Les Miles interested in Ole Miss football head coaching vacancy
Rumors of a lack of interest in the Ole Miss football coaching job may have been exaggerated. Apparently, Les Miles may be interested in leading the Rebels.
Despite some of the tactics, it was a nice run. Former Ole Miss Rebels head coach Hugh Freeze made the program more interesting than it’s been in a while. There was everything from stellar recruiting classes to victories over the Alabama Crimson Tide in both 2014 and 2015.
More: 5 replacements for Hugh Freeze at Ole Miss
In spite of all of his efforts, and partially because of a defamation suit by Houston Nutt (Freeze’s predecessor), the Rebels’ 37th head coach has seen the time run out on him in Oxford. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, stories began to surface that Les Miles may be interested in becoming the Rebels’ 38th head coach.
As it is at every major school, especially the ones who play football in the mighty SEC, the immediate reaction when news like Freeze’s resignation breaks is to play the guessing game as to who the replacement will be. FS1 color commentator Joel Klatt recently appeared on the network’s highly popular show, The Herd, and he didn’t seem to think Ole Miss was an attractive landing spot for a big-name head coach.
"I don't think it's that attractive of a job... I don't think a big name is going to touch this job"— @joelklatt on Ole Miss coaching search pic.twitter.com/yePkIASbFy
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) July 22, 2017
Not so fast, could Les being a candidate after all?
Other reliable sources agree. A few have even published articles stating how quickly the Rebels’ program has declined as a result of all of the newfound controversy. They can be found by just logging into Twitter or by using a quick Google search. Still, there are other sources who state Miles’ interest in the Rebels’ head coaching vacancy may have some validity. Take this recent report by Dan Wolken of USA Today for instance:
This is, in fact, not the case. I'm told Les is extremely interested and has made that known to Ole Miss money folks. https://t.co/gLpZL1G5om
— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) July 23, 2017
Miles sports a head coaching record of 141-55. He’s gone 8-6 in bowl games. During his 12 seasons with the LSU Tigers, he won the western half of the SEC three times (2005, 2007, 2011). The 2007 and 2011 season also resulted in LSU winning the SEC Championship Game. The 2007 season also ended in a National Championship for “The Mad Hatter” and company.
Next: 5 schools that should hire Hugh Freeze
Despite his efforts, Miles was fired on September 12th of last year following a 2-2 start. Not much has been heard from him since. Except for some talk that he may, possibly, be interested in doing some work on television. This may change some of that thinking. We’ll be following this one very closely.