This clearly is a move to take the Kansas gig. Les and the AD at KU have a (damn) strong relationship and he likely feels comfortable and confident about that position, thus this settlement to clear the way.
Les is 65 years old. Is he that desperate to get back into coaching that he would take one of the worst jobs in CFB? Enjoy retirement Les. Watch your 4 kids play varsity sports at the university they are attending.
Not everyone is as money grubbing as for example, Nick Saban. That guy would sell his grandmothers dialysis machine if he thought it would net him one more shiny penny.
This ones for all the people who said Les was happy living off the LSU teat in retirement. He definitely would rather be coaching. Heard that in his interviews soon after the dust settled here. Who can blame him. You retire you prolly end up miserable or something.
If he makes more than ~$3.5M/yr at a new gig, LSU will owe him nothing, so he worked a lump sum deal to not lose all the money LSU owes him, with more pressure on him to land a new job now. Unless he’s happy being a multimillionaire.
Maybe he reached a deal with ESPN where he will replace Corso next year or be a booth analyst. If that's the case he took Alleva for a 1.5 million ride.
I have believed that Les wanted to coach again from the day he first said it. Thing is, nobody wanted to hire him, not even Houston. He wouldn't walk away from $5 million unless there is a deal in place. Probably Kansas but that would be a horrible fit. Les is a maintainer, not a builder. Nobody is going to make the Jayhawks a winning program in less than 4 or 5 years. Woundn't it be a cruel joke on LSU fans if Les hired a hotshot OC and actually let him do his job.