Following LSU double-digit win over Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl Friday night, the expected happened -- the speculation connecting their head coach to the Michigan vacancy ratcheted up a notch or 12.
After the game, Les Miles denied that he had been contacted by the Wolverines regarding their head-coaching job, although, to be fair, that doesn’t take into account the fact that he has an agent who could’ve been doing his bidding while maintaining plausible deniability.
This afternoon, LSU’s athletic director released a statement regarding the speculation swirling around Miles, denying that he has been contacted by anyone connected to the school in Ann Arbor.
“I have not been contacted by anyone from the University of Michigan about Les Miles,” Joe Alleva said. “Les Miles is LSU’s head coach and we are going to do everything we can to keep it that way. He has had great success here and we plan to keep enjoying that success under his leadership.”
Of course, the fact that Michigan or anyone connected to Michigan has yet to formally or informally speak to the athletic director regarding Miles means, literally, nothing. That’s why coaches have agents, and why schools hire search firms.
It would take an infantile level of naïveté to believe that there has been no contact -- even before LSU’s bowl game or even before Rich Rodriguez was fired by Michigan -- between persons associated with Miles and those loosely connected to the university.
Whether anything comes out of any past, present or future contact remains to be seen.
By all appearances, LSU will do everything in their power to retain Miles. And, for that, we believe Miles’ bank account will ultimately be very, very grateful.