Communist Football

January 10th, 2011 at 4:25 PM ^

If DB wants it done. Note Les' comments after the Cotton Bowl -- he was clearly trying to signal to DB that he was interested.
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<br>In 2008, right after RR was hired, Les spoke to RR and/or RR's parents and told them that Mich was Les' dream job and that he was envious of RR. (This was reported in the News and or Free Press IIRC).
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<br>Les is not turning down M. The question is, is DB turning down Les?

joeyb

January 10th, 2011 at 1:44 PM ^

No, but it makes sense for Brandon to publicly acknowledge a meeting with him if he is going a different direction. That allows for him to say that he interviewed candidates from the Michigan family but felt that this was the best direction for our program. This would eliminate any rumors that we screwed things up with Miles and would make certain that we got the coach that we wanted.

Bodogblog

January 10th, 2011 at 1:21 PM ^

this is a really big deal.  He certainly wants to be offered the job, otherwise today's announcement would have been that he's staying at LSU. 

Also sounds like he legitmately may be in the dark - do they want to talk to me to get feedback on a candidate, or do they want to give me the job?  Quite strange.  Seems like each side is protecting itself - Les doesn't want to be spurned, neither does M.  Couldn't they have settled this over a cup of coffee - it's all in the family. 

Very curious - did DB want him to publicly acknowledge this?  If so, why?  If the two sides really haven't talked, then Miles couldn't have cleared this presser with DB.  Fragile negotiations have fallen apart over less (no pun intended)

blueandthrough

January 10th, 2011 at 1:02 PM ^

He seems completely passive in his response but he has a lot to consider and he can't appear too anxious about a job he may not get/take. He has to manage the expectations of the LSU fans and those of his family (wife has made comments that she does not want a return to A2).

lincboe

January 10th, 2011 at 1:02 PM ^

what Les Miles of LSU releases to the public. All along my guess has been that DB HAD to meet with Les Miles. If he didn't he'd be crucified when he hired Hoke because a large contingency would surely feel that Les Miles was an attainable and better option.

Les Miles loves Michigan so if DB comes calling he won't scorn him by refusing to take the meeting. What will probably happen if DB really does have his heart set on Brady Hoke is he will talk to Les about what he thinks of Brady Hoke, and treat this "interview" as more of a consultation. Miles will then use the meeting to get a contract extension and come out publicly and say he'd love to finish his career an LSU Tiger and then DB will have covered his ass by talking to Les Miles.

coachclen

January 10th, 2011 at 1:08 PM ^

you have thought this one out, I disagree.

I don't think DB has time to play these games. He would not wait 5 days just to make it look like he was interrested in a candidate and then hire someone else. Miles is a legit candidate. Whether he accepts or not, who knows, but I'd say it is more likely that a deal is in place rather than this is all for show.

CAwolverine

January 10th, 2011 at 2:07 PM ^

I would have agreed with you if DB hadn't fumbled the RR dismissal in the beginning. DB does not let common sense enter the picture. If he did, he would not have waited until the last possible moment to get rid of RR. Doing so has imploded a top 20 recruiting class, (arguably top 10) with the loss of 4 top players at positions of serious need (Hart, Frost, Lyons, Zettel).

Gameboy

January 10th, 2011 at 1:03 PM ^

It is highly unlikely for a high profile coach like Les to admit interviewing. That pretty much means that all the details have been pretty much worked out and all there is left is the face-to-face meeting.

Wow, I really didn't think the old guards at UM would do such an about face. Shocking!

Gameboy

January 10th, 2011 at 1:12 PM ^

Stuff like this is controlled by the agents, not the coach himself.

A press release like this sent when all the pieces are in place and the final interview is taking place (and even with that only if there are provisions forcing them to announce the interview publicly). Nobody likes to lose face and no one announces that they are interviewing unless they have to (lower profile guys would do it to show that high profile programs are interested in them).

Unless something goes terribly wrong between DB and Miles, this should be a done deal.

jhackney

January 10th, 2011 at 1:05 PM ^

I wonder this. If we do end up with Miles, how much was spent and how many candidates were "vetted" by DB's outsourced "firm"? I want to know how much was paid for a firm to tell DB that Les Miles was a viable candidate. I wonder if those details will ever be released? Maybe DB needs a CFO to help him out.

jhackney

January 10th, 2011 at 2:08 PM ^

Yikes. I don't know all that went on, but I am pretty sure we didn't have to pay a guy to tell us Les Miles is a possible candidate. If they wanted a middle man, give me the script, $50, and a couple free pizzas and done deal.

jfoust81

January 10th, 2011 at 1:05 PM ^

Folks over at the LSU board seem to have come to the conclusion from that video that Miles will accept the Mich offer as long as it is not an insulting offer. Looking like there will be an announcement at the bball game Wed. is a possibility after all. Just curious as to who the coach coming out of the tunnel will be....

PurpleStuff

January 10th, 2011 at 1:05 PM ^

I understand Miles is insane, but why would you not have all this shit done behind closed doors if you were going after him?  Either he just wants more dough from LSU or he is a total lunatic.  Or both.

Tauro

January 10th, 2011 at 1:09 PM ^

I am not so sure.  His wording about his family and his discussions with underclassmen can be read to mean he is not moving.  It was just - strange.  It seemed like he was saying "Yes, we will meet, but nothing will come of it." without actually saying so.

Raoul

January 10th, 2011 at 1:17 PM ^

This is a meeting that people are assuming is an interview, but after it's over there's a good chance the participants will still call it a "meeting" and say that Brandon was simply picking Miles's brain about other candidates. Note also that Miles says he won't speculate about the subject of the meeting.

Gameboy

January 10th, 2011 at 1:21 PM ^

That is exactly what they will say if the interview does not go well or some hitch happens during the final negotiation.

You have to leave a room for saving face if things do not go well. You would not say you are meeting with another school for a job unless you are actually interviewing. There are too many negatives to do so.

Blue2000

January 10th, 2011 at 1:27 PM ^

If that's true, why would Miles hold a presser to confirm the meeting?  And if Brandon wanted to pick Miles' brains about other candidates (which to me seems absurd), why would he (or his representatives) have to meet Miles in person to do so?  I think Miles tried to keep it as vague as possiblewithout committing either way.  Even he was definitely going to turn us down, he could have either 1) not agreed to a meeting with Brandon; or 2) said in his presser that he's LSU's coach, and he wouldn't take the UM job even if it was offered to him.  He didn't do either of those things.

Raoul

January 10th, 2011 at 2:15 PM ^

You make some good points here. One thing to keep in mind is that Miles can't meet with Michigan in secret because his contract has a clause in it that says he has to give his AD 24-hour notice before any such meeting can take place. Once he notifies the AD, word is going to get out anyway.

I just think it's possible that Miles is trying to walk a fine line here. He wouldn't want to embarrass Michigan by flatly turning the job down, so he agrees to an "meeting"/"interview" that can later simply be called a meeting. Its just a theory based on something that was in a Times-Picayune story:

The person close to the situation at LSU acknowledged that Miles might be willing to talk to his alma mater, but that he was more likely see[k]ing a way not to embarrass Michigan by turning down the job.

"My impression is that he'd like to say 'No,' without saying 'No,'" he said. "He doesn't want to be on the list of people who turned him (Brandon) down."