Yeoman

September 29th, 2016 at 12:16 AM ^

...the answer is probably no.

My theory goes something like this: the business end of the fanbase was firmly divided into Miles-is-the-obvious-home-run and over-my-dead-body camps. Martin was seriously considering hiring Miles but realized late in the day that the latter camp wasn't kidding. Maybe they convinced him that Miles wasn't a good idea, or maybe he just realized that any hire in the face of that opposition would mean trouble. In any event he decides not to close the deal.

But if he actively turns an interested Miles away at this point it looks like what it probably was--an intervention by the over-my-dead-bodies, which will piss off the pro-Miles crowd if it's seen to be successful. Whichever way he moves, it means a serious rift (or a serious exposure of an existing rift) in the fanbase...and if you don't know why that's bad news, look at Texas.

So he conveniently makes himself unavailable at the critical moment. And half the fanbase is pissed at him, but he can live with that. At least they aren't pissed at each other.

Maybe I'm giving Martin too much credit, but the standard explanation doesn't seem plausible to me. Never assume stupidity when something can be explained by englightened self-interest.

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Mr. Yost

September 28th, 2016 at 2:28 PM ^

Couldn't Miles just say they've offered or he felt they offered him a position with more money...just so LSU pays him more money?

I've seen it done before and usually current employers don't check if the information the employee is saying is true.

I'm not accusing Miles of doing it...I'm saying, isn't it possible?

I'm sure his agent at least talked to Michigan even if they never formally offered.

So if the agent says "Les, they're talking 5 years and $5 million per year with incentives" and Les goes to the AD and says "AD, they're talking 5 years and $5 million per year with incentives."

NO offer has been made, but if you're the AD...doesn't it sound like one has been made or negotiations are pending?

My point is...in a weird way, can't everyone sort of be correct on this one?

Bacon and stick to his sources because no, Michigan never formally offered him. Meanwhile the AD can say "Les and Michigan were talking 5 years and $5 million per year so I offered him 5 years and $5.5 to stay and he accepted my offer and stayed at LSU."

I don't think that's a farfetched idea on how it played out.

 

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FrankMurphy

September 28th, 2016 at 2:30 PM ^

In Three and Out, Bacon says Rich Rodriguez told him about a conversation Rodriguez had with Brandon (late in Rodriguez' tenure when it became increasingly clear Rodriguez would be let go) in which Rodriguez asked Brandon point blank whether Les Miles would succeed him, to which Brandon supposedly replied, "Over my dead body."

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Maul

September 28th, 2016 at 2:57 PM ^

John U Bacon has excellent sources.  Why do people believe the LSU AD in Land of 10 article?  Land of 10 is trying to establish itself, they would write about anything.

By the way, at one of Bacon's recent book events, he was asked about whether Les Miles was considered for the UM job.  His response: the UM Athletic Dept has not treated Les Miles well.  I presume he meant Dave Brandon and/or prior ADs, not Hackett (AD at that time).  JUB seemed dismayed when telling that story.

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FrankMurphy

September 28th, 2016 at 4:44 PM ^

Check out this mgoblog Q&A that Bacon did back during the run-up to Three and Out in 2011. He says that he "kept out more than a few salacious details because they were not sufficiently sourced or they were not relevant to the main questions, and felt like cheap shots." I think that's an oblique reference to the well-known rumor involving Miles from his time on Moeller's staff, which is supposedly what led to Miles being exiled from the family, so to speak. 

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Guy Fawkes

September 28th, 2016 at 1:31 PM ^

I love Les, but there was never really any reason for him to leave LSU those years anyway. His downfall was always the coordinators he had. It all worked out

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Mr Miggle

September 28th, 2016 at 1:38 PM ^

I wouldn't doubt that he convinced LSU's AD that he turned Michigan down. I certainly don't doubt he convinced him that Michigan offered more money.

Did those things actually happen? John Bacon wrote that Brandon said Miles would be hired over his dead body.

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m1jjb00

September 28th, 2016 at 1:50 PM ^

I wouldn't say who cares because it's interesting to see how the Ath Dept. worked, filling in history and seein who lies/lied.  

It could be that Miles jumped ahead to do Michigan a favor to cross them off his list.  It could be a lie.  It could be true.  It might be that Bacon's sources are telling the truth, but there's some middle ground/feeling out process.  When it comes to involving multiple people, ambiguity is sometimes useful to avoid any bruised feelings and allowing for plausible/truthful deniability.  

I count this in the category of unresolved, but it's not a case that I'm chomping at the bit to resolve.  I'm certainly not sweating what could later emerge.

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Hardware Sushi

September 28th, 2016 at 1:56 PM ^

Ha!

I don't believe anything Joe Alleva says as he has proven himself to be a mess when it comes to coaching changes and PR.

I also don't believe anything Brandon says based on many things.

My point: don't care, Harbaugh.

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4yearsofhoke

September 28th, 2016 at 2:15 PM ^

I seriously think Ed Orgeron will be black-balled from any coaching staff if he doesn't lock up the LSU job.

Somehow the guy comes through the weeds at both USC and LSU and takes over the HC job in the middle of the season. At LSU this is after Miles hired him and Miles winning a NC and being competitive in the SEC for quite a bit of time.

Even if Orgeron didn't systematically scheme his way into the HC position at both of these schools, the "coaches fraternity" in college football might blackball the guy from taking their teams from them. Also when USC didn't decide to hire him, I remember the players getting really riled up against the athletic admin.

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Yeoman

September 28th, 2016 at 6:47 PM ^

...he has a decided schematic advantage?

I don't know that I buy any of this with Orgeron, but your version does remind me of Bill Oliver, who really did scheme his way into the interim job at Auburn in Bowden's last year, then retired from coaching when he didn't get the permanent position.

He was a brilliant recruiter too, for what it's worth. Would have fit in perfectly at Mississippi.

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Perkis-Size Me

September 28th, 2016 at 2:06 PM ^

Thank god that happened.

We would've only had a slightly upgraded version of what we had under Hoke: decent to good defense, and an abysmal offense with bad QB coaching.

Meyer would've continued feasting on us for years.



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FrankMurphy

September 28th, 2016 at 2:17 PM ^

On the one hand, the only information about Michigan's alleged pursuit of Les Miles that the LSU AD would have access to would come from Miles himself, and Miles would have ample incentive to overstate Michigan's interest in him to maximize his levearge with LSU. On the other hand, it's totally conceivable that Miles would have turned down Michigan in 2011 because, had he taken the job, he would have left behind a loaded team that would be the presumtive favorite to win the national championship to take over a rebuilding program that ranked in the triple digits on defense and was in the midst of an aborted transition on offense.

But in the end, all's well that ends well.

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bsgriffin1

September 28th, 2016 at 2:24 PM ^

Whether that's true or not, I would of been happy if Les got hired at the particular time. That being said, everything worked out better with what we got now, that's for damn sure.

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bsgriffin1

September 28th, 2016 at 2:24 PM ^

Whether that's true or not, I would of been happy if Les got hired at the particular time. That being said, everything worked out better with what we , that's for damn sure.

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jmblue

September 28th, 2016 at 2:42 PM ^

I don't think this is true.  Brandon didn't like Miles and it's been reported by a few people that his meeting with him was a sham, for the sake of appearances.

I imagine that Les's agent told LSU he was offered the job, though, as a way of shaking them down for more money.

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