Kansas has placed head football coach Les Miles on administrative leave and the university will conduct a full review to determine the appropriate next steps for his future, Jeff Long, athletic director Jeff Long, said in a statement Friday night.
The decision comes after reports of Miles’ behavior while coaching at LSU in 2013 were released this week.
“Although the allegations against him have occurred at LSU, we take these matters very seriously at KU,” Long said in the statement. “Now that we have access to this information, we will take the next few days to fully review the material and to see if additional information is available. I do not want to speculate on a timeline for our review, as it is essential that we are examining our precaution. “
A report issued on behalf of LSU on Thursday showed that a 2013 internal investigation at the school accused Miles of inappropriate behavior towards female students, including allegations that he made contact with them via Facebook and sms. met alone from campus and kissed at least one of them. they. The report did not find that he had sexual relations with any of the women, and Miles vehemently denied that he had kissed the student, saying that he had done nothing wrong and that he was mentoring young women at the university.
Law firm Taylor Porter conducted the investigation on behalf of LSU. Miles’ lawyer, Peter Ginsberg, told ESPN on Thursday that its results should put an end to the unfounded, inaccurate media reports that Coach Les Miles had an inappropriate contact with a student from the athletics department eight years ago.
On Friday, a second report, conducted by law firm Husch Blackwell, detailed systemic failures by LSU to appropriately report incidents of sexual misconduct and athletic-related behavior. A portion of the report showed that former LSU athletics director Joe Alleva recommended in 2013 that Miles be fired as coach due to the above-mentioned allegations of inappropriate behavior by female students.
Miles was not in the KU football offices on Friday. The Jayhawks hired him in November 2018 and signed him on a five-year contract at the time.
The 67-year-old Miles is 3-18 in his first two seasons in Kansas, including 0-9 in 2020. The only major 12 victory for the Jayhawks during those two seasons was Texas Tech in 2019. Kansas last won more than three games in a season in 2009.
Long and Miles worked together in Michigan in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Before Long hired him at KU, Miles was no longer coaching for three seasons after being sacked by LSU in 2016.
Mike DeBord, who was appointed as the Kansas offensive coordinator last month, will oversee the program with Miles on leave, sources told ESPN.