Mad Hatter meet Rock Chalk.
According to a report from Sports Illustrated, former Oklahoma State and LSU head coach Les Miles is finalizing a long-rumored deal to take the vacancy at Kansas -- with an announcement coming as soon as this weekend.
The move from the pristine grass of Baton Rouge to the wheat fields of Kansas has been one that was identified early on by several people in college football almost as soon as Jayhawks athletic director Jeff Long made the decision to fire David Beaty in early November. Both men spent several years together while at Michigan in the 1980’s and Long reportedly once tried to hire Miles when he was in charge at Arkansas back in 2012.
Speculation that the Jayhawks settled on Miles as their next head coach has been the prevailing wisdom for the past several weeks but really kicked into high gear on Thursday afternoon when LSU announced they had reached a settlement with their ex-head coach on his hefty buyout. Instead of the school paying the $6.5 million still owed over the next several years, the Tigers instead cut a $1.5 million check to wrap up their financial obligations -- freeing up Miles to take another job without any strings attached.
Needless to say, people don’t cut bait on $5 million like it’s nothing so KU’s financial package for the new head coach will likely be significant.
Miles is no stranger to the Big 12 Conference, though it has been 14 years since he was getting Oklahoma State turned around as a program. The 65-year-old most notably spent a dozen years leading LSU to a 114-34 overall record that included one national title in 2007 and a pair of SEC championships during his time in Baton Rouge. After he was fired in 2016, Miles has been mentioned for several other jobs around the country but has spent part of his time as a broadcaster and aspiring actor.
It appears those days of non-coaching work are over however as the affectionately-named Mad Hatter will embark on one of the biggest tasks in college football: turning around a Jayhawks program that has gone 22-88 in the past decade.