One month ago, LSU and Les Miles were on top of the college football world.
Today, Les endured a painful morning in which Joe Schad and Pat Forde reported that the end was expected and could play out as early as today. Les then took the podium and answered questions as straight forward as he could.
Athletic director Joe Alleva, standing behind his "Contractual matters are discussed after the season" stance did not even attend this press conference.
So, how did we get here? Well, let's go back to the middle of the 2014 season...
The contracts for most of LSU's assistants were coming due in the Spring of 2015. Alleva's administration sent most of the assistants new contracts with very small raises....and a new clause that in summary said, "If Les is no longer the head coach, then this contract terminates." Most of the assistants, recognizing they had no power to negotiate, begrudgingly signed up. Not Chief.
Fast forward to December, John Chavis requested a meeting with Alleva to tell him that his contract should not have a "If Les Is Out" clause. Alleva didn't show. Alleva, reportedly, was not responsive to Chief's outreach. We all know how that played out. Despite Les offering Chief money from his own pocket, Chief left for A&M. Was money the issue? Nope. Chief was offended by Alleva...and Alleva let it happen.
Now, just last week Scott Rabalais of The Advocate leaks breaks the news that there were "strong indications" that Les was coaching for his job. Rabalais, of course, was right. Rabalais' article did not include the name Joe Alleva. Anywhere. Was not mentioned.
A lot of people are surprised that this has happened so quickly. See the video below, some are now beginning to see that this has all been part of the plan.
Les deserves better.
At this time all signs point to an ending after this weekend's game versus Texas A&M. Does Les have one more trick play to call? Let's hope so.