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Michigan Coaching Speculation

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MICHIGAN COACHING SEARCH
LSU AD 'proud' U-M has interest in Miles; Bertman was once in a similar position

November 30, 2007
BY MARK SNYDER
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER
Louisiana State athletic director Skip Bertman had been expecting to hear from Bill Martin.
In fact, he said Thursday he would have been bothered if Michigan's athletic director had not been interested in speaking to LSU's Les Miles about potentially replacing Lloyd Carr as football coach. Bertman said he was "proud" Martin requested permission Wednesday to interview Miles.

So no hard feelings? "Maybe if they weren't coaches, if they were accountants or attorneys," said Bertman, who happens to be one of the most successful baseball coaches in NCAA history, winning five NCAA titles with LSU. "There isn't any reason in the world why Coach Miles shouldn't be allowed to speak to his alma mater."
Bertman understands the position Miles is in. Miles is a former Michigan offensive lineman who played under Bo Schembechler and was an assistant coach for the Wolverines in 1980-81 and 1987-94. Bertman was wooed twice by Miami (Fla.), his alma mater, and by Texas, to coach their baseball teams. He always turned the jobs down, and he never even told his athletic director he was being pursued.



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MICHIGAN'S COACHING SEARCH
MILES' BEST FRIEND: Les 'wants to be the next coach at Michigan' ? no other candidate fits

November 30, 2007
Miles? best friend, John Wangler, a former Wolverine, talked to WDFN-AM Thursday and said LSU coach LSU Miles ?is going to bring a lot to the program,? and that he thinks there is no other good fit. The highlights of the conversation:
What kind of coach is he?

Les is very aggressive; he is a swashbuckling type -- a motivated, emotional, passionate guy. He is a fun coach to be around, because he is an excitable guy. He will bring a lot of enthusiasm and energy to the position, and he is not afraid to take chances. He is not a conservative guy. He will be aggressive and go after the victory.


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COLUMNIST: Buckeyes shouldn't be afraid of Miles at U-M

November 30, 2007
Mark Bradley of the Atlanta-Journal Constitution writes about Les Miles.
A portion of his column:

LSU has lost twice since Georgia last lost. LSU was lucky to have beaten Florida and Auburn and Alabama. Its statistics ? LSU ranks among the SEC?s top three in eight of the nine most important categories ? would indicate a team of exquisite balance. To watch this mighty team play was to wonder if anybody was coaching it.

Maybe Les and his staff were too busy lobbying. Miles has been earmarked for Michigan since the Wolverines lost to Appalachian State, and defensive coordinator Bo Pelini has interviewed with Nebraska. Never mind that Pelini?s defense yielded nearly 1,000 yards in its past two games, or that Miles, who has never lost fewer than two games in a season, would be replacing Lloyd Carr, whose sin was that he could win every game except the one against Ohio State.

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Expect Bill Martin to move quickly if Miles is his target; no word if U-M AD will be in Atlanta

November 30, 2007
By GLENN GUILBEAU
Gannett News Service
BATON ROUGE, La. ? If LSU athletic director Skip Bertman waits until Monday to talk new contract and more money with football coach Les Miles, it may be too late.
Michigan athletic director Bill Martin, who got permission from Bertman on Wednesday to speak to Miles about the Michigan head coach opening as soon as the LSU?s game is over Saturday, is known as a fast worker. Shortly after the West Virginia basketball team won the National Invitation Tournament championship last season in Madison Square Garden, Martin spoke with West Virginia basketball coach John Beilein in New York City and soon hired him to be Michigan?s basketball coach.

Advertisement
Martin did not return a call Thursday to say whether or not he plans to be in Atlanta Saturday.

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Buckin' A;1012085; said:
I think so too. My only qustion is how much pull Lloyd has. If they hire Les, we know he doesn't have too much.
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My guess is that he doesn't have much. He played his ace by announcing his retirement before LSU's season was over. The university appears to have a bigger ace card.
 
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Buckin' A;1012085; said:
I think so too. My only qustion is how much pull Lloyd has. If they hire Les, we know he doesn't have too much.
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Or how much he chooses to use it... if he blocks Miles and gets Coach B the job instead, then the hire's success reflects directly upon him, especially if Miles has more success at LSU.
 
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Zurp;1012043; said:
As they keep saying on Rivals Radio, "Mama's calling." Les Miles is going back home.
If he wasn't going to leave LSU, he'd have said so by now.
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The question isn't whether Les will take it, but whether he'll be offered. He probably will, but if so, there is no question where he is going
 
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I love the descriptions of Les Miles as "passionate" or "aggressive". What I saw when watching him this year was "unable to control his emotions" and "foolish".

Watching Tressel calmly dissect this guy every November could be more fun than we had with VLLoyd.
 
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Steve19;1012798; said:
I love the descriptions of Les Miles as "passionate" or "aggressive". What I saw when watching him this year was "unable to control his emotions" and "foolish".

Watching Tressel calmly dissect this guy every November could be more fun than we had with VLLoyd.
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Yep. Seems to me scUM may be on the verge of hiring their John Cooper.
 
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NFBuck;1012804; said:
Yep. Seems to me scUM may be on the verge of hiring their John Cooper.
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No, they don't get a Full-Cooper.

They just got rid on one Mini-Cooper. Now they're going to get another Mini-Cooper **** *** *****.


Someone care to finish the joke? My keyboard has typed it so many times that the the keys don't work when I type them in that order. It keeps coming out "with Les Charm" or "with Les Class" or "with Les Personality".
 
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I love to read this stuff. :biggrin:
I mean, God, look at Ohio State's starting defense this year. Laurinaitis and Jenkins were three stars, both starting safeties two-star nobodies, the defensive tackles were pretty meh recruits IIRC, and Larry Grant was an unregarded JUCO transfer. Only the defensive ends and Marcus Freeman were real blue-chip recruits. Every year I write an Ohio State preview and Ohio State fans read it and say "that's pretty good, but you rely way too heavily on recruiting rankings"; this is because I try to use consistent heuristics across the entire conference, one of which is recruiting rankings, and no school in the country defies those as frequently and dramatically as Ohio State.

Great, it's noon and I need some whiskey. Thanks, Tressel.
Click to expand...
Link.
 
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Les Miles long expected return to his alma mater seems to be all but certain at this point. First we're getting reports (of the completely unreliable internet rumor variety), saying that Miles is already making his goodbyes. Then we have more substantial stories that LSU defensive coordinator Bo Pelini is off to Nebraska (Nebraska- "Where the N stands for nowledge"). It seems to me that the Pelini story serves as a sort of sideways confirmation of the Miles speculation. I know it's possible that Pelini might choose to leave on his own accord, but I think this wouldn't have come as quickly if the LSU situation were still uncertain. Pelini's departure cuts against the best reason for Miles to stay at LSU, a chance for more prosperity in the immediate future. If he's losing his hot shot DC there's much less reason for him to want to hang on as head coach.* It seems increasingly likely that Yoovem won't have to woo Miles, they just have to ask. I imagine the conversation would go something like this

BILL MARTIN: Les, we've been very impressed with what you've accomplished at Louisiana State.
LES MILES: Thank you.
MARTIN: We were wondering. Would you be interested in becoming our next coa-?
MILES:(interrupting) Yes! Absolutely! 100%! Let's get this done!
MARTIN: Wow that was easy.
MILES: Can I fire Mike DeB-?
MARTIN:(interrupting) Yes! Absolutely! 100%! Let's get this done!

I wonder if many Yoovem fans have actually thought this through. History tells us it's not easy to replace a coach whose won a national championship. The next guy after a successful coach -which Carr was for most of his career- almost never sweeps in and takes the program to an even better place. I imagine no matter who the next coach is there will have to be a period of serious rebuilding before Yoovem is dominant again.

*Sidenote- Shouldn't the LSU fans feel grossly insulted that neither their current head coach or their current DC seem more interested in taking on rebuilding projects at more traditional schools than be the head coach next year for the latest new hotness of the SEC?
 
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