(Spoiler!) Here’s a preview of what you’ll see in the new KU football series on ESPN+
There has been a month of anticipation for the new ESPN+ series “Miles to Go” — an 18-part, behind-the-scenes project that will follow the Kansas football team throughout the season.
After getting a first view of the first three episodes — the first four at roughly 20 minutes each are set to be released Thursday — my feeling is that quite a few KU fans will soon be paying up the $5 a month for ESPN+.
It’s important to note this first: KU has some control over editorial content, so this will never be a completely unfiltered view of what’s gone on behind closed doors.
Having said that ... the production here is impressive from ESPN, and the first episode in particular keeps continuous suspense throughout while providing a rare look inside a power conference coaching change.
Episode 1
The opener almost entirely centers on Nov. 4, 2018 — the day athletic director Jeff Long fired football coach David Beaty.
The video starts with Long’s 1 p.m. meeting with the players to tell them about the move, and it also sets the tone for ESPN’s cameras being allowed into candid conversations one might not expect.
Long, in talking about the transition, tells KU’s football players he wouldn’t have taken the job as AD if he didn’t believe that football could be turned around. Shortly after, Long and staff are back in his office, calling up the school’s top donors to inform them individually about the new direction the school was taking.
ESPN+ is there when Long — leaning back in his chair — talks out loud about ideas for his upcoming speech with deputy athletic director Chris Freet, with Freet typing furiously so Long can repeat those thoughts to reporters at the upcoming news conference in two hours. The cameras are also rolling right before Long steps in to face the media, as he calmly reminds himself, “Come in the room with authority” before opening the door and entering with his chest high.
Perhaps the best scene is a conversation Long has with KU men’s basketball coach Bill Self that comes after the news conference. Self, leaning on an office door, asks if the hire will be made quickly, then gives his thoughts on what type of hire Long should make.
“I think the ones that’d be the most intriguing would be the ones that ask the hard questions and want to really get within the gameplan to understand it,” Self said. “Rather than just say, ‘God, I’ve just got to get a job.’”
Long follows with some honesty of his own, saying that anyone interested in the KU football coaching position needed to be curious about how the program was going to be supported better than in past years.
“If they don’t ask what kind of commitment we’ve made, ‘Show me why this is going to be different’ ... why would you take this job?” Long said.
Long also reveals an early preference for his ideal coaching candidate from that first day in his talk with Self.
“I want to find a guy who’s been a head coach somewhere, that’s built a program,” Long said. “Because this is a build.”
ESPN+ follows Long home that night, where he’s already on the phone making calls. He touches base with an unidentified person to gauge interest, talks briefly about his history with Les Miles (and how that fact was published in a local newspaper column a few months earlier). He tells someone else that, indeed, Miles is a candidate.
“It’s not a done deal,” Long said over the phone, “but I’m certainly interested.”
A few minutes later, Long continues a conversation with his thoughts on Miles.
“I think he wants back in badly,” he said. “I wanted to make sure he was passionate. But I see a guy who’s very excited, passionate to get back in the game. And we need a difference-maker. We need someone to change the dialogue about us.”
There are some good interactions later with Mike Vollmar — KU’s assistant AD in charge of football — especially during a moment where Vollmar shares a list of interested candidates from an agent buddy, with Long scoffing at the names that are said to be “interested” on the list.
The first 15 minutes, though, are what carry the first episode, delivering an insightful narrative of a significant day in KU football history.
Episode 2
The second installment focuses more on Miles at his home in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and while it gives a look into his family life, it doesn’t have the same grabbing power as Episode 1 (not to mention it brings up questions about why Miles had a film crew around him if Long hadn’t really decided that he was getting the KU job yet).
Most interesting are the rare glimpses we get of Long continuing the coaching search. There’s a conference room that has to be changed for an interview because there are too many windows (the famous coach they’re bringing in might be seen by onlookers, which is a concern), and a different hotel has plastered Jayhawk logos on the meeting room reserved for Long; the danger there is someone will see those and leak information about whom KU is interviewing.
This might be where KU used some of its editorial power. The narrative here is a bit choppy, which is to be somewhat expected considering the confidentiality needed for people who are secretly trying to get new jobs.
About nine minutes in, though, there’s a quick clip of Miles taking a call from Long and confirming he wants to come to KU. That’s it for the coaching search, with the best sequence after that coming when Miles goes to a Baton Rouge condo he owns to pull out old LSU gameplans and playsheets he wants to bring with him to Lawrence.
There are details to be noticed if one wants to look closely enough. For example, one of the locations for a coaching interview can be identified as the Hyatt Regency in Scottsdale, Arizona; the most likely candidate there would be former Arizona State coach Todd Graham. Another time, Long gets into what appears to be a rental car that is located at an airport in Dayton, Ohio.
One more: Miles talks with former Michigan player John Wangler on the phone to get ideas for his new staff hires, and one can pause the video to see some guys on the first list. They include “Heck,” likely a reference to Jeff Hecklinski, who is now KU’s tight ends coach; Jermain Crowell, a former Michigan receiver who is now a high school coach in Michigan; and Joe Hastings, who interestingly enough is the receivers coach for Indiana State ... the team KU is playing this week.
Miles’ journey to Lawrence via plane is chronicled, and the top moment is when the aircraft lands. Once his phone receives service again, Miles holds it in his hand as it starts dinging repeatedly with messages from well-wishers who’d found out he took the job.
“Want me to help you put it on silent?” his daughter, Smacker, says in the background.
“Wow, we have some people to call back,” Miles says with a grin.
Miles meets with Long, then greets KU’s players for the first time in a meeting.
As we know, this is only the very beginning of Miles’ rebuilding job with the Jayhawks.
Episode 3
The storytelling expectedly speeds up here, starting with Miles’ first day on the job and ending with National Signing Day in February.
There are some good nuggets early. Miles is shown executing his plan of talking to a few recruits on his very first day, and he also shows an affinity for breaking down film — while also making it clear that KU’s coaches will need full game tapes and not just highlight edits if they are going to properly evaluate prospects.
Miles’ peculiar eating habits at The Oread in Lawrence also make it to the screen: Cheerios and oatmeal with almond milk. During a phone conversation with a potential future staff member, he’s believable when he talks glowingly about Lawrence.
“Honest to flippin’ Christ, it is absolutely beautiful,” Miles says, looking out a window.
There’s a brief segment about the hiring of offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey, who left the position a few months later to take the head coaching job at Troy. There’s also some effort to make Signing Day a dramatic event for the cameras, though one of the final storylines falls a bit flat when it appears KU’s coaches are staging a celebration after receiving the official signing papers from defensive end Marcus Harris.
It looks to be a rare misstep in the first three parts, though. In general, “Miles to Go” appears it will find an audience of KU football fans.
And that’s before knowing what the next 15 episodes will bring.
This story was originally published August 29, 2019 at 10:32 AM.
