Les Miles

Les Miles

Leslie Edwin "Les" Miles (born November 10, 1953 in Elyria, Ohio) is an American college football coach and the current head coach of the 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 has an agreement to coach LSU through 2012. Miles 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

Les Miles congratulates Trindon Holliday 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.

Les Miles celebrates his team's victory in the 2008 BCS National Championship Game.

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 falsely 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. Despite the media distractions, LSU won the 2007 SEC title, beating Tennessee 21–14. The night of LSU's SEC title victory, the teams then ranked number one and two lost allowing LSU to be ranked #2 in the AP, Coaches, Harris, and BCS polls. LSU beat the Buckeyes in the 2008 BCS Championship, 38-24, giving Les Miles his first national championship and LSU its third.

The Mad Hatter

During the 2007 season, Miles received the nickname "The Mad Hatter," in reference to his risky play calling, outspoken nature and defiant attitude. The nickname is also a reference to his trademark white team baseball cap, which he has worn all through his coaching career. In response to his playcalling, Miles stated that "if you have playmakers, you're obligated to turn them loose."

Michigan head coach speculation

Les Miles during the 2007 Auburn vs. LSU game.

Throughout the 2007 season, there was speculation that Les Miles would be a top candidate for the University of Michigan head coaching position if it became available. On the day of the SEC championship game Kirk Herbstreit incorrectly 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.

Head coaching record

Year	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Bowl/playoffs	Coaches#	AP°
Oklahoma State Cowboys (Big 12 Conference) (2001–2004)
2001	Oklahoma State	4–7	2–6	5th (South)
2002	Oklahoma State	8–5	5–3	4th (South)	W Houston
2003	Oklahoma State	9–4	5–3	3rd (South)	L Cotton
2004	Oklahoma State	7–5	4–4	5th (South)	L Alamo
Oklahoma State:		28–21	16–16
LSU Tigers (Southeastern Conference) (2005–present)
2005	LSU	11–2	7–1	1st (West)	W Chick-fil-A	6	5
2006	LSU	11–2	6–2	2nd (West)	W Sugar†	3	3
2007	LSU	12–2	6–2	1st (West)	W BCS NCG†	1	1
2008	LSU	8–5	3–5	3rd (West)	W Chick-fil-A
2009	LSU	9–4	5–3	2nd (West)	L Capital One	17	17
2010	LSU	10–2	6–2	T–2nd (West)	TBD Cotton
LSU:		61–17	32–15
Total:		89–38
National championship         Conference title         Conference division title or championship game berth
†Indicates Bowl Coalition, Bowl Alliance, BCS, or CFP / New Years' Six bowl. #Rankings from final Coaches Poll. °Rankings from final AP Poll.

External links

• LSU profile