In wake of LSU investigation, Kansas must fire Les Miles, take long look at Jeff Long
A year ago Friday, the University of Kansas took an emphatically defiant stance over accusations by the NCAA of substantial rules transgressions, including allegations of five Level I violations in the men’s basketball program.
Perhaps best summarizing the blunt dissenting points in the nearly 300 pages of arguments and supporting materials the school filed in response to the NCAA’s notice of allegations from months before was this passage:
“As is laid out in great detail in the Response, there is no reasonable conclusion that members of the University, including the men’s basketball staff, knew or should have known about any violations of NCAA rules. Head Coach Bill Self had no knowledge of any NCAA rules violations or illicit conduct exhibited by Adidas, its employees or its consultants. In addition, as the University noted in September 2019, voluminous evidence demonstrates uncontestably that Coach Self did, in fact, promote an atmosphere of compliance and fully monitor his staff. The charges leveled against Coach Self are not based on fact.”
While that case remains to be reconciled, that approach serves as a sharp, and perhaps telling, point of contrast to how KU Athletics responded Thursday to the release of an LSU investigation.
The report said current Jayhawks football coach Les Miles during his tenure at LSU was accused of kissing a female student and texting her and another from his personal phone, compelling the school to bar him from being alone with women who were student employees.
“Due to the ongoing litigation, KU was not provided a copy of the Taylor Porter report prior to its publication in the USA Today article,” KU said in a statement. “We are in the process of reviewing the 34-page document. We are also aware that LSU is issuing an additional report tomorrow, and we will wait to comment further until we have reviewed both documents.”
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.”
The difference in tone and distancing is striking. And it might reasonably be assumed that the release of the additional report Friday only further eroded KU’s inclination to defend or seek to continue justifying Miles’ employment.
If not, the school will bear more shame or have some serious explaining to do when it comes to a man hired in part to revitalize the image of a troubled football program.
Because Miles’ own image is in question based on issues now known to have distressed then-LSU athletic director Joe Alleva enough to suggest to the school president in 2013 that Miles be fired because of his alleged conduct against female student workers.
“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 an email to incoming LSU president F. King Alexander in June 2013, according to the investigation conducted by law firm Husch Blackwell at LSU’s request. “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.”
Weeks before, Alleva had emailed LSU chancellor William Jenkins, saying Miles’ “continued employment needs to be seriously considered” as he cited Miles’ use of a secret personal phone to contact student workers.
“It gives me great concern for the future,” Alleva wrote.
As this must for KU now, with the investigation also noting an athletic department staff member reported Miles had attempted “to sexualize the staff” by allegedly demanding he wanted “blondes with the big (chests)” and “pretty girls.” Several witnesses corroborated that account, the investigation found.
While KU has maintained that it was unaware of the allegations when it hired Miles, who has previously denied them, it certainly knows now. And it can’t tolerate this, regardless of the financial implications.
But the matter can’t simply end there, either.
What’s happened also speaks to the judgment of Long, who fired David Beaty to hire his longtime friend and make a splash and a statement.
It has, but not the way anyone who cares about the program and the school might have hoped.
Assuming Long indeed previously knew nothing about the allegations at LSU, he must be disappointed that Miles didn’t think this was pertinent information to share given their relationship and the potential ramifications.
Peter Ginsberg, Miles’ attorney, issued a statement on Saturday that said “Kansas “had been provided with significant information” about a previous investigation, by Taylor Porter, and that KU’s decision to place Miles on administrative leave was “deeply disturbing.”
Whatever KU knew and whenever it knew it, we have to wonder in what ways Long truly vetted the hire, with whom he spoke before offering Miles the job, and how in-depth his interviews were with Miles.
And we have to wonder to what degree Long should be trusted with another hire after he missed on this one with a man who hadn’t coached for several years … and in the process became mired in what proved an absurd attempt to get out of paying Beaty the $3 million buyout he was due (by ultimately reaching a settlement for $2.55 million).
Because one way or another, something seems to have gone terribly awry in the process by which KU hired Miles, whose 11-year career at LSU ended with his termination with a 2-2 record in 2016, his third season removed from four straight double-digit victories and nine years after guiding the Tigers to a national title.
It’s not just that Miles is 3-18 at KU, including 0-9 last season. And that the average score of a Kansas game last season was a 46-16 loss. While the program has been in shambles and in ongoing need of rebuilding, and no doubt the pandemic further complicated matters, beyond some recruiting triumphs it’s hard to quantify any progress.
And it’s been quite a point of curiosity that two assistant coaches, including offensive coordinator Brett Dearmon, recently have left the program to join non-Power Five schools.
All of which might be palatable in the name of patience with a leader whose stature and character can be eagerly embraced. But even the mere allegations from LSU are appalling enough that they will stigmatize Miles and hover over the program.
Plausible deniability notwithstanding, at some point image is everything and perception is reality.
For a school that a year ago Friday boasted of its “commitment to integrity” in its response to NCAA allegations about basketball, it’s time to demonstrate what that means by terminating Miles and asking hard questions about what might have been missed along the way ... and how the next hire will be made.
This story was originally published March 5, 2021 at 4:28 PM.