It looks like Kansas is looking for a new football coach after all. About three days after placing Les Miles on administrative leave, Kansas has decided to let Les Miles go as the Kansas football head coach. The Jayhawks had made this decision on late Monday (March 8, 2021) evening. This is the following statement from Jeff Long, the athletic director for Kansas:
The University of Kansas and Les Miles have mutually agreed to part ways effective immediately.
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— Kansas Jayhawks (@KUAthletics) March 9, 2021
On behalf of LSU on Thursday (March 4, 2021), a released report showed that Les Miles was accused of inappropriate behavior towards female students. According to the internal investigative report released by LSU, Les Miles texted the female students, taking them to his condo alone, making them feel uncomfortable, and on at least one occasion, kissing at least one student and suggesting they go to a hotel after telling her he could help her career. The report found Les' behavior as inappropriate.
LSU also ordered him to stop hiring student employees to babysit, discontinue being alone with them, and attend eight, one-hour sessions with an attorney and pay for these attorney sessions out of his own pocket. If Miles repeated his behavior, LSU said in the letter that he would lose his job and violate his contract. LSU tried to fire Les Miles in 2013, but they failed to do so.
The LSU athletic department staff also accused Miles of saying that the female student workers needed to be attractive, blonde and fit in order to lure top recruits, according to the investigative report. The internal investigative report details that the existing student employees not meeting Les' criteria should be given fewer hours or terminated. Even though Miles denied that the kissing happened, the investigators wrote that, "it appears that he has shown poor judgment."
After his playing career as a Guard at TTUN from 1972-75, Les Miles first got into a coaching career under Bo Schembechler's staff at TTUN in 1980. He left TTUN and served as the Offensive Line coach at Colorado. He then returned to TTUN to coach the offensive line as well. He became an offensive coordinator at Oklahoma State from 1995-97 and then went to the NFL and coached the Tight Ends with the Dallas Cowboys from 1998-2000. Les Miles returned to Oklahoma State and started his college football head coaching career in 2001. After a losing season (4-7, 2-6 in Big 12 play) in his first head coaching season, he led the Oklahoma State Cowboys to several bowl game appearances, going 24-14 after his first season, including going 14-10 in Big 12 play and just 1-2 in bowl games.
LSU hired Les Miles in 2005. He led LSU to a 2007 National Championship Season (finishing the 2007 season at 12-2) and also took them to another BCS title game appearance in 2011, only to be shut out by the rematch against Alabama 21-0. Since their 2012 BCS National Championship game appearance, LSU lost at least three games every season. After starting the season 2-2 in 2016, LSU fired Les Miles. Miles finished his LSU coaching career at 114-34 overall, including going 62-28 in SEC play and 7-4 in bowl games (which includes going 1-1 in the BCS National Championship Game). About three years later, Miles would get to coach college football again when Jeff Long from Kansas hired him in 2019. However, Kansas football was still mediocre, going just 3-18 overall, and 1-16 in Big 12 play.
With Kansas deciding to part ways with Les Miles and the internal investigative report released from LSU three days prior to KU's decision, it looks like Les Miles' coaching career is potentially occluded. Even though Les Miles has denied the kissing of the female student, this is definitely not a good look for him if he wants to continue to coach college football. Kansas has a "just cause" to end its agreement with Miles if the coach has "discreditable evidence that is inconsistent with the professional standards expected of a head coach of a collegiate sports team." KU can also use the "just cause" for "participation in by head coach of any act, situation, or occurrence, or any conduct, which in Athletics of KU's judgment brings Head Coach and/or KU into public disrepute, embarrassment, contempt, or ridicule ..." Mike DeBord, who was hired last month as Kansas' offensive coordinator, was appointed to run the program after Miles was placed on leave. He will continue to serve as the acting head coach until an interim head coach (and/or potentially a new head coach) is determined.
Sources:
Full LSU Internal Investigation:
https://beta.documentcloud.org/documents/20499304-lsu-miles
USA Today Reports:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/investigations/2021/03/04/es-miles-b...
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/investigations/2021/03/05/les-miles-...
First Broke:
https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/31030339/les-miles-kans...
