Carr put Les in a real jam, and has made it clear that the slate of potentials should be open. Miles should not lose sight of the fact that UM department higher ups are already showing how they would work with him. Perhaps this was a deliberate attempt to derail the UM fan's Les Miles train. I would wonder if some not only want to find another coach, but lessen the appeal, if not discredit, Miles in the process so that fans won't decry the alternate selection.
WOW. He just gets fired up, don't he. They asked about whether or not 21 year olds get distracted by this kind of thing (the coaching sitch)...and he said "another team? yeah. This team? No...not THIS team." Said that this sitch wouldn't "sabotage" Friday's game. Here's a bit of what was said in the beginning... Miles: "I'm not interested in jobs, don't want to talk about jobs, have not contacted Michigan, they have not contacted me. I love LSU. I'm happy here and my family is happy here. I am not going to get distracted by jobs, I'm not looking and I will not entertain questions about it. End of discussion".
And Les didn't seem to like it, either. Called it "Great Timing"...although he was referring to the promotion of the book timed with the retirement of Carr. He was being sarcastic, for those who have trouble interpreting sarcasm.:thumb: I agree that it may well have been done intentionally.
That makes me a little more comfortable but he still didn't come out and say, "I am going to be the coach at LSU" or "I am not going to be the coach at Michigan".
Interesting question. Is there something to be said for staying at one place for a long time? He says he doesn't give any thought to legacy...it doesn't motivate him...NOW. He says he takes it one game at a time...and he believes WE will have great success HERE. We're ready HERE...hopefully Friday, and THEREAFTER.
Carr did it because he likes Michigan, not LSU. They have a good recruiting class that needs to be saved...that is why he did it. Plus they can get on with finding a coach. While it hurts Les, it does help our school, as we can now get a preliminary list of coaches out there and start thinking about what to do if need be.
Oh, I think it's clear that if UM offers Miles would most probably go. But the process has just started. UM might offer, but might offer conditions that Miles would refuse, they might interview him, but not offer the job. A lot of things are up in the air at this point, IMO. We'll see over the next few weeks what happens. Of course, you will have some people saying that Miles won't straight out say he's uninterested in the Michigan job to help with any contract negotiations with LSU. I don't think that's the case, but I do think that not commenting is the smart thing to do if you're keeping all options open. I do think that if UM passes on Miles, he is here to stay for a long time. That's one of the reasons I'm wary of the suggestion that we'd hire Spurrier to replace him. I'm tired of coaching searches and want someone to stay at LSU for more than three to five years, and Spurrier would probably give us five years at the most before retiring.
