LSU has lost three straight games, the last two to lower-ranked teams by three scores apiece. Anytime a proud, top-tier SEC program has a stretch like that, the firing rumors begin. On early Monday afternoon, ESPN’s Joe Schad threw gasoline on the fire when he reported that there was a “good possibility” that head coach Les Miles would be fired.
Soon after that article was published, LSU announced that Miles was having a press conference, and he opted not to strongly reject the notion that he was being pushed out the door.
Les has earned some leash as arguably the most successful coach in school history, but this is the SEC, and falling from as high as second in the College Football Playoff pool in Week 10 to unranked this week is enough to get the rumor mill going about anyone. In his brief conference, Miles pointed out a couple of instances in which reporters had also been incorrect about his job status, most recently about rumors that Miles might leave LSU to coach Michigan before Jim Harbaugh took the job.
Miles’ attempts to back out of the spotlight and claim he’s just going to do his job are respectable, but won’t do as much to quiet speculation about his job status as a flat denial would have been. The situation still bears monitoring.
