OT(ish): Les Miles (a Michigan Man) is current fan favorite for Tennessee job

Submitted by JimmyFresh on

As a Wolverine (and Vols) fan living in Knoxville.....I can tell you that there seems to be growing momentum among fans here for a Mad Hatter hire.  This coaching search has been a complete debacle, but I think a Les Miles hire would ease fan apprehension here.  However, there is little faith that the Administration will do the right thing and give him an offer.  It will be interesting to see how this plays out.  With Miles' resume, it seems like a no brainer to many of us.  Will he coach here for 10-15 years?  No, beccuse of his age.  But, he can coach here for 4-6 years and get the program stablilized.  He is a proven winner and a proven recruiter in the SEC.  He would bring instant credability to a flailing program.  Many of us in Big Orange country want to see this former Wolverine get another opportunity in major college football.  And yes, he is reportedly very interested in the job.

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DrMantisToboggan

November 30th, 2017 at 6:28 PM ^

Whenever I watched LSU it seemed their issues were:

1. Never a competent Quarterback. LSU recruited well at every single position except the most important one on the field.

2. Horrible, horrible, conservative and out-dated playcalling. Whether it's on Les or Cam Cameron (honestly could have been Cameron, but it's Les' job to police and change that), the offense was so poorly mismanaged. There was an Xs and Os problem in Baton Rouge, and whether it originated from Les himself, Les never did anything to fix the issue, which is why he got canned. 

 

Also, do we know that Cutcliffe really turned them down? Or was it just like when he turned us down? Obviously he is a Tennessee guy and his sons played there as well, so I'm assuming they may have actually offered him?

Joined: 11/26/2014

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xcrunner1617

November 30th, 2017 at 6:10 PM ^

May be unpopular, but the whole Michigan Man thing needs to go away. I'd rather we call him a former coach/player, as opposed to using some moniker that is supposed to espouse some level of moral superiority. This is even more relevant for someone who's supposed moral shortcomings led to Moeller going off the deep end.

Joined: 02/11/2009

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skegemogpoint

November 30th, 2017 at 6:05 PM ^

Tennessee blows. Not optimistic about their chances in being a SEC East contender anytime soon. Poor recruiting base, UGA getting stronger and hideous school colors :)

Joined: 07/08/2008

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Alumnus93

November 30th, 2017 at 6:14 PM ^

Miles is a bad ass and is the type of strong personality (like Bo) needed here at Michigan, and he'd have thrived here. I hope they hire him.

Joined: 09/10/2009

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nb

November 30th, 2017 at 6:17 PM ^

Saban has shown that you need to be top 10% at something to excel. Then you get momentum and scale and delegate those activities. The momentum continues because great talent wants to work for great talent.

Joined: 09/23/2009

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stephenrjking

November 30th, 2017 at 6:31 PM ^

Dabo Swinney seems to be a point to the contrary. I don't think he's the brains behind the offense, and he certainly isn't the brains behind the defense. 

Which is not to say that he doesn't know what's going on or that he isn't plugged in, just that he has good staff that's in place and that he doesn't have strengths on either side. 

I guess it depends on your definition of "CEO coach." If you mean "guy who doesn't really know the ins and outs of the offense or defense, basically unplugged from the day-to-day running of the team," I would suggest that there is a different word that fits the definition than CEO coach: Bad coach.

 

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Couzen Rick's

November 30th, 2017 at 6:17 PM ^

I read somewhere (on Twitter so take it with a grain of salt) that they just now reached out to Kevin Sumlin. How do you not go after him before Lane, Dave Doeren et al?

Joined: 12/22/2014

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Sharuck

November 30th, 2017 at 6:18 PM ^

A surprising large number of fans on their boards want Kiffin. Pretty soon, they are likely to go back to wanting Schiano.

Joined: 07/11/2015

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kgh10

November 30th, 2017 at 6:29 PM ^

Honestly I was thinking he’d actually be a great fit for them as a stop gap for a few years until they could find someone younger and better. He is the only available coach w known success in the SEC, is a good recruiter, has a relatively respected name, and is available. Much better than Schianos paper tiger ass.

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lhglrkwg

November 30th, 2017 at 6:53 PM ^

Tennessee fans (or at least the vocal fringe) made it all too obvious how they'll treat the coach as soon as things don't get A+. They chased off Schiano at least mostly because he was lackluster and then they revolted when Doeren's name was brought up. Why would you go there? If I'm Les, I'm very cautious about going to Knoxville

Joined: 07/03/2008

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SpilledMilk

November 30th, 2017 at 7:02 PM ^

Hell, that was quick. Anyway, Les is pushing on standard retirement age. I don't see why he would want to jump into that mess unless he's bordering bankruptcy (highly unlikely). I love Miles and hope he's smart enough to steer clear of that steaming pile Edit : I've been expecting that ridiculous fan base to start calling for Briles any time now... It's coming

Joined: 10/15/2017

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GeorgetownTom

November 30th, 2017 at 7:08 PM ^

Miles would be a bad hire.

1. UT needs either an elite coach or someone that runs an innovative offense to make up for its disadvantages relative to Georgia and Florida. That isn't Miles.
2. Coaching is a young man's game, and Miles is old in coach years. If you hire him you are going to have teams negatively recruiting against him because of his age.
3. Given #2, he won't be there very long, so you're going to have to start thinking about another search 4-5 years after his hire.

After Hoke was fired, Miles was discussed as a potential replacement at Michigan. The consensus was overwhelmingly negative because of points 1,2, and 3. 3 years later and he would be a good hire at Tennessee?

Joined: 10/08/2017

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Mr Miggle

November 30th, 2017 at 9:24 PM ^

coaches. Holding out for one now isn't much of an option. You can get the innovative offense through the right OC like PSU did. Stealing Walt Bell from Maryland would be a good move.

They need an experienced HC because he's going to be walking into a volatile situation. It won't be easy if it's someone's first experience at managing a program.

Negative recruiting is a fact of life, especially in the SEC and Tennessee is going to experience it, whoever they hire. Miles has a ton of experience dealing with it already. He'd be fine. 

 

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1VaBlue1

November 30th, 2017 at 9:54 PM ^

Not only would he be fine at dealing with the dumpster fire in the lockerroom (from Butch's trash can), but he'd be good with boosters.  Les can tell a story and disarm people genuinly, he doesn't need made up stories, or hand drawn line charts (PJ...).  And he doesn't need an (incompetent) AD checking his backside, he can take care of himself.  He'd be a good fit to stabilize that program and make it respectable again.

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Yostal

November 30th, 2017 at 7:30 PM ^

First you have Schiano...then there are Les Miles rumors.  I presume that John Currie will be out sailing Saturday morning when Herbie breaks the news on GameDay that the SEC West champion's coach is coming to Knoxville and bringing Jon Tenuta with him...

Joined: 06/30/2008

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B1G_Fan

November 30th, 2017 at 8:50 PM ^

Les Miles would be a good hire for them. I'd have a stipulation that he hired on Tee Martin as the offensive coordinator and groom Tee to be Les's replacement. If they hurry with the hire, Les could hire his old D Coordinator from texas A&M

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