NFL teams going mad for Les Miles

[Coach Hank Crisp]

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NFL owners and general managers over the past few years have always been intrigued by LSU coach Les Miles, but something about Miles always made them hesitant: They thought he was a goofball.

The wacky, Mad Hatter rep made some NFL executives who considered hiring him nervous, I'm told. They weren't certain if he had the maturity to be an NFL head coach, so in the end, they stayed away.

That is changing drastically. After interviews with several team executives, it has become clear Miles has vaulted near the top of some lists as the next hottest NFL coaching candidate.

To be sure, there are still skeptics uncertain what to make of him, but that number is decreasing. Most now see Miles as someone who can lead an NFL franchise and will definitely be pursued by teams in need of a head coach at the end of the season.

"He's the most intriguing coaching prospect I've seen in a long time," said one team executive. "I think he has a great deal of talent and can deal with the modern athlete."

And that is what I've heard repeatedly about Miles from team executives. Their belief is that Miles is, as one told me, the next Jimmy Johnson in terms of knowing how to coach the 21st-century player.

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Miles to the NFL? LSU's recruits will hear it

Any little edge."

That's what one assistant once told me about recruiting. Their staff, another staff, everybody's staff. It's how the game is played nowadays.

That's why news that NFL teams might pursue LSU head coach Les Miles after this season will - in some form or fashion - affect the Tigers' recruiting. LSU currently has 19 players committed for the class of 2012, most of whom are solid and will end up putting on the purple and gold. But for some, like wide four-star Pompano Beach (Fla.) receiver Avery Johnson - younger brother of former Baton Rouge star Patrick Peterson - the article about Miles will likely be printed out or emailed to him by the end of the day by other SEC programs.

On the NFL side, it's easy to see why Miles fits the mold of a college coach who could make a successful jump up. According to CBSSports' Michael Freeman:

League executives also seem to be impressed with Miles' ability to build and maintain a top-level program. While the challenges and differences between professional and college are obvious -- the salary cap being the biggest -- Miles has made LSU into a staying power in the toughest conference in the country.

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Where could Les Miles land in the NFL?

When the CBSSports.com NFL newsletter landed in my inbox Wednesday, I thought there had to be some kind of mistake. After all, the topic was Les Miles, and he has nothing to do with the NFL, except that he coaches guys who will end up playing there.

As it turns out, my man Mike Freeman's excellent 10-Point Stance column was about Miles and how he's the "most intriguing coaching prospect" that one team exec has "seen in a long time." WUT?

Les Miles? Really? Because, um, yeah, that doesn't make sense.

Whatever, Miles is wacky but he wins a lot, so at some point, NFL teams will be interested. Let's run through some of the usual suspects -- teams who stink this season and/or teams that are always considered possibilities for head-coaching candidates -- and discuss whether or not they're viable candidates.

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Why Les Miles could succeed as an NFL head coach

Even amongst college football fans -- heck, even amongst LSU fans -- Miles is rarely viewed as some kind of coaching savant. There's the late-game clock mismanagement. The years of underachieving offenses. The inability to gets his uber-talented teams over the hump to an undefeated season, national title or not. (Say it with us, Miles skeptics: "You can't spell Les Miles without two L's.")

He coaches to win. Sounds simple, right? But truckloads of coaches base their in-game decisions on not losing rather than winning, and the end result is that their record in close games hews to the .500 mark you'd expect when allowing luck to be the deciding factor. Not Miles: whether it's throwing the famous last-second bomb to beat Auburn in 2007, calling the last-minute fake field goal that helped down Florida in 2010, or a dozen other examples, Miles is committed to calls that give his team a chance to win, not just a shot at avoiding a loss.

He surrounds himself with the right coaches. Not every move Miles has made on his staff has been gold; after defensive coordinator Bo Pelini left to become Nebraska's head coach following the 2007 national championship. Miles promoted Doug Mallory and Bradley Dale Peveto as co-coordinators to fill that spot ... and promptly watched the Tiger defense take a massive step backwards in a disappointing 8-5 2008 season.

But Miles didn't wait around to see if Mallory and Peveto could get it together. He promptly went out and hired respected ex-Tennessee coordinator John Chavis, and the LSU defense has never looked back.

His special teams are dynamite. For years, LSU has boasted some of the best-coached, most consistent and most explosive special teams units in the SEC. Much of that success has been chalked up to the Tigers' string of top-notch return men: Trindon Holliday, Chad Jones, Patrick Peterson.

He connects with his players. It's not worth belaboring the point already made by Freeman in his report, but no one has ever accused Miles's teams of not playing their hardest for him, nor Miles himself of being unable to reach recruits or manage his star players.

[BAMAWV]

LOL

[Coach Hank Crisp]

I hope he goes to Dallas. Just what Jerry Jones deserves. The Mad Hat.

[Marshal Dillon]

[Coach Hank Crisp]

The head "Corndog"

[bamaphil]

I'm truly intrigued how a man who can't utter a coherent sentence has maintained a top-tier program for seven years.

[BAMAWV]

I'm truly intrigued how a man who can't utter a coherent sentence has maintained a top-tier program for seven years.

It's Louisiana. Bless their corndog hearts.

[Chechem]

I'm truly intrigued how a man who can't utter a coherent sentence has maintained a top-tier program for seven years.

It's Louisiana. Bless their corndog hearts.

I've lived there.  Not much else to do.
It's the only school in the state, so they get all the recruits and many of those in bordering states.  Les is the Dale Brown of college football.  Remember Dale?  He was a top-tier recruiter at LSU (think bb), but couldn't coach a lick.  Les probably can't either, but seems to be riding smiled upon by lady luck.

[bamaphil]

I'm truly intrigued how a man who can't utter a coherent sentence has maintained a top-tier program for seven years.

It's Louisiana. Bless their corndog hearts.

I've lived there.  Not much else to do.
It's the only school in the state, so they get all the recruits and many of those in bordering states.  Les is the Dale Brown of college football.  Remember Dale?  He was a top-tier recruiter at LSU (think bb), but couldn't coach a lick.  Les probably can't either, but seems to be riding smiled upon by lady luck.

LSU was a door mat for 50 year before Saban arrived though.  It's easy to dismiss Miles as a lucky fool, but at some point we have to admit that he's doing something right.  I just want to know what it is.

[BAMAWV]

I'm truly intrigued how a man who can't utter a coherent sentence has maintained a top-tier program for seven years.

It's Louisiana. Bless their corndog hearts.

I've lived there.  Not much else to do.
It's the only school in the state, so they get all the recruits and many of those in bordering states.  Les is the Dale Brown of college football.  Remember Dale?  He was a top-tier recruiter at LSU (think bb), but couldn't coach a lick.  Les probably can't either, but seems to be riding smiled upon by lady luck.

He was caught on camera picking up and eating some ABC bubble gum. He made up some wild azz story about eating grass for good luck.

[Chechem]

I'm truly intrigued how a man who can't utter a coherent sentence has maintained a top-tier program for seven years.

It's Louisiana. Bless their corndog hearts.

I've lived there.  Not much else to do.
It's the only school in the state, so they get all the recruits and many of those in bordering states.  Les is the Dale Brown of college football.  Remember Dale?  He was a top-tier recruiter at LSU (think bb), but couldn't coach a lick.  Les probably can't either, but seems to be riding smiled upon by lady luck.

LSU was a door mat for 50 year before Saban arrived though.  It's easy to dismiss Miles as a lucky fool, but at some point we have to admit that he's doing something right.  I just want to know what it is.

Maybe it's the grass.  I always felt..... 

[bamaphil]

 

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