Les Miles and Kansas Mutually Part Ways

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Les Miles is out as Kansas' head football coach three days after being placed on administrative leave by the university.

Kansas athletic director Jeff Long said in a statement last Friday that the university was conducting a full review to determine the appropriate steps on Miles' future after reports of his conduct while he coached at LSU were made public last week.

According to a copy of Miles' employment contract with Kansas, the university would have "just cause" to end its agreement with Miles if the coach had "discreditable conduct that is inconsistent with the professional standards expected of a head coach of a collegiate sports team."

Another clause in the contract that defines "just cause" is "participation in by head coach of any act, situation, or occurrence, or any conduct, which in Athletics of KU's judgment brings Head Coach and/or KU into public disrepute, embarrassment, contempt, or ridicule ..."

Last Thursday, a report released on behalf of LSU showed that a 2013 internal investigation at the school accused Miles of inappropriate behavior toward female students, including allegations that he contacted some via Facebook and text, met them off campus alone and kissed at least one of them.

The report did not find that he had sexual relationships with any of the women, and Miles strongly denied kissing the student, saying he didn't do anything wrong and that he was mentoring young women at the university.

Miles' attorney, Peter Ginsberg, last Saturday described Kansas' decision to put Miles on leave as being based on "media blowback" and categorized it as being "disturbing and unfair."

The law firm Taylor Porter conducted the investigation on behalf of LSU. Ginsberg told ESPN on Thursday that the results of the investigation "should put an end to the baseless, inaccurate media reports that Coach Les Miles engaged in an inappropriate touching of an Athletic Department student volunteer eight years ago."

On Friday, a second report, this one conducted by the law firm Husch Blackwell, detailed systemic failures by LSU to appropriately report incidents of athletic-related sexual misconduct and abuse. Part of that report showed that former LSU athletic director Joe Alleva recommended in 2013 that Miles be fired as coach because of the above-mentioned accusations of inappropriate behavior with female students.

The 67-year-old Miles was 3-18 in two seasons at Kansas, including an 0-9 record in 2020. The Jayhawks' only Big 12 win during Miles' two seasons in Lawrence came over Texas Tech in 2019. Kansas hasn't won more than three games in a season since 2009.

Miles guided LSU to a national championship in 2007, and the Tigers played for a national championship on his watch in 2011.

Long and Miles worked together at Michigan in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Before Long hired him at KU, Miles had been out of coaching for parts of three seasons after being fired by LSU in 2016.

Mike DeBord, who was hired last month as Kansas' offensive coordinator, was appointed to oversee the program after Miles was placed on leave, sources told ESPN.

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