Les Miles, LSU Settle Remaining Buyout, LSU Saves $5 Million

Via Delly and everyone else on the beat, Les Miles and LSU have agreed to end his current buyout payments from his termination with a single lump sum, paid out today.

Other reports have noted that Les was currently getting his buyout paid in monthly increments of ~$130K a month.

There are a couple schools of thought here. Alleva’s comment about “it gives everyone incentive to move on” is some strange legalese. The only party who hasn’t moved on is Les Miles. His buyout stipulated that any new football contract he takes would offset his buyout, but LSU would still owe the difference. After a year of every kind of D1 job being open and Miles taking none of them, it seems unlikely that any small program would be willing to pay him a contract that would fully offset the remainder of his buyout. In a sense, it does help to untangle himself from other contracts before taking another job. Kansas, the current rumored suitor for Les Miles, was paying ousted head coach David Beaty $1.7 Million a year, and Miles would no doubt command more than that, which would easily offset LSU’s buyout.

The other thought is that Les Miles is really taking his future in films and TV seriously as his next career move. Part of the buyout stipulated that Miles had to be “actively searching” for a new coaching job to continue to receive his buyout. Miles’ agent has certainly earned his keep, with Miles’ name showing up on just about every job search list the last 2 years, however briefly, giving him the appearance of at least looking for new jobs. But Les has also been working in films, his podcast empire with his daughter, and multiple one-off appearances on college football media shows on ESPN and FOX networks. If Les is heading for a permanent role on TV, such as the long rumored/fan dream of him replacing a retiring Lee Corso on College Gameday, it’s tough for him to then turn around and convince LSU that he’s still “actively looking” for a new coaching job. This buyout puts an end to the charade and let’s everyone move on with their lives.

Whatever happens, it should be noted that at the end of the day Les Miles is voluntarily leaving $5 Million dollars of the university’s money on the table to pursue whatever is next in his life. I think that’s more than enough to get the man’s name on a building at some point.