‘I think we have cause’: LSU AD said Les Miles should be fired for conduct with women
Former LSU athletic director Joe Alleva suggested to his school’s president in 2013 that football coach Les Miles should be fired because of his alleged conduct against female student workers, according to an investigation released Friday into how LSU responded to Title IX complaints.
KU athletic director Jeff Long on Friday night put Miles on administrative leave and said KU will conduct “a full review to determine the appropriate next steps.”
Miles, entering his third season as Kansas’ football coach, was cited frequently in other parts of the LSU report, which included the description of a meeting with a female student worker who claimed that something bad happened to her when she was alone with Miles.
Alleva’s email was sent to incoming LSU president F. King Alexander in June 2013 after two student workers had accused Miles of sexual harassment.
“I always believe that people are innocent until proven guilty and in this case I believe he is guilty of insubordination, inappropriate behavior, putting the university, athletic dept and football program at great risk,” Alleva wrote in his email. “I think we have cause. I specifically told him not to text, call or be alone with any student workers, and he obviously didn’t listen. I know there are many possible outcomes and much risk either way, but I believe it is in the best interest in the long run to make a break. The court of public opinion would favor us.”
In a previous email to LSU chancellor William Jenkins from April 2013, Alleva also said Miles’ “continued employment needs to be seriously considered” while citing his use of a secret personal phone to contact student workers.
“It gives me great concern for the future,” Alleva wrote.
The investigation says that in early 2013, an LSU student worker came forward to say she was “very upset” about something that took place when she was alone with Miles. She requested a meeting with Miles, and during it, another LSU Athletics employee reported that she was “completely traumatized” by the alleged incident: “The child had a dead stare ... she just kept saying, over and over, ‘You know what you did to me.’” Another LSU Athletics employee described the student’s interaction as “emotional” and “traumatic.”
The investigation was conducted by law firm Husch Blackwell at LSU’s request following publication of a USA Today investigation last November that revealed the school mishandled sexual misconduct complaints.
Husch Blackwell’s report said there was no record of the student’s concern being investigated to the level of the university’s policy at the time. The student, after that, was said by LSU Athletics employees to have “fell off the face of the earth,” with those people unaware of what happened to her after that.
At that point, according to the report, Alleva told Miles to refrain from contact with student workers.
Shortly after, though, a second student worker reported “inappropriate contact and text messages with Miles.” According to a 2013 investigation by another LSU-hired law firm, Taylor Porter, released Thursday, Miles was accused of kissing this student twice in his parked car while also suggesting at times they go to a hotel or his condo, with the two parties eventually signing a settlement agreement that was first reported by The Times-Picayune and New Orleans Advocate last week.
According to the Taylor Porter investigation, these two women spoke to each other after alleging misconduct by Miles, with the first woman saying she’d been “cornered” and touched by Miles. She later denied this when talking to investigators.
The second student did, however, report “an unwanted touching” from Miles.
The Taylor Porter investigation was never released to the public in 2013 and was only revealed Thursday after USA Today sued for its release.
In the Husch Blackwell investigation released Friday, an LSU athletic department staffer reported Miles was involved with hiring student employees after his team’s loss in the 2012 national championship game, attempting “to sexualize the staff” by allegedly demanding he wanted “blondes with the big boobs” and “pretty girls.” The investigation found several witnesses corroborated that account.
Miles coached at LSU from 2005 until he was fired for the team’s performance after a 2-2 start in 2016. He was hired as KU’s football coach in November 2018 and is 3-18 in two seasons with the Jayhawks. KU finished 0-9 in 2020.
He has previously denied the allegations and KU Athletics has said it was unaware of them when Miles was hired.
Miles’ KU contract runs through Dec. 31, 2023. That means KU Athletics still owes him just over $8 million on the deal, which includes his $2.775 million yearly salaries. He’s also scheduled to receive a $450,000 retention bonus on Nov. 15, 2022, while also getting a one-year, one-time rollover extension if he wins six games in any season.
This story was originally published March 5, 2021 at 12:26 PM.
