Advertisement

Axed by LSU Tigers, Les Miles plans to continue coaching

2-2 isn't good enough for Louisiana football, though Miles won a 2007 championship and had a .770 record in 11 seasons.

By The Sports Xchange
LSU coach Les Miles doesn't golf or play cards. So, football it is, somehow and somewhere, despite his abrupt firing from the LSU Tigers. File photo David Tulis/UPI
LSU coach Les Miles doesn't golf or play cards. So, football it is, somehow and somewhere, despite his abrupt firing from the LSU Tigers. File photo David Tulis/UPI | License Photo

One day after being fired by LSU, Les Miles is thinking about finding his next head coaching job.

Miles was fired Sunday after his Tigers got off to a disappointing 2-2 start, including an 18-13 road loss to Auburn on Saturday in which LSU's potential game-winning touchdown was nullified because the ball was snapped after time expired.

Advertisement

"I don't golf," Miles said Monday on Dan Patrick's radio show in his first public comments since his firing. "I play no tennis. I enjoy shooting the gun; I don't necessarily like to point it at animals. I play cards, not very well. But what I have done for probably 12 to 14 hours a day for the last number of years is coach football. So I would have a difficult time not being involved in the game and not being a coach."

Advertisement

Miles, who won a national championship in 2007 and posted a 114-34 (.770) record in 11-plus seasons at LSU, was replaced by defensive line coach Ed Orgeron, who was promoted to interim head coach.

Miles' teams claimed a 2007 BCS championship, played for another national title in 2011 and won three Southeastern Conference titles. He led the Tigers to bowl games every season and was 62-28 in SEC games.

Miles, who will turn 63 in November, was believed to have $12.9 million remaining on his contract.

LSU began the season ranked fifth nationally and is no longer in the AP Top 25 after Saturday's loss.

Miles said LSU athletic director Joe Alleva informed him of his firing at a face-to-face meeting Sunday.

"It was beyond fighting," Miles told Patrick. "The enjoyment of being here, the enjoyment of the community, the experiences that my family's had, it's too important to me to fight over. It's history. It's what we are. If they see that a change makes the Tigers better, then I am for them."

MIles thanked Alleva for the opportunity to address the Tigers at a team meeting Sunday.

Advertisement

"I recognize in those decisions so many times, you can see where it's not necessary that the ex-head coach says goodbye," Miles said. "But they gave me that opportunity, and I took advantage of it and did not stay long, but wished them well. They deserve the best. I think Ed Orgeron will do a great job for them, and I exited about as fast as I could."

Miles staved off a firing last season after losing three consecutive games following a 7-0 start that vaulted the Tigers to a No. 2 national ranking.

Miles appeared ready for the firing line, but when he was carried off the field on his players' shoulders after a 19-7 win over Texas A&M last December at Tiger Stadium, Alleva met privately with Miles in the locker room and told him he had earned a reprieve, with the understanding he would retool an offense that struggled to score despite the presence of Heisman Trophy candidate Leonard Fournette.

Miles began his coaching career in 1980 as a graduate assistant at his alma mater, Michigan. He had assistant coaching stops at Colorado, Michigan, Oklahoma State and with the Dallas Cowboys and head coaching jobs at Oklahoma State (2001-04) and LSU (2005-16).

Advertisement

Miles' oldest son, Manny, is a walk-on quarterback at North Carolina, and the coach indicated he might make a trip to see the Tar Heels visit Florida State on Saturday.

"If I can find a ticket, I think they play at Florida State, I think I'll see if my son can arrange a ticket," Miles told Patrick. "I can tell you one thing, I'm going to be rooting for the LSU Tigers, I'm going to be rooting for the Tar Heels, I'm going to be rooting for the Cowboys, and I'm going to be rooting for Michigan.

"And then when Ben (his youngest son, a Nebraska commit) ends up at the school that he's committed to, then I'm going to root for them. It's just the way it is."

Latest Headlines