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Les Miles vehemently denies jump to Michigan, but honorable thing is to go now, not after BCS
Published on Wednesday, Dec 12, 2007
Something's rotten in Baton Rouge and Ann Arbor. (Ohio State fans would argue that's a given with the latter.)
But something particularly malodorous is wafting from that place up north. For those who missed it, the Detroit Free Press reported Tuesday that the University of Michigan and Louisiana State football coach Les Miles had spoken about the Wolverines' coaching slot Lloyd Carr vacated last month.
Normally, no one would have a problem with a guy looking to switch employers. However, after ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit broke the news that Miles would be selected as Michigan's next coach, Miles held a news conference vehemently denying it.
To add an exclamation point to the situation, a CBS reporter interviewed Miles before the SEC Championship Game, and Miles reiterated his statements that he will be LSU's coach next year. He did so again Tuesday afternoon.
Last week, Miles signed a deal intended to keep him at LSU for the next five years and supposedly to silence all this blather. Guess what? Michigan and Miles appear to be cozy again, and the coach, who played and worked for Barberton native and Michigan legend Bo Schembechler, apparently will get the opportunity to pursue his dream job.
I don't have a problem with people receiving the chance to work in the field or position they always wanted. God knows yours truly had been blessed enough to hold two such slots at this newspaper.
But there's something inherently wrong and fishy about what Miles and Michigan are attempting to do.
A source said Miles called his news conference and conducted his interview after hearing of some backbiting in the Michigan athletic department, and he acted out of anger with his denials of a few weeks back.
That's his problem.
Here's guessing that Miles would love nothing more than to arrive in Ann Arbor fresh off a victory over the Wolverines' hated rival in the BCS National Championship Game and wearing the mantle of savior for a Michigan football team that has been in the doldrums for so very long.
He would be greeted with slaps on the back and requests to ''Go get those Buckeyes.''
Meanwhile in Baton Rouge, they'd be picking up the pieces again after a coach has left them in the dust for a situation more to his liking. It is ironic that the other coach was Nick Saban, the individual who gave new meaning to the word ''carpetbagger'' in this still-young new millennium.
Yes, Michigan had permission to talk to Miles after the SEC Championship Game, and it exercised that right, reportedly. Miles said in a statement he was trying to help out his alma mater in its quest to find new leadership.
Quick, raise your hand if you buy that one.
The report said Miles spoke with the Wolverines' athletic director and the university president. Wouldn't talking only to the A.D. suffice for imparting knowledge regarding prospective coaches?
It shouldn't matter. At a bare minimum, Miles continues to display suspect judgment, and he certainly was naive to believe word of his conversation wouldn't get out.
After signing a new deal that still contains a buyout clause only for Michigan, he should have told his alma mater: ''There is no way I can help you with that right now; I have a team to prepare for a national championship game.''
As I wrote earlier this month, I suspect Ann Arbor's allure will remain too great to resist, and Miles will pack up his life and move with haste, leaving any semblance of dignity and honor he had behind.
If he's going to make his move, he needs to do so now. Not this weekend. Not next week. Not Jan. 8, 2008, the day after the championship game. But now.
Why?
Because in the week leading up to the game, this story will be little more than a circus sideshow threatening to overshadow the main attraction. He also needs to look members of his team — a team that has overcome two losses this season and scratched its way to victory in the SEC Championship Game — in the eye and tell them: ''My apologies, but sometimes, when you work hard enough, dreams come true. It's for that reason I'm leaving LSU, and I won't be able to coach you in the championship game because I don't want to be a disruption.''
If he leaves LSU and wants to maintain any semblance of honor, that's the right thing to do.
George M. Thomas can be reached at sportswriterabj@sbcglobal.net. Read his blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/sportsblitz/.
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