Tag: Jeff Long

ESPN reporter had eerily spot-on prediction in 2018 on how Les Miles’ Kansas tenure would go

Wow.

In a matter of days, Kansas lost its head football coach in Les Miles and the man who hired him, athletic director Jeff Long.

One reporter saw it coming in 2018.

The University of Kansas “parted ways” with Miles late Monday night after the release of a 2013 investigation into alleged sexual misconduct during Miles’ time at LSU. The day after the firing, Long led a press conference where he didn’t exactly inspire confidence in his ability to hire a new football coach. His answer about vetting Miles, in particular, drew widespread criticism.

Long was out of his job by Wednesday, and when reviewing the circumstances around that initial Les Miles hire, Sports Radio 810 in Kansas City came across this 2018 prediction from ESPN’s Will Harris.

Harris said back in 2018:

“I know Jeff Long and Les Miles are buddies. But if Jeff Long hires Les Miles, and I’m giving Jeff Long enough credit to say that will not happen, but if that does happen, they’ll be exiting together in 2.5 years.”

The timeline was absolutely spot on.

Harris went on to say that the reason Miles couldn’t get a new job after losing the LSU position was that he couldn’t get beyond the interview stage. He didn’t have that capability anymore. Plus, any reasonable vetting process would have likely pointed to the LSU investigation.

That’s a prediction that everyone at KU should have listened to. That didn’t happen, and now Kansas is back to the drawing board … again.

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Kansas athletic director Jeff Long rightfully got crushed for his answer about vetting Les Miles

That settles it then …

The University of Kansas “mutually parted ways” with football coach Les Miles late Monday night after an investigation into alleged sexual misconduct during his time at LSU was made public.

Miles lasted just two seasons at Kansas, going a dismal 3-18 with a winless season in 2020. In the lead-up to Miles’ dismissal, much of the attention focused on Kansas athletic director Jeff Long who hired Miles after a considerably limited search before the 2019 season.

Given that the investigation took place in 2013, it would have been reasonable to expect Long to come across the alleged misconduct at LSU if he had seriously looked into Miles’ past at all.

On Tuesday, Long was asked in a press conference directly about how thoroughly he vetted Miles in the hiring process. And, well, his answer was not great.

Long said that he asked Miles if he had done anything in the past that could potentially embarrass KU — as if Miles’ word was reliable. Unsurprisingly, that answer did not help Long’s cause at all.

Despite the massive failure of the Miles hire, Long will still lead this latest coaching search for a Kansas football program that last posted a winning season in 2008.

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