One of the most intriguing names on the 2017 coaching carousel is already working on his dream staff and breaking down personnel. Les Miles isn't sure what team he might have a chance to coach next season, but he wants to be as ready as possible to convince an athletic director that he's got another national championship in his future.
Sports Illustrated's Pete Thamel spoke to Miles this week, a week that he'd otherwise be spending preparing for Saturday night's colossal clash with Alabama. In the piece, Thamel describes the lifestyle of a coach who is very much ready for the next challenge. Miles has made an office out of a Baton Rouge condo, studying film and "evaluating young coaches an coordinators to help put together his next staff."
Miles says he's been studying the dynamic offenses of Baylor, Tulsa and Western Michigan and will have the opportunity to visit "a handful" of NFL facilities "to continue gathering strategies and ideas." Anything for a coach to keep busy while improving his chances at landing the next job.
"The breath itself has been awkward," Miles told Sports Illustrated. "I have enjoyed the time. I think I'm a better football coach today than I was the Sunday after Auburn. I have a want to win, win a conference championship and have the opportunity to play for a national championship still in me."
Studying Baylor's offense and Tulsa's offense provide a window into new styles, but also the personnel at schools that could be looking for head coaches. Miles has Big 12 experience from Oklahoma State and has already been mentioned as a possibility for Baylor, and the Tulsa job could be open if Philip Montgomery is hired away by a Power Five school. The same could be said for Western Michigan and P.J. Fleck, but the big takeaway for Miles is him wanting everyone to know the "Les Miles offense" will be opened up in the future.
The college football coaching carousel has changed a lot since the last time Miles was in the mix. He says he's "enjoyed the process" of search firms, which sounds right for a coach that has enjoyed kicking around philosophy and hypothetical situations in the past. Studying the film of dynamic offenses is a great way to change the narrative a little, but his hires and the plan he lays out in the interview process will ultimately determine the new-look Les.
When LSU takes the field against Alabama on Saturday, that new-look Les will be watching. He told SI that he's watched "every snap" of the Tigers season since his dismissal, "rooting like hell" for their success. As the sun sets over Death Valley in Baton Rouge on Saturday night, Miles will likely be somewhere with that open-palm clap at full volume.
