What if Alabama Crimson Tide Head Coach Nick Saban Never Left the LSU Tigers?

Nov 27, 2014; College Station, TX, USA; LSU Tigers head coach Les Miles on the sideline during the second quarter against the Texas A&M Aggies at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Les Miles would be head coach of the Michigan Wolverines

If Nick Saban never left LSU, Les Miles never would have been hired. If Miles had never been hired, he likely would have enjoyed more success at Oklahoma State until he was the top candidate for a more high-profile job.

After 2005, there was no position of a higher profile than the Cowboys that would have called Miles. After 2007, Petrino would be a higher profile than him, so Alabama would have picked Petrino. Miami was going to pick Randy Shannon no matter what. Outside of those two, Miles had no reason to leave Oklahoma State.

Bring on the end of the 2007 season. Miles would likely have had three more years of success, and Michigan would have come calling him home with Lloyd Carr’s retirement. And while he came extremely close to taking the job the last time, he would have had no hard choice to make were he at Oklahoma State.

Miles would be heading to Ann Arbor, and he would still be there today. Now, how successful would he have been?

Honestly, that’s a tough question.

Miles did a great job rebuilding Oklahoma State. He did a great job maintaining what was at LSU. But going to Michigan would mean turning a mediocre program into what he built at LSU, and he has not proven an ability to do that. However, we know he can recruit, he does enough to win, and he has stingy defenses.

We are going to be willing to say that Michigan would have been a powerhouse program during this time and could, emphasis on the word could, have a national title by this point. They would have multiple Big Ten titles for sure.

And Miles would not have been fired yet, which also means…

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