LSU fires coach Les Miles four games into his 12th season
LSU coach Les Miles has been fired four games into his 12th season with the school.
Also out is offensive coordinator Cam Cameron, who had been with the school since 2013. Ed Orgeron will be the interim coach for the remainder of the season.
All three moves were announced Sunday by the school. The changes come one day after the Tigers fell to 2-2 on the season with an 18-13 loss at Auburn.
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“Decisions like this are never easy ones to make,” athletic director Joe Alleva said in a statement. “Coach Miles has done a tremendous job here and he’s been a great ambassador for our University, which makes this even more difficult.
“However, it’s apparent in evaluating the program through the first month of the season that a change has to be made. Our commitment to excellence and competing at the highest level is unwavering, and our goals for the remainder of this season haven’t changed. We have an obligation to our student-athletes to put them in the best position to have success on the football field each week and we have great confidence that coach Orgeron will do just that.”
The school will hold a press conference Monday afternoon to discuss the situation.
Miles, who has coached LSU since 2005, leaves with a 114-34 overall record and a national title won in 2007. Since the start of the 2013, LSU has gone 15-11 against SEC opponents.
He reportedly was close to be removed last season after a three-game losing streak last November. The Tigers rebounded with a win against Texas A&M in the final game of the regular season then dominated Texas Tech in the Texas Bowl to calm the situation.
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LSU entered the season at No. 6 in the preseason poll and were expected to contend with No. 1 Alabama in the SEC West. But immediately things went downhill.
Junior running back Leonard Fournette, expected to be a Heisman contender, dealt with an ankle injury in the preseason and struggled to find his form in the first four weeks.
Quarterback Brandon Harris performed poorly in a loss to Wisconsin in the opener. Miles eventually switched to Purdue transfer Danny Etling to start against Mississippi State in Week 3. After defeating the Bulldogs, the offense again bogged down at Auburn and could only managed one touchdown.
The Tigers rank 119th in passing offense this season, with 147.8 yards a game. LSU is 11th in total offense at 339.5 yards a game.
According to terms of his contract, Miles is due a buyout of approximately $10 million. The buyout for Cameron is slightly more than $2 million.
Orgeron is a Louisiana native and renowned recruiter. He was a head coach once before in the SEC with Mississippi, but never had a winning record there and was fired after three seasons.
He fared better as interim head coach at Southern California in 2013, going 6-2 in place of Lane Kiffin, who’d been fired that season.
Contributing: Steve Berkowitz; and The Associated Press