Les Miles

Leslie Edwin Miles (born November 10, 1953) is a former American football coach.

He most recently served as the head coach at Kansas.

He earned all-state honors as a lineman in football as well as letters in baseball and wrestling at Elyria High School in Ohio, graduating in 1972.

He attended the University of Michigan from 1972 to 1975, playing for the football team under head coach Bo Schembechler, earning letters in 1974 and 1975.

In 1980, Miles joined Bo Schembechler's staff at Michigan as a graduate assistant.

He left Michigan in 1982 to coach offensive line at the University of Colorado, where fellow Michigan assistant Bill McCartney had just been named head coach.

In 1987, Miles returned to Michigan, which was still being coached by Schembechler, as the offensive line coach.

When Schembechler retired in 1990, Miles continued as offensive line coach under new head coach Gary Moeller.

While Miles was a coaching assistant at Michigan, the Wolverines had eight consecutive winning seasons and bowl appearances, including four Rose Bowl appearances.

In 1995, Moeller was forced to resign for non-football related reasons.

At the same time, Miles had a rift with the University of Michigan, forcing him to seek employment elsewhere.

Miles then accepted a promotion to offensive coordinator on former Colorado assistant Bob Simmons's staff at Oklahoma State.

During the 1998 through 2000 seasons he was the tight ends coach for the NFL's Dallas Cowboys under head coaches Chan Gailey (1998–99) and Dave Campo (2000).

His head coaching career began with the Oklahoma State Cowboys, where he coached from 2001 to 2004.

Miles returned to Oklahoma State in 2001 as the head coach.

In the three years prior to Miles' arrival in Stillwater, the Cowboys finished 5–6, 5–6, and 3–8.

Oklahoma State posted another losing record (4–7) in Miles's first season at the helm, but subsequently achieved winning records during each of the following three seasons – 8–5, 9–4, and 7–5, respectively.

His last three seasons at Oklahoma State ended in invitations to the Houston, Cotton, and Alamo Bowls, respectively.

During the last game of Miles's first season as head coach, Oklahoma State faced #4 Oklahoma.

Despite the fact that Oklahoma State was facing Oklahoma on the road, Miles led his team to a 16–13 upset victory over the Sooners.

During Miles's second season, Oklahoma State again ended the regular season with a game against #3 Oklahoma.

Yet again, Miles led his team to a 38–28 upset victory over the Sooners.

As a result of his team's performance during his second year, Miles was named the Big 12 Conference Coach of the Year by the Associated Press in 2002.

Following that, he coached LSU from 2005 to 2016.

Miles is nicknamed "the Hat" for his signature white cap, as well as "the Mad Hatter" for his eccentricities and play-calling habits.

Prior to being a head coach, he was an assistant coach at Oklahoma State as well as at the University of Michigan, the University of Colorado at Boulder, and with the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL).

On January 2, 2005, Miles was named as the 32nd head football coach of Louisiana State University (LSU).

In August 2005, days before Miles was to make his debut as the coach of LSU, Hurricane Katrina struck southern Louisiana.

LSU's first game, a home game against North Texas, was postponed until later in the season.

The Tigers second game, which was against Arizona State, was moved from Baton Rouge to Tempe because the LSU campus was still serving as an emergency center for Hurricane Katrina relief.

The conference opener against the University of Tennessee was also delayed, this time because of Hurricane Rita.

In his first season as head coach, LSU won the 2005 SEC Western Division title with a 10–1 regular season record – including wins over #15 Arizona State on September 10, #11 Florida on October 15, #16 Auburn on October 22, and #4 Alabama on November 12.

LSU's only regular season loss was an upset at home to #10 Tennessee on September 26.

In the Tennessee game, after building a 21–0 lead at halftime, the Tigers failed to score another touchdown and lost to Tennessee by a score of 30–27 in overtime.

In the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta, the #3 LSU Tigers, though favored, lost to #13 Georgia 34–14.

LSU recovered to win the 2005 Peach Bowl with a 40–3 rout of the #9 Miami Hurricanes.

Miles finished his first season at LSU with an 11–2 record, a #6 ranking in the USA Today Coaches Poll, and a #5 ranking in the AP Poll.

In 2006, LSU finished the regular season a 10–2 record, and ended the season with six straight victories.

Miles led the 2007 LSU Tigers football team to a win in the BCS National Championship Game, defeating Ohio State.

Miles was born to Bubba, a long-haul trucking broker, and Martha Miles.