Two weeks ago when Lloyd Carr announced he was effectively stepping down from head coach at the University of Michigan, rumors of Les Miles coaching the maze and blue started spreading like wildfire.
Well, where there’s smoke, there’s fire.
The University of Michigan’s search for a new football coach took its first significant step forward Wednesday night, as athletic director Bill Martin asked for, and received, permission to talk to Louisiana State University coach and former Wolverine player and assistant Les Miles about succeeding the retired Lloyd Carr.
Wolverine fans shouldn’t get their hopes up yet. While this would make a nice homecoming story for Miles (he played under legendary UM coach Bo Schembechler and also was an assistant for him), LSU isn’t going to allow him to head north without at least offering him a lucrative extension. Plus, Michigan isn’t known for shelling out huge contracts to head coaches. Carr made less than $300,000 annually, which is still a lot of money but given UM’s size and reputation, one would think they would pony up a little more for a head football coach.
Something tells me that if this becomes a bidding war for Miles, LSU is going to retain his services. However, you can never downplay where a man’s heart lies. Maybe Miles is willing to accept around the same amount of money he made at LSU this season (just less than $1.5 million) to coach at his alma mater. Carr made just under $1.5 million this season too, so obviously UM would probably be fine with signing Miles in that price range.
