Les Miles is Gone, But Jeff Long Should Not be Far Behind
Well, Kansas did it. They parted ways with Les Miles, and I’ll be honest, I didn’t think it would actually happen. Last week, I said that not only Les Miles should go but so should Athletic Director Jeff Long.
First off, let’s start with Les Miles as a person. The things that were listed in the report from LSU were disgusting. A head football coach and a leader of men doesn’t act in that manner and his behavior was unacceptable. And LSU had every right to fire him years before they did. Did he give us sound great sound bites? Sure, but that doesn’t cover up his mistakes.
As a coach, Les was past his prime. That’s no secret. He was taking LSU in the wrong direction before being fired after a 2-2 start in 2016. Three years later he was hired by Jeff Long to turn around Kansas. And what did Kansas get in return? A 3-18 record in two seasons and a headache which will leave the football program in the same mess that Miles inherited. Combine that with the allegations and Kansas had no choice but to part ways and distance themselves from Miles.
The question for Kansas is where do they go from here? Let’s not kid ourselves. The Kansas football program is a dumpster fire. Since Mark Mangino left after the 2009 season, Kansas has a record of 21-99, which is by far the worst record of any FBS program. The program needs a culture change and rebuild. They need new life and energy.
However, who will be the one to make that hire? Of course, that is none other than Athletic Director Jeff Long. The same Jeff Long that hired Bobby Petrino at Arkansas, fired David Beaty, and tried to pin NCAA violations on him so he didn’t have to pay him. And now hired Les Miles who was just fired for inappropriate behavior. Did Jeff even do his homework before hiring his buddy? I seriously doubt it. And don’t even get me started with the Kansas basketball program. Where Jeff Long goes, problems follow.
Maybe it’s time for Jeff Long to stop trying to fix his mistakes. It’s time for Kansas to let go of their other mistake, hiring Jeff Long.
In a statement, Long says the school will use an outside firm to assist in the new football coach hire. But there is one issue I have with that: What is Kansas doing? It makes no sense for Jeff Long to have any say on the next football hire. He shouldn’t’ even be at Kansas any longer. But if the school decides to keep him, that’s on them and they have nobody else to blame but themselves. But if there is one thing I know it’s you can never fix a problem by having another problem trying to solve it.
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