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December 4, 2012
Thanks, but no thanks, Arkansas.
The Mad Hatter will continue to chew on Baton Rouge grass now and into the future.
Reports surfaced early this week that the Razorbacks had offered LSU head football coach Les Miles a five-year contract worth $27.5 million to be the team’s new coach.
A day after the offer was reportedly made, Miles held a press conference to announce that he’d sign a seven-year extension to remain the head coach at LSU.
LSU Athletics Director Joe Alleva said financial terms will be finalized after the season. Miles currently makes $3.7 million per year – a mark that is among the best in America.
“I very much respect those Razorbacks and how they played in that last game, but I’m an LSU head coach,” Miles said. “And I will be an LSU head coach for as long as I can be.”
“It’s been my plan all along to give Coach a raise and an extension and that’s what we’re doing,” Alleva said. “So that’s what we’re doing. People talk about winning championships and it’s really not all about winning championships. It’s about being in the hunt to win championships and Coach has shown he’s consistently in the hunt to win championships, while educating our young men and making them good citizens.”
Miles did not deny that Arkansas was interested in his services. He did deny that the talks got as sophisticated as reported in national media.
The LSU coach said the rumors of a $27.5 million contract being on the table were overblown and inaccurate. He said an offer was never formally made and his talks with Arkansas were never serious.
“The view of five years and 27 million dollars is not true,” Miles said. “It’s embarrassing for me to have to talk about money, so I don’t. I can tell you that I’m thankful that I’m fortunate enough to have an occupation that pays a tremendous market value.”
He also denied reports that Dallas Cowboys owner and Arkansas alum Jerry Jones was one of the people initiating contact between Miles and the Razorbacks.
Miles said he heard Arkansas’ case out of respect to Razorbacks athletics director Jeff Long, whom the coach has ties to from his days at Michigan.
“I have great respect for how he conducts business,” Miles said of the Razorbacks’ athletics director. “But our conversations were very preliminary and fell short of any major, major interest. … I did not speak to Jerry Jones. … I’m not going to get into any of the details. But there was no yes or no needed.”
Miles admitted that being wanted elsewhere is flattering. But ultimately, the coach said he, his wife and four children couldn’t envision living anywhere besides Louisiana.
Miles has also been courted by his alma mater Michigan twice during his LSU tenure.
Each time, he turned them down, saying he is currently coaching at home.
“This Miles family is awfully comfortable in southern Louisiana,” Miles said. “I’ve got teenage sons that love going off to school. I’ve got a 9-year-old daughter that is just as happy as she can be. I’ve got a 19-year-old daughter for whom there’s one college team that exists and then there are just a bunch of other teams.
“I think home is what we call this place. … The draw here certainly has so much. Being in this room and sitting in front of those men – that’s pretty important to me.”
With the extension agreed upon, it appears Miles is in a position to retire at LSU if he chooses to do so.
The LSU coach is just polishing up his eighth season in Baton Rouge. He has a combined 85-20 record in his time with the Tigers.
Miles is currently 59. His new extension would make him the team’s coach until his late 60s.
But Miles said he is not focused on the 2019 season – he is focused on finishing the 2012 season with a win.
Miles said he believes he will be energized enough to coach through his new contract and possibly beyond.
“Hopefully we look up seven years from now and I’ll be trying to get another one of these extensions,” Miles said with a smile.
Regardless, LSU has its man now and into the future.
For the third time in eight years, Miles has chosen to remain a Tiger amidst an onslaught from another worthy institution.
“I want to win championships here and then do it again and then do it again,” Miles said. “This team has the opportunity year-in and year-out to play for the Western Division, the conference championship and therefore the national championship, as well. I would compare [LSU] with any school in the country.
“The comfort I have of where my car is parked and how I get to work and how I get to the airport – that doesn’t change. With four children heading to college, I need a raise.”
Mathieu opts into NFL Draft
LSU’s Mad Hatter may be on board for the future.
But its Honey Badger has officially played its final college snap.
Former LSU defensive back Tyrann Mathieu announced this week that he will forego his final season of eligibility and will enter his name into the 2013 NFL Draft.
A 2011 Heisman Trophy Finalist as a sophomore, Mathieu was exiled from the program this offseason after reportedly failing multiple drug tests.
Mathieu had the option to compete this season for a Football Championship Subdivision team, but he instead opted to remain enrolled at LSU in an effort to possibly return to the team in the 2013 season.
That bridge possibly burned last month when Mathieu was arrested on a marijuana charge in Baton Rouge.
LSU football coach Les Miles (center) sings the alma mater with the team following the team’s victory against Ole Miss this season. After receiving interest from Arkansas, Miles announced this week that he had spurned the Razorbacks and had signed a contract extension to stay with LSU for the next seven seasons.
