Unless he obtains the Western Michigan job, Les Miles probably isn't going to be on the sidelines for the 2017 season.
The Broncos' job is the only one open at the moment and, with no coaches on the horizon for any of the NFL openings, it would take a surprise firing for Miles to land a job this cycle if Western Michigan does not come to pass.
But even if he's forced to sit out the 2017 season, The Mad Hatter says he's still committed to coaching.
"I think [TV is] something that I would enjoy being close to the game," Miles told ESPN's David Ching. "But I'm a coach. I have so much experience at the things that I've done that it would be hard for me to just put those down. ... So for me not to be able to step to the field and show a young man, 'This is how we do it,' and move on from there, I just can't imagine it at this point. Maybe at another time. Yeah, maybe, but not at this point. I'm a coach."
Miles is the most accomplished coach to hit the open market in a while. He's 159-44 all-time, a future Hall of Famer, and even the down period that got him dismissed at LSU still saw the Tigers win at least eight games every season and finish in the top-20 of both major polls in every season but one since 2008.
Still, landing a new job is no guarantee, especially for a coach of his age (63). Butch Davis spent multiple years out of the game before landing at FIU in November. Philip Fulmer and Houston Nutt never found that next job after being pushed out of Tennessee and Ole Miss, respectively.
It's a young man's game now.
"Here's the interesting thing: The experience that you've had in 17 years of head-coaching experience, you can't put in a two-hour interview and it's impossible to try," Miles said. "So what you do is you do the best you can to display these great number of experiences that you've had, and then you want to see how they respond. It's important that it's a great fit. And if they don't want an experienced coach and a guy that's been through really a number of situations, I understand. I really do, and I'm for them."