By Matt Moscona
In March, a Louisiana judge dismissed Les Miles’s lawsuit against LSU, the NCAA and the National Football Foundation over vacated wins that left him ineligible for the College Football Hall of Fame.
Miles won’t have to rely on the courts for election, after all.
The NFF announced it has lowered the winning percentage threshold for coaches to be elected to the Hall of Fame from .600 to .595. This decision immediately makes Miles and former Mississippi State coach Mike Leach eligible for induction. Before he was forced to vacate 37 wins over alleged recruiting infractions, Miles held a .665 winning percentage (145-73). Leach, who died suddenly in December 2022, held a career record of 158-106 (.598).
If Reggie Bush had his Heisman Trophy reinstated in the NIL world, holding Miles to a different standard would be hypocritical, at best.
“The NFF is committed to preserving the integrity and prestige of the NFF College Football Hall of Fame,” NFF resident & CEO Steve Hatchell said in a statement. “This adjustment reflects thoughtful dialogue with leaders across the sport and allows us to better recognize coaches whose contributions to the game extend beyond a narrow statistical threshold.”
His offense could be archaic and maddening. The clock management gaffes were perplexing. But he won.
Despite barbs about his odd syntax, the trademark white hat sitting too-high on his head or his grass-eating tendencies, or even the lawsuits the followed his dismissal at LSU and Kansas, Miles is a slam dunk Hall of Famer for what he accomplished on the field.
He won a national championship and played for another–which should have been a second crown but for the do-over Alabama was granted after losing to the Tigers in Tuscaloosa. Miles won two SEC titles and played for a third. He was 60-28 in SEC regular season games over 11-plus seasons in Baton Rouge and he did it while playing in the same division as the greatest coach of all time. His worst season at LSU–the absolute floor–was 8-5.
He took over a down Oklahoma State program and turned in three winning seasons after a 4-7 debut. Maybe he shouldn’t have gotten back in the game at Kansas, but can you blame him for wanting to scratch that itch? Despite going 3-18 in two seasons with the Jayhawks, he had still cleared the eligibility criteria bar with ease before the wins were vacated.
Take a scroll down the list of the 214 coaches in the College Football Hall of Fame.
Miles has more wins than legendary LSU coach Charles McClendon (137) who is in the Hall. R.C. Slocum, Barry Alvarez and Bill McCartney didn’t win at the clip Miles did, but they’re in. There are names you will have never heard of and others that will surprise (Mark Dantonio?). Miles outshines many of them.
There is no running from the ugly allegations in the Title IX lawsuit that LSU paid $1.9 million to settle. Miles also never had his day in court to tell his side of the story. This is not meant to absolve him from potential wrongdoing, but only to say that allegations–even if proven to be true–shouldn’t keep a coach out of a football Hall of Fame.
Joe Paterno still holds his spot in this very same hall that Miles is trying to join.
The NFF did the right thing. Now, it’s on the voters to follow suit.
Les Miles–and his hat–belong in the College Football Hall of Fame.
