1878")
![Clap ham Common is an 89 hectare (220 acre) [1] triangular area of grassland situated between Clap ham, Battersea and Balham in south London, England. It was historically common land for the parishes of Battersea and Clap ham, but was converted to parkland under the terms of the Metropolitan Commons Act 1878](http://web.archive.org./web/20110404174045im_/http://cdn.wn.com/pd/aa/70/302f5b1d5c763f01ed900ef9c106_thumb.jpg "Clap ham Common is an 89 hectare (220 acre) [1] triangular area of grassland situated between Clap ham, Battersea and Balham in south London, England. It was historically common land for the parishes of Battersea and Clap ham, but was converted to parkland under the terms of the Metropolitan Commons Act 1878")
