Les Miles is Michigan bound

**BuddyBear** · 12-01-07, 11:55 AM

Major downgrade in coaching....that should tell you just how bad Les Miles is considering Lloyd Carr was nothing special himself.

**Seattle Slew** · 12-01-07, 12:31 PM

I don't get it either. Miles didn't show much at LSU considering the talent he inherited from Saban.

Originally posted by BuddyBear

Major downgrade in coaching....that should tell you just how bad Les Miles is considering Lloyd Carr was nothing special himself.

**etothep** · 12-01-07, 01:07 PM

Source: Miles to announce he's staying at LSU

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3136391

LSU coach Les Miles will meet with the media at the Georgia Dome before the SEC Championship Game to announce that he is staying at LSU, a source told ESPN.com.

**bigboydan** · 12-01-07, 01:52 PM

ESPN needs to validate there sources a little bit better before posting rumors as accurate sources.

Les Miles just announced that he's now staying at LSU.

**rjt721** · 12-01-07, 02:49 PM

Originally posted by bigboydan

Les Miles just announced that he's now staying at LSU.

Best news ever for UM. This is cause for celebration.

**Wassymac** · 12-01-07, 02:57 PM

Originally posted by rjt721

Best news ever for UM. This is cause for celebration.

I completely agree.

**rjt721** · 12-03-07, 12:22 AM

Martin has said he had 20 candidates in mind, and now he'll need them. Possible choices might include Rutgers coach Greg Schiano, Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe, California coach Jeff Tedford and Missouri coach Gary Pinkel.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pinkel is one of the few coaches that would be a downgrade from Les Miles. That would be a monumental mistake.

Schiano is the guy UM should go after.

**etothep** · 12-03-07, 01:09 AM

Originally posted by rjt721

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pinkel is one of the few coaches that would be a downgrade from Les Miles. That would be a monumental mistake.

Schiano is the guy UM should go after.

or grobe

**clonecat** · 12-07-07, 05:43 PM

Have heard this isn't over yet. Anyone else hear this rumor?

**dwaechte** · 12-07-07, 05:59 PM

Originally posted by clonecat

Have heard this isn't over yet. Anyone else hear this rumor?

I thought he signed an extension with LSU already?

**rjt721** · 12-07-07, 06:12 PM

Originally posted by clonecat

Have heard this isn't over yet. Anyone else hear this rumor?

It's still possible. Miles has never been formally offered the job, and although he signed the extension with LSU yesterday, the buyout option with UM remains in the contract. Schiano was UM's first choice all along, so now that he turned them down they may turn their focus back to Miles (which would be a mistake).

**bigboydan** · 12-07-07, 06:45 PM

Schiano was the guy Michigan was talking to today, but he decided to stay at Rutgers.

**rjt721** · 12-11-07, 01:56 AM

Not again.

Louisiana State coach Les Miles appears to be a Michigan coaching candidate again.

Miles had a phone conversation Friday morning with Michigan athletic director Bill Martin and school president Mary Sue Coleman, according to several people with knowledge of the call.

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Michigan received permission Nov. 28 from LSU athletic director Skip Bertman to speak with Miles, as long as it was after the Dec. 1 SEC championship game. So asking LSU again for permission was not an issue; U-M is believed to have initiated Friday’s call.

LSU athletic director Skip Bertman said Monday night he didn’t know if Miles had had contact with Michigan. But he said he doubted anyone could sway Miles to leave LSU.

“He and Bo Schembechler were real close,” Bertman said. “If Bo Schembechler were alive I doubt he could have got him to go to Michigan. It’s hard for people who don’t live in the South to understand.”

Miles played and coached under Schembechler at Michigan.

While the call between the two sides did not identify Miles as the leading candidate for the coaching vacancy, it did give them a chance to interact formally for the first time and to discuss a number of issues previously handled through intermediaries.

“We’re not going to be discussing anything about recruiting (a new coach) until after the announcement is made,” Coleman’s spokesperson, Kelly Cunningham, said today.

Martin’s representative, associate athletic director Bruce Madej, said U-M is not commenting on the search.

Miles’ agent, George Bass also said he had no comment.

As the Free Press reported in the Dec. 1 newspaper, discussions had occurred between Miles’ side and Michigan representatives in the days leading up to the SEC championship game, enough to identify him as Michigan’s leading candidate.

But Martin was unavailable when Bass, among others, tried to contact him that day. Miles eventually held two news conferences at the Georgia Dome — one before the game, and one after winning it — implying he would stay at LSU.

While Miles did sign an LSU contract extension late last week, adding a year to his deal, his yearly salary — around $2.6 million if he loses the BCS national championship game and close to $3.4 million if he wins it — remains unchanged.
The $1.25-million buyout to leave for Michigan reportedly is still in place.

Bertman said Miles’ amended contract includes free tuition for his children at LSU, academic incentives based on his players’ achievements and a severe penalty — paying off double the remaining years left — if Miles is fired.

“Les made a decision he wanted to stay. He loves Michigan but the truth is, for Les Miles at this time, this is probably a better place,” Bertman said.

Yet those close to Miles insist he has always held Michigan as his dream job and there’s no reason to believe that has changed, especially in light of Miles’ recent national radio interviews, continually pointing out his love for U-M.

“He loves Michigan; he would never say anything bad about Michigan,” Bertman said.

The reason for Michigan’s reconnection with Miles is uncertain but, coming the same day that Rutgers coach Greg Schiano officially withdrew from consideration, the timing shows that Michigan is exploring all possible avenues.

A significant number of former players also made their feelings known they wanted Miles hired via e-mail, letters and phone calls to Martin, Coleman and the Board of Regents following the SEC title game.

Hiring Miles would be a bit more challenging for Michigan now, though. The morning of Dec. 1, the chances of Miles’ LSU team playing for the national championship were distant. LSU would have to win the SEC title game that afternoon and two teams ahead of the Tigers, West Virginia and Missouri, would have to lose that night.

All three occurred.

Now, if Michigan is to hire Miles, it probably could not do so until after the Jan. 7 BCS title game, when LSU faces No. 1 Ohio State in New Orleans.

Three weeks after Lloyd Carr retired, on Nov. 19, Michigan, at least publicly, appears no closer to a decision on his replacement.

**ChuteBoxe** · 12-11-07, 02:08 AM

If Miles really is staying at LSU, he better sign that contract at least a week before the National Championship. This can really mess with some players' heads.

**clonecat** · 12-11-07, 09:00 AM

I was beginning to think my source was full of crap until I saw the article this morning

**tryintogetpaid** · 12-11-07, 09:51 AM

He signed a contract already - through 2012....

Miles signs extension to stay with LSU through '12

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3144459

LSU coach Les Miles has signed a contract extension that will keep him with the Tigers through 2012.

BATON ROUGE, La. -- LSU head football coach Les Miles signed a contract extension Thursday to keep him at the university through 2012 and end speculation that Miles might leave for a job at the University of Michigan.

**clonecat** · 12-11-07, 09:56 AM

He does have a signed contract, but still has the Michigan buyout in the extension

**The Seer** · 12-11-07, 11:09 AM

I had an assistant SEC coach (who by the way got fired last week) tell me Miles will go to Michigan after the Nat. Ch. game. Nobody really knows. We'll just have to see how it plays out.

**clonecat** · 12-11-07, 12:09 PM

Originally posted by The Seer

I had an assistant SEC coach (who by the way got fired last week) tell me Miles will go to Michigan after the Nat. Ch. game. Nobody really knows. We'll just have to see how it plays out.

I think he acted like he wasn't going to take the job so the pollsters would keep them in the National Championship Game. I think that if they knew he was leaving they may have voted another team ahead of them.

**rjt721** · 12-11-07, 01:58 PM

Originally posted by tryintogetpaid

He signed a contract already - through 2012....

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3144459

His recent contract extension means nothing. His buyout clause to UM remains the same. The longer this plays out, the more likely it is that he'll end up at UM. If UM is still without a coach come New Year's, that would be a pretty strong indication Miles is headed there, as he's not going to leave LSU until after the national championship game.

**moses millsap** · 12-11-07, 02:04 PM

He's definitely going; I never believed him for one second. A Mayweatheresque lock.

**BadNina** · 12-11-07, 03:51 PM

If you remember correctly, Nick Saban said for well over a month that he was NOT going to coach at Alabama. But the story never went away and was ultimately proven to be correct.

**Louisvillekid1** · 12-11-07, 04:32 PM

Of course he is going, After he wins this the BCS with LSU what more can he do there? . . He will go back to his alma Mater , But it's ridic how contracts mean nothing!. . .Wasn't there a time when that peice of paper was binding? . . . Petrino signed a 10year deal before he left.

**BadNina** · 12-11-07, 04:33 PM

It took a lot more time to chisle in stone...

(j/k)

**rjt721** · 12-14-07, 06:13 PM

Looks like UM has turned its attention to Rich Rodriguez.

Michigan has a new leading candidate to be its new football coach: West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez.

Rodriguez met with Michigan athletic director Bill Martin and school president Mary Sue Coleman in Toledo today to discuss the open position, two people at U-M confirmed to the Free Press. The Sporting News first reported the meeting this afternoon.

Rodriguez, who is set to make $1.8 million this season according to a USA Today study of coaches' contracts, signed a second amendment to his contract in August 2007. His contract now runs through the 2013 season.

The major obstacle to a potential deal could be his buyout clause, which stands at $4 million if he leaves Morgantown, W. Va., before Aug. 31, 2008. That was part of the amendment signed last year that boosted his pay from its previous total of around $1 million.

After Rodriguez flirted with Alabama almost exactly a year ago, with some reports even stating he had accepted the job, he decided to remain at his alma mater. At the time, that contract offer was reported to be six years, $12 million.

His career record is 60-26. The Mountaineers have won at least 10 games in each of the past three seasons and are headed to the Fiesta Bowl to face Oklahoma this year after just missing out on a trip to the Bowl Championship Series national title game when they lost the season finale to Pittsburgh.

Rodriguez has coached West Virginia since the 2001 season, after coaching as an offensive coordinator under Tommy Bowden first at Tulane in 1997-98 and then 1999-2000 at Clemson.

He played three seasons at West Virginia under legend Don Nehlen, a former Michigan assistant under Bo Schembechler.

**bigboydan** · 12-16-07, 02:33 PM

Reports I've read today are saying that he might be the guy too RJT.