Les Miles Out At LSU?

It's that time of year when rumors about a lot of college football coaches' respective futures begin to swirl. The rumors about Les Miles got started after his squad loss to Alabama and really took off after this weekend's thumping at the hands of Ole Miss.

Now the Times Picayune of New Orleans is reporting that sources (sources!!!) with the Tiger Athletic Fund, LSU's booster organization, say that Miles' $15 million buyout is not an impediment to a change and that a move may well be coming soon. I'm pretty leery of unnamed athletic department sources, and I generally look even more askance at unnamed boosters. But Miles' conflicts with LSU athletic department officials (principally athletic director Joe Alleva) have been no secret. And when a team starts losing the way the Tigers did to the Rebels while those kind of rumors are in the backdrop, it raises the believability factor significantly. LSU isn't the kind of place where you can lose three games in a row by double digits. Not with a healthy Leonard Fournette and a great offensive line and as much talent on defense as anyone in the SEC not named Nick Saban.

The TP (I will never not refer to it as the "TP" because journalism) notes one plan was circulated to allow Miles to announce a retirement following the 2016 season, but the report also correctly notes how dumb that would have been. Look no further than South Carolina spending months unsuccessfully walking back Steve Spurrier retirement rumors.

If this is happening (and we are still in the "if" not "when" phase for a little longer) the report cites Jimbo Fisher as the prime target and also names Dabo Swinney as a possibility. I for one have a hard time seeing Fisher leave the sweet set up he has in Tallahassee to come grapple with Alabama, Auburn, Florida, and Ole Miss annually. Swinney has never impressed me that much. But to each his own. It would be interesting to see if Bayou Bengal boosters could let go of their Nick Saban hatred long enough to consider his chief aide Kirby Smart, who could likely recruit a cyborg army to Baton Rouge and teach them to play defense, too.

Final observation: raise your hand who thought a month ago that Mark Richt's job would be more secure right now than Les Miles'? It's a funny world, man. Until later . . .

Go 'Dawgs!!!