When LSU tees it up against Missouri on Saturday night, the Bayou Bengals will have at least one 62-year-old Ohioan pulling hard for a victory.
Les Miles made it clear Monday that he has no hard feelings against the school that fired him a day earlier, four games into his 12th season as head coach in Baton Rouge. Speaking on the "Dan Patrick Show" in his first public comments since his dismissal, Miles was consistently gracious to his former employer.
“Anything that makes the Tigers better, I’m for," he said.
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Miles was 114-34 with LSU before being fired following Saturday's 18-13 loss at Auburn. He said athletic director Joe Alleva informed him of the decision face-to-face and allowed him to say goodbye to his players Sunday afternoon.
"They gave me that opportunity and I took advantage of it," Miles said. "Did not stay long, but I wished them well. They deserve the best, and I think (interim head coach) Ed Orgeron will do a great job for them. I exited about as fast I could."
That a coach with Miles' track record and a national championship to his credit would be fired a third of the way into the season says plenty about the atmosphere and expectations surrounding the LSU football program. Miles was given ample opportunity to criticize the environment in Monday's interview but didn't do so. He called coaching at LSU "a blast" and responded quickly when asked if he had taken any time in the previous day to feel sorry for himself.
"Are you kidding me?" he said. "I have had a great run at LSU and I enjoyed myself the entire time."
Miles was asked what he plans to do this Saturday and said he hoped he could get a ticket to North Carolina-Florida State game in Tallahassee. His son Manny is a redshirt freshman quarterback for the Tar Heels.
"I can tell you one thing," he said, "I’m going to be rooting for the LSU Tigers, I’m going to be rooting for the Tar Heels, I’m going to be rooting for the Cowboys, and I’m going to be rooting for Michigan."
As much as Miles might enjoy being a fan for a while, he shouldn't have any trouble finding another job in football if that's something he wants to do. And it certainly sounds like he does.
"I don’t golf. I play no tennis. I enjoy shooting the gun — I don’t necessarily like to point it at animals. I play cards, not very well," he said. "But what I have done for probably 12-14 hours a day for the last, I don’t know, number of years, is coach football. So I would have a difficult time not being involved in the game and not being a coach."
