Is Les Miles a HOF Worthy Coach?

Look I am not going to lie to you. I have a bias against Louisiana State University. I used to be indifferent to them, then I was big into the Joe Burrow and the Griddy’in receivers, and now pure unadulterated disdain. 

One man is to blame for this…. Mr. Fake accent himself, Brian Kelly. 

I digress though. Today it was announced that LSU had 37 wins vacated from the program from 2012-2015. The person that this effects the most is Les Miles because it turned his winning percentage from 145-73 (.665) to 108-73 (.597). The result of this is that he no longer meets the winning percentage threshold of .600, this means that unless he comes back and coaches again, then he won’t reach the Hall of Fame.

More importantly this has caused me to ask myself, do I believe he is Hall of Fame worthy? Of course by standards of most HOF’s he is, but in the Clay Finklea hierarchy of coaches, does he make my cut?

Let’s find out. 

He received bonus points for playing college football. Extra bonus points for being a guard. Negative points for being a guard at Michigan. 

In reality, many would argue that his college playing career should have zero sway in regards to his HOF case as a coach, but I would disagree. When you see someone who played collegiately it builds the case for a lifetime achievement. Did he really invest more time than someone who didn’t play? No, but when you look at a resume, playing for Bo Schembechler looks a lot better than 4 years of a business degree. 

For the sake of the conversation, I’m judging his coaching candidacy off of when he became a head coach for Oklahoma State. Previously he was a offensive coordinator and a position coach. 

Those OK State teams that he coached had records of 4-7, 8–5, 9–4, and 7–5. It’s not like he lit the world on fire in Stillwater. Contextually though, the Cowboys had hovered just below the .500 mark. 

I have some good memories of those teams. Shout out Josh Fields, Tatum Bell, and Rashaun Woods. They were fun to watch with some high moments like upsetting Oklahoma in 2002 and playing them tight in 2004. What was striking about these teams were their offensive output, while they were never top 10, they were top 20 for 3 straight years. This was no soft achievement considering they were in the 70’s and 80’s the previous few years. 

For a better understanding of the offensive style, I watched that 2002 Oklahoma battle. There was some really interesting offense being played. There were still a lot of single back, I-formation, and styles that flooded the 2000’s, but there were a few plays that stuck out to me as special. They ran a few screens, spread the field, and got the ball in talents hands. Everything a modern offense would be preparing to do.

I came away looking at his tenure way more impressed than I originally considered. Looking at the records, I was shocked that LSU would choose to higher Miles. But in the margins of coaching, especially offensively where his speciality was, they improved dramatically. The effect of that improvement was a 2-3 record vs. the rival and juggernaut Oklahoma. On top of that, he was the coach that christened Boone Pickens stadium which is one of the most underrated facilities in America.I was ready to say that LSU hiring him away was a mistake, but I feel otherwise now. When I look at the overall effect and impact, I believe that the run at Oklahoma State was mighty impressive. Hall of fame worthy? No way. Impressive nonetheless though.

Nobody considers that to be his real coaching though. It’s all about his time at LSU. 

And those accolades go a LONG way.

2007 National Champion

2011 National runner up. 

2011 Coach of the Year. 

114-34 record. 

8-4 in Bowl Games

I mean….. That’s okay. Nothing special. 

Seriously, that's fantastic. How in the world is that anything but a HOF worthy coach? The answer is… it isn’t. The problem is that the perception of Les Miles has affected the belief in Les Miles. 

He’s weird. He doesn’t speak extremely well. He eats grass. He stunk at Kansas. 

But probably the biggest detriment of it is that he isn’t a good offensive coach. 

His final 4 years at LSU he finished 59, 36, 76, 57, and 68th in points per game. Worse than that, they were BORING. It was antiquated, ball control, basic offense. Ironically the thing that got him the job at LSU and led him to initial success was his downfall. Why? Because he never changed his team's identity. Recruiting wasn’t the issue either. Those 5 years never finished worse than 11th in the rankings given by 247 sports. 

The talent was there, the scheme was not. 

I hated those LSU teams not because of their success, but because they made football boring. This in turn, negatively affected my view of Les Miles. I just thought he stunk as a coach because he couldn’t get those teams to the level that they could perform to.  If those defenses had an effective offense to play off of, the Tigers would have been absurd rather than above average. 

I find it extremely interesting to compare him to Nick Saban. Now is that a fair comparison? No. Saban is the GOAT college coach. But you know why Saban is the greatest? He adapted. The offense that Alabama won their first championship with could not look more different than the one they won in 2021.

It really is a shame because I do believe Les was a good offensive mind, albeit with his own flair, and should be regarded that way. But nobody believes that in 2023. 

I’m not even going to get to his tenure at Kansas. It’s not worth mentioning. 

Actually, I changed my mind, in context of this conversation it is. 

I thought it was a fantastic hire at the time. Kansas was a laughing stock and Les had nearly 20 years of success at that point. I thought a bowl game was coming within two years. I was duped. Two years and 3 wins later, Les was gone. A failed experiment to be buried with the rest of Kansas’ history. 

So where does that leave us? 

My verdict: Due to the totality of his career Les Miles is HOF coach. 

He was largely successful at Oklahoma State. While the record is nothing special, Oklahoma State has been a good program for the past 25 years, that started with him. 

He coached and won consistently at LSU for 12 years, which is the SEC equivalent of coaching for 30 years at a G5 program. You may be like me and not like those teams, but you can’t deny that he was successful. 

He is a HOF worthy coach. 

If you wanted to make an argument that it should be harder to make the Hall of Fame and that he was not influential, then I wouldn’t argue back with you because I agree. His legacy, from a fans point of view, will not be a long one in our cultural zeitgeist and in 10 years no one will even think about Les Miles. 

Yet, he was a good coach that helped 2 programs have long lasting success and for me that goes a long way. 

So yes, he is worthy.