Les Miles officially hired by Kansas
November 18th, 2018 at 11:51 PM ^
Mentions UM as an example of a fine academic institution at around 15:20:
November 18th, 2018 at 11:55 PM ^
November 18th, 2018 at 11:59 PM ^
There is no downside here- he will be able to improve recruiting and maybe win 6-7 games in 2 years.
He will be a hero for making KU football fun in Sept / Oct - nobody cares about November since basketball season starts.
November 19th, 2018 at 12:43 PM ^
All of this may have been said about Weis when he went there, and that was the worst P5 hire of this decade by miles, pun not intended. It’s a bad job for many reasons, and Miles doesn’t offer anything remarkable tactically on either side of the ball. He probably will raise their floor somewhat, but you could argue Beatty finally managed to do that this year. If K-State moves on as well, maybe they can be the top team in that state, but I don’t see this leading them to breaking into the first division of the Big 12.
November 19th, 2018 at 12:05 AM ^
This is a low-pressure job and Les is pretty old. I doubt he sees himself working for that much longer.
November 19th, 2018 at 12:31 AM ^
I wouldn't be surprised if the USC job is open in about a week.
November 19th, 2018 at 12:43 AM ^
There seemed to be little interest in hiring Miles last season. I wouldn't assume there would be so much now. The main knock against him is his age. Turning down his first Power 5 job offer to wait for a marginally better one is a counter intuitive strategy.
Most ADs are looking for a young coach. Look at who Purdue and Maryland did hire last time. That's the norm for Power 5 schools. Kansas came up because of a close relationship to their AD. That alone makes it a better job for Les.
November 19th, 2018 at 3:54 PM ^
The age question is ridiculous. He is very young for 65...
November 19th, 2018 at 1:26 AM ^
Purdue job is already open?
November 19th, 2018 at 7:14 AM ^
Purdue, Maryland and Colorado are already open and many more will be open.
Jeff Brohm to Louisville is still just a rumor, no?
November 19th, 2018 at 9:28 AM ^
He actually has a connection to Colorado. Think they waited too long though to get after him
November 18th, 2018 at 11:55 PM ^
I just don't think this is the play.
November 18th, 2018 at 11:55 PM ^
Still think this is a weird hire. He's 65, how long will he coach 4 years, 5 years?
November 19th, 2018 at 12:21 AM ^
Agreed. Kansas is already in a bad spot, obviously terrible results on the field and only one commit so far in 2019. You bring in Les and he's replacing Beaty, a Sumlin disciple, so the offense is going to have major changes to it. And it's not like Les showed himself to be some coaching mastermind by the end of his LSU tenure, his teams succeeded (when they did) because of the talent he had, not so much his coaching.
Remove the talent and coaching pedigree he had at LSU and you're left with an offensive minded coach who hasn't fielded a good offense in forever. He's not going to have the defensive talent or coaches to pick up for his offensive deficiencies anymore, and even if he recruits KU well he's not going to be bringing in top 25 classes or anywhere close to that. He's going to try and beat P5 teams at their game when he has less talent, fewer resources available, and probably worse coaching. KU and their fans are setting themselves up for big time disappointment here, would have been better off going with some young, innovative, edgy hire who can bring something different to KU over a retread based on name only.
November 19th, 2018 at 1:34 AM ^
At the age of 65, Les is a youngster compared to 79 yr. old Bill Snyder at K-State.
November 19th, 2018 at 12:04 AM ^
It’s a good final gig for an aging coach. Think Howard Schnellenberger at FAU. Makes sense for both Les and Kansas. I’m gonna miss him in the Dos Equis ads. “Rick, hey Rick. Dial up the Dos, right here.”
November 19th, 2018 at 12:19 AM ^
More music and Les Miles!
November 19th, 2018 at 12:59 AM ^
Off to greener pastures. Actually more like prairies.
November 19th, 2018 at 4:57 AM ^
Plenty of grass in them prairies
November 19th, 2018 at 1:16 AM ^
Good for him man, hope he engineers a turnaround.
November 19th, 2018 at 1:39 AM ^
Don't get this move for Les. Unless he truly believes Les is more.
November 19th, 2018 at 1:58 AM ^
I think it a good move. No pressure and stress for an older guy and if he can get the program back to .500, the KU fans will love him. Since I live near by, I will attend some KU games next fall. I always wonder what would have happened if Les was our coach instead of RR. I like the way things have went, since we eventually got Harbaugh.
November 19th, 2018 at 2:45 AM ^
Les Miles is the HC for Kansas...... Congratulations universe, you win - the moon really is made of cheese and is regularly leapt over by various farm animals.
November 19th, 2018 at 5:49 AM ^
A bizarro world hire for the Big XII. A coach who emphasizes all defense and no offense.
November 19th, 2018 at 6:36 AM ^
I struggle to imagine scenarios in which this ends well
November 19th, 2018 at 6:48 AM ^
I kind of like this hire. For Les, if he can make KU competitive, he's a hero. For KU, the long term hope should be that Les brings in young assistants who will energize the program and provide a coaching tree to eventually replace him. Hope Les is willing to approach things differently than he did at LSU. As others have pointed out, he won't have the same type of talent as he had at LSU. Going to need to take some chances (especially on offense) to get things turned around. Should be fascinating to watch.
November 19th, 2018 at 8:03 AM ^
Agreed. It's actually a win-win situation. This is a low expectation, no place to go but up job for a man who has been there and done that. From the university side you have an established entity who can, very likely, improve/build a program base from which some measure of hope can be garnered.
November 19th, 2018 at 7:55 AM ^
Our resident MadHatter is now a Kansas fan I assume?
Have to love Les Miles...great guy glad to see him coaching again. When he retires I hope he's on GameDay chewing the grass of the local stadium that week!
November 19th, 2018 at 8:13 AM ^
Would be hilarious if he pronounced it "KAN-SAWWW", because he used to deliberately mispronounce Arkansas, "Arr-kan-SASS"
November 19th, 2018 at 8:14 AM ^
Les seems to love Michigan. I hope he does well at Kansas.
November 19th, 2018 at 9:50 AM ^
Hmmm
He will never coach at M. nor will we schedule Kansas with him there.
just ask Carr or Moeller
Roger K