Great Memphis paper article about Miles

Blue TurboDog · Dec 2, 2007

Did I actually beat Mike in Memphis posting this? :grin:

Miles to go nowhere other than Baton Rouge

By Geoff Calkins
Sunday, December 2, 2007

ATLANTA -- The news arrived the way news often does, these days. By text message.
"Congratulations!" the message said.
LSU head coach Les Miles, in Atlanta for the SEC Championship game, pondered the meaning of this note. Congratulations? But the game hadn't even kicked off yet.
Miles asked around. Miles figured it out.
ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit was reporting -- exclusively, of course -- that "barring something extraordinary," Miles had decided to accept the Michigan coach job.
Only problem?
"It wasn't true," Miles said.
Miles said he hadn't even talked to Michigan. Miles said his agent hadn't talked to Michigan, either.
"I was embarrassed," Miles said. "I've got a team that's sitting there, they see me, and they're going, 'Coach, it sounds like you're catching a plane Monday.'"
So Miles did the only thing he knew to do. He did something he might, someday, live to regret.
He called a press conference -- a pregame press conference -- to announce that he was throwing away a lifelong dream. He would not be going to Michigan. He would not be going anywhere.
"I am the coach at LSU, I will be the coach at LSU," he said.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the Coach of the Year.
No disrespect to Sylvester Croom, of course. Or to Dennis Erickson or Gary Pinkel or Rich Rodriguez. They're all great coaches. They've all done a great job.
But none can match what Miles did before LSU's 21-14 win over Tennessee on Saturday. None put their teams ahead of themselves.
And yes, I know, there will be some cynics on this one. The guy is staying at LSU for millions a year. Some sacrifice, eh?
Besides, if he didn't want to be a distraction before the championship game, he could have taken himself out of the running for the Michigan job long ago.
He could have declared he wasn't going to Michigan. (See Nick Saban and the Alabama job). He could have said the only way he'd be leaving Baton Rouge would be in a pine box. (See Tommy Tuberville on the subject of leaving Ole Miss).
Instead, Miles said he would talk to Michigan after the game. This seemed reasonable enough. Miles played at Michigan. He worked as an assistant under Bo Schembechler.
"I'm a Michigan man," he said, Saturday. "I'll always be a Michigan man."
If Saturday hadn't unfolded the way it did, he might have have been the Michigan coach, too.
ESPN's "GameDay" opened with Herbstreit's scoop. Miles would be going to Michigan, said Herbstreit. Not only that, he'd be bringing Georgia Tech defense coordinator Jon Tenuta along with him.
"I can tell you that it'll be interesting to find out where their sources were," Miles said. "I think it's an Ohio State plot."
Miles was joking about this last part. At least, a little bit.
Herbstreit played quarterback at Ohio State. Would it be beneath an Ohio State guy to pass along a false report in order to discredit a Michigan man?
Of course it would. The conspiracy stuff is ridiculous. Herbstreit learned what Herbstreit learned.
He just happened to get it wrong. Gathering news isn't as easy as it looks. Let the reporter who hasn't ever blown a story cast the first stone.
But however it happened, the false report put Miles in a very hard spot. His agent had roughed out the outlines of a new agreement with LSU Friday, but Miles still planned to talk to Michigan next week.
Maybe he'd stay at LSU. Maybe the tug of his alma mater would be too much.
Saturday morning, faced with a team on the verge of an SEC Championship Game, Miles changed course. And, in changing course, he restored some dignity to a coaching profession that is in dire need of some.
Everywhere you look, coaches are jumping from job to job. For more money. A better chance to win. Hey, it's a business. The players will understand.
Miles said, you know, there are times the players shouldn't have to understand. One of those is the morning of a championship game.
"They don't come around all the time," Miles said. "In the history of the school, this is our tenth. I did not want to, in any way, mar our kids' performance. I didn't want to, in any way, minimize the game."
Miles asked his sports information director to organize a quick press conference. He would tell the world something he had not even decided until that moment.
"If I'm going to stay, there is no finer time to make a decision than before we play the championship game," he said.
And then it was done. LSU went out and defeated Tennessee to win its first SEC title under Miles.
It would be a fib to say the Miles story didn't overshadow the game itself; what's this column about, after all?
But it would good to see a coach stand up for his players. It was good to see a coach who didn't let his future stand in the way of his present, or his obligations to the day in front of him.
Miles sounded happy but wistful when it was over. He told a story about Schembechler.
Seems that Miles turned down another Big Ten job when he was at Oklahoma State because he didn't think he could ever jump from that job to Michigan. But when the LSU job came open, Miles called Schembechler.
"I said to Bo, I said, 'Bo, what do you think about LSU?' He said, "'Let me tell you something, it's a great place.'"
Miles seemed to take comfort in this story.
"Bo told me LSU was a great place," he repeated.
What more reassurance does a man need?
But it was done, in any event. Life goes on and dreams change.
"I wish I could be two places," Miles said. "But I'm home."
To reach Geoff Calkins, call him at 529-2364 or e-mail [email protected]

© 2007 Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers
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houtiger · Dec 2, 2007

Kudos to Coach Miles! He has Lesticles, and integrity. May he enjoy a long and productive tenure at :lsup: . :miles:

Mike in Memphis · Dec 2, 2007

Blue TurboDog said: ↑

Did I actually beat Mike in Memphis posting this? :grin:
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You old blue dog you, got me.:yelwink2:
I enjoyed the article so much, I read it three times.
I really like the comment about putting his players first, and CLM's reference to LSU a home.:miles:

ldskule: ldskule: ldskule: ldskule: ldskule: ldskule: ldskule: ldskule: ldskule: ldskule: ldskule:

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Great Memphis paper article about Miles

Blue TurboDog GeauxTigersGo

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