It seems as if Michigan -- athletic director David Brandon specifically -- has gone out of its way to state that Brady Hoke was the only coach offered their head coaching job, although it doesn’t exactly take a rocket surgeon to realize the school is merely splitting hairs when it came to their pursuit of Jim Harbaugh and Les Miles.
Frankly, if either of those two had wanted the job, it was theirs for the taking.
To further buttress that fact, at least on the Miles side of the equation, a member of LSU’s board confirmed that the talks between LSU’s head coach and Michigan were serious enough that money was discussed. And that Miles turned down a significant raise to remain in Baton Rouge.
“He was offered more than 4 million to become the Michigan coach,” LSU Board of Supervisors member Stanley Jacobs told the Shreveport Times. “When he said no, they came back and offered him more. And he said no again. ...
“He never leveraged his offer from Michigan for more money from LSU. This guy is the real deal. He really is. He was offered more money. I was told in the $4.25 million range and turned it down. Then they came back and offered more, and he turned it down again.”
Miles currently makes $3.75 million, and the two sides are currently working on a new contract that, unbelievably, will not include a bump in pay.
The man who presides over the entire LSU institution also decided to take a little jab at the school that was in hot pursuit of their coach, taking issue with Brandon’s claim that the job was only offered to Hoke.
“Well, if Hoke was his first choice, he could’ve signed him up prior to ever talking to Les or Harbaugh,” LSU chancellor Mike Martin said. “Don’t you think?”
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Look, we think Michigan made a helluva hire in Hoke, and think they may end up being better off in the long run that they didn’t land Miles. But, it’s disingenuous at best to cloak yourself in semantics when it comes to who was at the top of your to-do list.