Arkansas Football: 3 best potential replacements for Bret Bielema

3. Les Miles

Les Miles doesn’t have an Arkansas connection like Mike Norvell or Gus Malzahn, but he does have an SEC connection and being the head football coach of the Razorbacks gives him a consistent opportunity to stick it to the LSU brass that fired him.

Miles is 64 years old and that’s a good age for one more run at being a head ball coach. While Miles hasn’t coached in Arkansas, he has been around the area between LSU, Oklahoma State and his connection to Jerry Jones when he coached as an assistant with the Dallas Cowboys from 1998-2000 bodes well for him — if they got along.

Miles managed seven double-digit winning seasons in Baton Rouge along with his national title campaign. He was Michigan-bound heading into that title run but Kirk Herbstreit outed Miles’ move and it cost both Michigan and Miles. So Miles has an SEC and Jerry Jones connection, but is a more veteran choice the right one for the Razorbacks? It worked with Petrino but not as much with Bret Bielema and Houston Nutt.

I do think he could recruit well to Arkansas and that he knows how to win in the SEC, even if he was mainly fired for failing to beat Nick Saban. Les is a great pick up if you can get him but it’s also a five-year plan considering he’s in his mid-60s and can’t be a lock to coach from 70 and on. Miles is currently not coaching so you can’t really compare his current situation to the ‘Backs situation but he’s used to be in the title picture and Arkansas certainly is not.