Les Miles Pole

[pdub]

POLE TIME.

[ousdahl]

Dangit I can’t decide!

Now I feel like I’m dancing around this pole.

[CrimsonNBlue]

In the best light for KU, Les Miles was fired for lying to KU about past investigations into alleged transgressions that he was in inappropriate towards young women.

And, I think he's the best hire that KU has made in almost 20 years.

[ousdahl]

Beav: can you guys just get Self to coach football too?

[CrimsonNBlue]

Beav: can you guys just get Self to coach football too?

BREAKING: NCAA sanctions Bill Self for recruiting violations. He will be required to coach Kansas Football for 2 seasons.

[ousdahl]

kiss of death.

[ChalkRocker]

Voting options were a bit restrictive, but the second middle one came closest to my view. Also, I agree with CnB (sort of) that he was the best hire since Mangino, tho' Gill shoulda had more time.

[CrimsonNBlue]

Voting options were a bit restrictive, but the second middle one came closest to my view. Also, I agree with CnB (sort of) that he was the best hire since Mangino, tho' Gill shoulda had more time.

The voting options are, of course, a bit ludicrous, but what can you expect.


In hindsight, Gill getting another year looks OK given what Zenger/Weis pulled afterwards. But, even some of Gill's most ardent supporters saw that he was in over his head and just not the right cut for this level of football. That's fine, I think he had to find that out for himself the hard way.

[NewtonHawk11]

He found his sweet spot at Liberty when they were FCS.

But CnB is right. Best hire that KU has made since Mangino left. The program is better. Listened to an interview with Carter Stanley this morning with some KU fans and he mentioned that the guys loved Les but from some of the people he's talked to (former players and the like), they feel pretty good about the program.

He also mentioned that most still have no idea just how bad it was when Beaty was let go. Mentioned that Miles has the scholarship numbers back up and somewhat normal.

But he's pushing for a young guy to lead the charge, specifically Kevin Kane. He's biased towards Kane because Kane recruited him to KU, but he feels like Kane would bring a youthful energy to the program. And he's been successful being a DC for the last 4 years and now the Assistant HC at Illinois. He wouldn't be over his head and he would connect well with the boosters and players.

[CrimsonNBlue]

We discussed how Miles was a Phase I hire to replenish the roster. I think it's closer to an incomplete grade than to a passing one, because we have no idea what the hell happens over the next 1-2 years now with the roster. I wouldn't say that he failed there, though. Roster is in way better shape as of today.

The ending here is so sour for the program, though, I just can't be convinced right now that it was a successful hire. It just shows how bad all the other ones were.

[Deleted User 289]

If we strongly feel Kevin Kane could/would be KU's equivalent of someone such as Pat Fitzgerald, wouldn't you feel the hire should/would be a no brainer?
At this point, why not try and get him and give him a shot?
I'm asking those of you who are much more knowledgable about him and KU football than I am to answer.

[CrimsonNBlue]

I don't know if we feel that Kane could be Pat Fitzgerald.

I can get on board with Kane, but other than the obvious tie, coaches' careers die here and why wouldn't Kane want to avoid what looks like the toughest job in CFB right now?

[NewtonHawk11]

I don't know if we feel that Kane could be Pat Fitzgerald.

I can get on board with Kane, but other than the obvious tie, coaches' careers die here and why wouldn't Kane want to avoid what looks like the toughest job in CFB right now?

Which is why I think it won't happen. You have to have an experienced guy.

[PhDhawk]

Voting options were a bit restrictive, but the second middle one came closest to my view. Also, I agree with CnB (sort of) that he was the best hire since Mangino, tho' Gill shoulda had more time.

The voting options are, of course, a bit ludicrous, but what can you expect.


In hindsight, Gill getting another year looks OK given what Zenger/Weis pulled afterwards. But, even some of Gill's most ardent supporters saw that he was in over his head and just not the right cut for this level of football. That's fine, I think he had to find that out for himself the hard way.

The more I think abiut it, the more that's on KU. We basically said, come here and win the way you did at Buffalo. We never supported him like a power 5 coach, or even treated him like one.

We talk a lot about all the behind the scenes stuff that Long and Miles did to bring KU football up to the times. But if you're gonna hire someone from a smaller school, maybe the athletic department needed to do that for him. Long and Miles knew this coming from LSU and Arkansas....Gill came from Buffalo and was a position coach at Nebraska.

[Cascadia]

Gill was also intellectually deficient

[PhDhawk]

He was in over his head. But we didn't really set him up for success either. He inherited a really good team, but not a good program.

If you hire a guy with deficiencies you have to account for that. KU should have lightened Gill's load.

[CrimsonNBlue]

He was in over his head. But we didn't really set him up for success either. He inherited a really good team, but not a good program.

If you hire a guy with deficiencies you have to account for that. KU should have lightened Gill's load.

I agree, just don't think it would have mattered in the end.

Definitely big problems within the department at that time without even getting into the Lew/Harbaugh debacle. Lew just threw in the towel and Gill was absolutely not the guy that could handle it.

[PhDhawk]

Agree, but let's say you keep gill for 4 years and give him the support to win 4 games a year instead of 2, rock bottom is not nearly as low.

There's no turning back the clock, but if we hire another gill/beaty type, minimal experience level coach, the athletic department needs to help them out more.

[CrimsonNBlue]

Agree, but let's say you keep gill for 4 years and give him the support to win 4 games a year instead of 2, rock bottom is not nearly as low.

There's no turning back the clock, but if we hire another gill/beaty type, minimal experience level coach, the athletic department needs to help them out more.

Support wasn't there, and maybe Long has helped out there.

It's just been such a conglomeration of bad decisions and leadership that is program deep.

Gill, though, inheriting the best roster of any of our last 4 coaches and goes out and loses 3-6 in first game against a NDSU team that wasn't really NDSU yet.

[Sparko]

You can argue that Gill built NDSU's program too.