Les Miles
Les Miles went 145–73 on the field as a head coach, 2001–2020, at Oklahoma State, LSU and Kansas; 108–73 officially, after the NCAA vacated 37 wins (2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015). His 2007 LSU team claims the national title. Share
- Record
- 108–73 official; 145–73 on the field
- Seasons
- 18
- Schools
- 3
- National titles
- 1 claimed: 2007
- Born
- Nov 10, 1953
- Alma mater
- Michigan 1976
- Best season
- 2007 12–2, No. 1
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Oklahoma State | 4–7 | 5th (South) | |||
| 2002 | Oklahoma State | 8–5 | T–3rd (South) | Houston Bowl W | ||
| 2003 | Oklahoma State | 9–4 | 3rd (South) | Cotton Bowl L | ||
| 2004 | Oklahoma State | 7–5 | 5th (South) | Alamo Bowl L | ||
| 2005 | LSU | 11–2 | T–1st (Western) | Peach Bowl W | 6 | |
| 2006 | LSU | 11–2 | T–2nd (Western) | Sugar Bowl W | 3 | |
| 2007 | LSU | 12–2 | 1st (Western) | BCS National Championship W | 1 | |
| 2008 | LSU | 8–5 | 3rd (Western) | Chick-fil-A Bowl W | ||
| 2009 | LSU | 9–4 | 2nd (Western) | Capital One Bowl L | 17 | |
| 2010 | LSU | 11–2 | T–2nd (Western) | Cotton Bowl W | 8 | |
| 2011 | LSU | 13–1 | 1st (Western) | BCS National Championship L | 2 | |
| 2012 | LSU | 10–3 (0–3 official) | T–2nd (Western) | Chick-fil-A Bowl L | 14 | |
| 2013 | LSU | 10–3 (0–3 official) | 3rd (Western) | Outback W (vacated) | 14 | |
| 2014 | LSU | 8–5 (0–5 official) | T–4th (Western) | Music City Bowl L | ||
| 2015 | LSU | 9–3 (0–3 official) | T–3rd (Western) | Texas W (vacated) | 16 | |
| 2016 | LSU coached four of 12 games | 2–2 | ||||
| 2017–18: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 2019 | Kansas | 3–9 | 10th | |||
| 2020 | Kansas | 0–9 | 10th | |||
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table.
Players he coached
Tyrann Mathieu
Glenn Dorsey
Patrick Peterson
Morris Claiborne
JaMarcus Russell
Tyson Jackson
Leonard Fournette
LaRon Landry
Eric Reid
Tre’Davious White
Craig Steltz
Barkevious Mingo
Rashaun WoodsConsensus All‑American, 2002- Josh JasperConsensus All‑American, 2010
- Jamal AdamsNo. 6 pick, 2017
- Kevin WilliamsNo. 9 pick, 2003
- Odell Beckham Jr.No. 12 pick, 2014
- Joseph AddaiNo. 30 pick, 2006
3 more
Dwayne Bowe (No. 23 pick, 2007); Michael Brockers (No. 14 pick, 2012); Rudy Niswanger (2005 William V. Campbell Trophy).
18 of the 21 players from his seasons with a Heisman top-five finish, a national award, consensus All-America honors or a first-round pick, the best of each school he coached among them. Photos: Wikimedia Commons, free licenses; credits on each player’s page.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 89 | 45–44 | 51% |
| Against top-10 teams | 39 | 18–21 | 46% |
| Against rivals | 90 | 57–33 | 63% |
| Conference games | 139 | 79–60 | 57% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 14 | 8–6 | 57% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 80 | 49–31 | 61% |
| At home | 117 | 90–27 | 77% |
| On the road | 79 | 41–38 | 52% |
| At neutral sites | 22 | 14–8 | 64% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 147 | 126–21 | 86% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 71 | 19–52 | 27% |
His own 218 games on file, 2001–2020, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Against other head coaches
| Coach | Record | Their schools | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nick Saban 2007–2015 | 3–7 | Alabama | 10 | |
| Dan Mullen 2009–2016 | 7–1 | Mississippi State | 8 | |
| Houston Nutt 2005–2011 | 4–3 | Arkansas, Ole Miss | 7 | |
| Urban Meyer 2005–2010 | 3–3 | Florida | 6 | |
| Mark Richt 2005–2013 | 2–3 | Georgia | 5 | |
| Sylvester Croom 2005–2008 | 4–0 | Mississippi State | 4 | |
| Derek Dooley 2007–2011 | 4–0 | Louisiana Tech, Tennessee | 4 | |
| Steve Spurrier 2007–2015 | 4–0 | South Carolina | 4 | |
| Kevin Sumlin 2012–2015 | 4–0 | Texas A&M | 4 | |
| Bob Toledo 2002–2009 | 3–1 | UCLA, Tulane | 4 |
Les Miles’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Mississippi Stateseries | 12 | 11–1 |
| Auburnseries | 12 | 8–4 |
| Ole Missseries | 12 | 7–5 |
| Alabamaseries | 12 | 5–7 |
| Floridaseries | 11 | 7–4 |
| Arkansasseries | 11 | 6–5 |
| Texas A&Mseries | 9 | 7–2 |
| Texas Techseries | 7 | 3–4 |
National coaching awards
The awards- 2011 LSU: Walter Camp Coach
National title staffs
Every title staff- Won a national title on LSU’s 2007 staff (head coach) · the staff · source
The champions’ staffs from 1990 on, as the schools listed them that season: Staff lists: Drew Hoover’s how-many-rings (MIT), from the schools’ media guides and staff pages. Roles as the source words them.
How he was hired
Power-conference head-coaching hires since 2010, with each coach’s previous job and ties to the school as collected by hand from Wikipedia: Hiring facts: M. Schuckers, cfb_coach_analytics.
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980–81 | Michigan | Graduate assistant | |
| 1982–86 | Colorado | Offensive line coach | |
| 1987–94 | Michigan | Offensive line coach | |
| 1995–97 | Oklahoma State | Offensive coordinator and offensive line coach | |
| 1998–2000 | Dallas Cowboys NFL | Tight ends coach | |
| 2001–04 | Oklahoma State | Head coach | |
| 2005–16 | LSU | Head coach | |
| 2019–20 | Kansas | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Bo SchembechlerMichigan
- Bill McCartneyColorado
- Gary MoellerMichigan
- Bob SimmonsOklahoma State
- Chan GaileyDallas Cowboys
- Dave CampoDallas Cowboys
Assistants who became head coaches
- Brad CornelsenSam Houston
- Mike GundyOklahoma State
- Larry PorterMemphis
- Todd MonkenSouthern Miss, Cleveland Browns
- Bo PeliniNebraska, Youngstown State
- Bradley Dale PevetoNorthwestern State
- Jimbo FisherFlorida State, Texas A&M
- Gary CrowtonLouisiana Tech, BYU
- Shawn QuinnSavannah State
- Ron CooperEastern Michigan, Louisville, Alabama A&M, Long Island University
- Slade NagleTulane
- Billy GonzalesFlorida
- and 10 more
Worked under (6)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bo Schembechler | Michigan | 1980–89 | 1980–81: graduate assistant; 1987–89: offensive line coach | |
| Bill McCartney | Colorado | 1982–86 | Offensive line coach | |
| Gary Moeller | Michigan | 1990–94 | Offensive line coach | |
| Bob Simmons | Oklahoma State | 1995–97 | Offensive coordinator and offensive line coach | |
| Chan Gailey | Dallas Cowboys NFL | 1998–99 | Tight ends coach | |
| Dave Campo | Dallas Cowboys NFL | 2000 | Tight ends coach |
Coached under him, later head coaches (22)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brad Cornelsen | Oklahoma State, 2001–02: graduate assistant | Sam Houston | |
| Mike Gundy | Oklahoma State, 2001–04: assistant head coach and offensive coordinator | Oklahoma State | |
| Larry Porter | Oklahoma State, 2002–04: running backs coach; LSU, 2005–09: assistant head coach, special teams coordinator and running backs coach | Memphis | |
| Todd Monken | Oklahoma State, 2002–04: passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach; LSU, 2005–06: passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach | Southern Miss, Cleveland Browns | |
| Bo Pelini | LSU, 2005–07: defensive coordinator | Nebraska, Youngstown State | |
| Bradley Dale Peveto | LSU, 2005–07: special teams and linebackers coach; 2008: co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach; 2014–16: special teams coach and defensive assistant | Northwestern State | |
| Jimbo Fisher | LSU, 2005–06: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | Florida State, Texas A&M | |
| Gary Crowton | LSU, 2007–10: offensive coordinator | Louisiana Tech, BYU | |
| Shawn Quinn | LSU, 2008: defensive ends coach | Savannah State | |
| Ron Cooper | LSU, 2009–11: defensive backs coach | Eastern Michigan, Louisville, Alabama A&M, Long Island University | |
| Slade Nagle | LSU, 2009: special teams coach | Tulane | |
| Billy Gonzales | LSU, 2010–11: passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach | Florida | |
| Frank Wilson | LSU, 2010–15: assistant head coach, running backs coach and recruiting coordinator | UTSA, LSU, McNeese | |
| Steve Kragthorpe | LSU, 2011–12: quarterbacks coach | Tulsa, Louisville | |
| Cam Cameron | LSU, 2013–16: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | Indiana, Miami Dolphins | |
| Ed Orgeron | LSU, 2015–16: defensive line coach | Ole Miss, USC, LSU | |
| Kevin Steele | LSU, 2015: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | Baylor, Auburn | |
| Dave Aranda | LSU, 2016: assistant head coach, defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | Baylor | |
| Brent Dearmon | Kansas, 2019: senior offensive consultant; 2019–20: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | Bethel (TN), North Alabama | |
| Clint Bowen | Kansas, 2019: safeties coach | Kansas | |
| Kim Dameron | Kansas, 2019: senior defensive analyst | Eastern Illinois | |
| Chris Woods | Kansas, 2020: senior defensive assistant | Texas State, Mansfield, Stonehill |
Other assistants under him (22)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Bill Clay | Oklahoma State, 2001–04: defensive coordinator | |
| Doug Mallory | Oklahoma State, 2001–04: defensive backs coach; LSU, 2005–07: defensive backs coach; 2008: co-defensive coordinator | |
| Josh Henson | Oklahoma State, 2001–04: tight ends coach; LSU, 2005–08: tight ends coach | |
| John Papuchis | LSU, 2005–07: graduate assistant | |
| Mike Ekeler | LSU, 2005–07: graduate assistant; Kansas, 2019: special teams coordinator and inside linebackers coach | |
| Greg Studrawa | LSU, 2007–10, 2013: offensive line coach; 2011–12: offensive coordinator and offensive line coach | |
| Jason Beck | LSU, 2008: graduate assistant | |
| John Dunn | LSU, 2008–10: graduate assistant | |
| Brick Haley | LSU, 2009–14: defensive line coach | |
| Grady Brown | LSU, 2009: defensive quality control | |
| John Chavis | LSU, 2009–14: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| Steve Ensminger | LSU, 2010–16: tight ends coach; 2016: interim offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Adam C. Henry, Ed.D. | LSU, 2012–14: passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach | |
| Jeff Grimes | LSU, 2014–16: offensive line coach and running game coordinator | |
| Ryan Pugh | LSU, 2015: graduate assistant | |
| Dameyune Craig | LSU, 2016: wide receivers coach | |
| Pete Jenkins | LSU, 2016: defensive line coach | |
| D. J. Eliot | Kansas, 2019–20: defensive coordinator | |
| Jeff Hecklinski | Kansas, 2019: tight ends coach | |
| Les Koenning | Kansas, 2019: offensive coordinator | |
| Travis Partridge | Kansas, 2019–20: offensive quality control | |
| Jordan Peterson | Kansas, 2020: safeties coach |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
Pay
| Year | School | Job | Contract pay | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | LSU | head coachbonuses up to $700,000; $100,000 in bonuses paid | $4,385,567 USA Today | |
| 2015 | LSU | head coachbonuses up to $700,000; $100,000 in bonuses paid | $4,388,721 USA Today | |
| 2014 | LSU | head coachbonuses up to $700,000 | $4,369,582 USA Today | |
| 2013 | LSU | head coachbonuses up to $700,000 | $4,459,363 USA Today via Leeds | |
| 2012 | LSU | head coachbonuses up to $700,000 | $3,856,417 USA Today via Leeds | |
| 2011 | LSU | head coachbonuses up to $700,000 | $3,856,417 USA Today via Leeds | |
| 2010 | LSU | head coachbonuses up to $400,000 | $3,905,000 USA Today via Leeds | |
| 2009 | LSU | head coachbonuses up to $650,000 | $3,751,000 USA Today via Leeds | |
| 2008 | LSU | head coach | $3,751,000 USA Today via Leeds | |
| 2007 | LSU | head coachbonuses up to $525,000 | $1,816,000 USA Today via Leeds | |
| 2006 | LSU | head coachbonuses up to $450,000 | $1,450,000 USA Today via Leeds |
USA Today’s coaches salary database (2014–17, from public-records requests to the schools; Rachel Ehlers’ copy): the season’s contract pay, school pay plus outside money, before bonuses.
The same USA Today database for 2006–16, from Michael Leeds’ replication data on Harvard Dataverse (CC0): the season’s contract pay.
Pay of public employees in their public job only: head coaches, and assistants in the seasons our records name them a coordinator, at public universities.
How he coached
Miles’s teams went for it on 15% of fourth downs and on 28% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 42% of plays and took 27.0 seconds a play, 2004–2020.
| Season | School | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 12 g | Oklahoma State | 19 of 93 20% | 39% | 26% | 25.0 | +0.08 | |
| 2005 13 g | LSU | 9 of 96 9% | 18% | 45% | 28.4 | −0.04 | |
| 2006 13 g | LSU | 15 of 67 22% | 43% | 47% | 28.1 | +0.09 | |
| 2007 14 g | LSU | 16 of 107 15% | 35% | 45% | 25.2 | +0.08 | |
| 2008 13 g | LSU | 18 of 102 18% | 31% | 46% | 25.8 | −0.07 | |
| 2009 13 g | LSU | 15 of 94 16% | 29% | 48% | 28.5 | −0.06 | |
| 2010 13 g | LSU | 12 of 99 12% | 22% | 38% | 26.9 | −0.06 | |
| 2011 14 g | LSU | 6 of 88 7% | 10% | 34% | 29.9 | +0.03 | |
| 2012 13 g | LSU | 7 of 106 7% | 12% | 44% | 26.2 | −0.04 | |
| 2013 13 g | LSU | 8 of 65 12% | 26% | 40% | 27.3 | +0.19 | |
| 2014 13 g | LSU | 16 of 102 16% | 30% | 34% | 28.2 | 0.00 | |
| 2015 12 g | LSU | 9 of 82 11% | 24% | 38% | 28.2 | +0.14 | |
| 2019 12 g | Kansas | 20 of 95 21% | 34% | 53% | 24.2 | +0.03 | |
| 2020 9 g | Kansas | 24 of 100 24% | 41% | 51% | 25.5 | −0.21 | |
| All 177 g | 194 of 1296 15% | 28% | 42% | 27.0 | +0.02 |
His seasons as a head coach from 2004 on, from ESPN’s play by play: fourth downs where he went for it out of every fourth-down decision; how often he went when SportsDataverse’s fourth-down model said going for it was the better call; the share of his offense’s plays that were passes; seconds of game clock per offensive play (lower is faster); and expected points added per offensive play (EPA, a measure of how much each play moved the offense toward points). The season in progress counts its games so far. SportsDataverse’s coach tendencies, from ESPN’s play by play; the EPA and the fourth-down model are SportsDataverse’s.