Les Miles implied to LSU boosters that Saturday's game against Texas A&M will be his last with the Tigers, per Tiger Rag, Gannett Louisiana and the New Orleans Times-Picayune. ESPN's Joe Schad reports Miles's imminent dismissal is "very likely." The Picayune's Jim Kleinpeter reports boosters got the following impression Friday from Miles' weekly meeting:
Les Miles denies he indicated Texas A&M game will be his last at LSU
After 11 years, three SEC West titles and a No. 2 ranking this very season, the Tigers and Miles appear to be just about done.
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‘He said we’re a second family to him and he’s going to miss us, he appreciates his real friends, and then he told us good bye,’ the source said. ‘It was very emotional but in control.’
Miles told the SEC Network he "had no suggestion that this was going to be my last game in Tiger Stadium," and LSU says he made no indication of resigning (which isn't necessarily what's being reported). ESPN's Mark Schlabach reports Miles thanked the boosters "in case it was" his final game.
Whether Miles is certain this is his last game or not, earlier reports were already indicating his time in Baton Rouge is likely ending soon.
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Few thought of Miles as a great hire at LSU when he was tabbed to replace Nick Saban in the big chair in Baton Rouge in 2005. But he won 11 games in that first season -- and just two years later, Miles matched Saban with a Tigers national title of his own.
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Much of the rest of his tenure was spent churning out excellent teams that were often blocked from title contention by Saban’s Alabama squads. But LSU won 11 games six more times in his 11 years with the Tigers, adding a BCS National Championship Game berth in 2011 to his national title in 2007. The Tigers never won fewer than eight games in a season under Miles before 2015 (LSU can earn win No. 8 against Texas A&M Saturday).
Notably, that 2011 run to the title game produced his only one-loss season with LSU, and the Tigers capped it with an ignominious 21-0 defeat at the hands of an Alabama team it had previously beaten this season. LSU won the SEC just twice under Miles, matching Saban’s two conference titles -- in six fewer seasons than Miles spent on the bayou -- but it also played for the SEC title just three times, often sitting a step or two behind Saban’s Tide in the SEC West.
Miles had been wooed repeatedly by other schools, especially his alma mater Michigan, but signed massive contract extensions and stayed at LSU despite the interest. In January 2011, Miles got a deal that upped bonuses to add to a salary in excess of $3.75 million per year, and he got another extension in late 2012, after Arkansas came calling. A database of coaches’ salaries had Miles making just under $4.4 million in 2015.
LSU’s presumed eventual coaching search figures to center on Florida State’s Jimbo Fisher, a former Tigers offensive coordinator. The ideal candidate is someone a whole lot like Miles, though.
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