Halo

I don't think the fans had much to do with Miles return this season. His payout for not completing his final season was huge and I think LSU was shopping coaches. When the coach they had in mind wasn't interesting - probably Jimbo Fisher - they let him come back.

Regardless, come January 1, Miles will not be on contract at LSU. If LSU extends his contract they are crazy. I have written them off this season. When you see a team make the same mistakes year after year (poor clock managment, back-to-back timeouts taken only to lose 10 yards the next play, depending heavily on a QB without talent while talented players leave the team) it says the head coach has gotta go.

It think it was a numbers game. Les' only chance to renew is to win the SEC West, Beat Bama and at least get into the playoffs. I don't see them winning the west, beating Bama or ever making the playoffs again while Miles is there, so he's probably a lame duck.

K Major

Yeah I can't see Les returning after this year.

He is stubborn and refuses to upgrade an outdated Pro style offense. They should have taken that young, talented coach from University of Houston (Tom Herman) last season.

burningmetal

Well I didn't say anything about the fans influencing his return, but I wouldn't discount the public whining altogether. The boosters were ready to just about write blank checks, from what I understand, but apparently F. King Alexander (school president) got in Joe Alleva's ear and told him to hold off. I still don't know if that last part was ever confirmed, but that was the word from many people around the University.

There was the public outcry about his winning percentage being the highest in LSU's history, blah blah. We all heard that noise. But there was also a lot of teeth gnashing about the buyout being a black eye during the state budget crisis.

Which is totally asinine. These boosters are private parties, not corporate businesses or government officials. We're not talking about tax payer money. If they want to pay a million or a BILLION, that's totally up to them. That really got on my nerves. But the way the whole thing was handled, just made them look like morons. If they hadn't let the cat out of the bag so incredibly early, I think they would have had Jimbo. I can't prove that, but I do think that F. King pressured Alleva and caused him to waffle in the last days, and that caused Jimbo and his agent to lose interest.

It's also certainly possible that Jimbo used LSU as leverage for his new contract with FSU. But to me, I think he could have been had at the right price, and those boosters seemed pretty determined to make it happen. LSU has a huge recruiting advantage being the only major college in the state. Plus he obviously has been here and knows the area.

Alleva screwed up letting it become a public circus, and F.King might have just nailed the door shut. So I blame both of them.

On a side note, Les signed an extension just a couple of years ago, so this is not his last year. He's signed through 2019 at $4.3 Million a year. But again, the boosters were quite ready to pay that. They just never got the chance.

All that aside, I agree that he shouldn't and likely won't be here after this season, unless somehow this team actually turns things around and lives up to expectations. If Miles actually showed an ability to adjust and use his roster properly, I'm all for letting him stay. It's all about winning. But his reputation has always been that he will not adjust, and teams that should be contending for championships are instead losing 3 or 4 games.

Some think that winning 9 games is great. It is, if you are a small school without all the the talent and recruiting advantages that LSU has.

If I had a nickel for every time I heard that, the NFL would fine and suspend me.

burningmetal

I really would have preferred him over Jimbo, as well. But when I heard the Jimbo rumors I was more than willing to accept that, too.

I think IF LSU does fire Miles, they will make a strong push for Herman this time. Houston fans might think he's building something there and that they have all the momentum. He certainly has momentum, but money and resources talk. If he can succeed at a place like Houston, imagine what he could do here. Some guys are wired differently, but if Herman is like most people, I would have to think he'd be very interested.

If I had a nickel for every time I heard that, the NFL would fine and suspend me.