Les Miles needs a job and Kansas needs a coach, and on Thursday Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports reported that Miles and KU AD Jeff Long "have spoken" about the Jayhawks' opening.
The nature of the conversation(s) was not disclosed, but this was a development many saw coming. Miles and Long have a relationship going back 30 years to when the pair were up-and-coming coaches and administrators at Michigan. Long also pursued Miles, then at LSU, when looking for a head coach in the winter of 2012 before hiring Bret Bielema away from Wisconsin.
Under normal circumstances, industry norms would dictate Long wait to announce a hire until after KU's regular season finale on Nov. 23. However, Kansas has announced David Beaty's dismissal effective at the end of this season and Miles is not in coaching -- meaning there's nothing stopping either side from doing a deal at any moment.
Miles, who turns 65 on Saturday, last coached at LSU in 2016 before being dismissed at mid-season. He has since worked to build a career in acting during his time between coaching jobs. His feature film debut premiers at the Lone Star Film festival this weekend.
Dodd also reported "certain candidates" could leverage a 6- or 7-year contract out of Long. This would be par for the course for Long, who has always been plenty generous with university coffers when writing contracts for his coaches and himself.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.