LSU's Sloppy Handling of Les Miles Situation Unfair to Him, Players and Fans

LSU head coach Les Miles will coach his last game Saturday against Texas A&M. Or he won't. It depends which report you believe.

Rumors of Miles' job security—or lack thereof—have been circulating for the better part of two weeks. Scott Rabalais of the Advocate reported on Nov. 17 that there were "strong indications" Miles was coaching for his job in the final two games of the season.

A later report from ESPN.com's Joe Schad corroborated the notion that Miles was on his way out after losing consecutive games to Alabama, Arkansas and Ole Miss. James Smith of the Times-Picayune reported that Miles' astonishing $15 million buyout was not a "hindrance" in the decision-making process.

However, Miles himself said he had "no idea" what his future would be. "Certainly we've run into distractions before, but this seems to be a pretty prevailing and evident distraction," he said, per David Ching of ESPN.com.

The overwhelming belief is that Miles will no longer coach LSU after this season. But the frustrating part of this story has been the inconsistency in reporting, which seems to change not just on a day-to-day basis, but also an hour-to-hour one.

On Friday, Glenn Guilbeau of Gannett Louisiana reported that Saturday's game against the Aggies would be Miles' last. Shortly thereafter, Ross Dellenger of the Advocate reported the exact opposite:

All the while, LSU has not offered a formal statement on Miles' future. Other than TigerDroppings.com's reporting that the athletic department's sports information director denied any truth to Schad's report, the university's brass has been silent.

This is beyond unfair to Miles, the football players at LSU and even the fanbase.

Miles has coached LSU to a pair of national championship appearances—winning one in 2007—along with three SEC West titles and two SEC titles. His record of 110-32 in 11 seasons at LSU means he's averaging 10 wins per season. He puts players into the NFL regularly.

His 48 wins in the past five years tie the same number of wins Alabama head coach Nick Saban had when he coached the Tigers from 2000-04. One more win would surpass that total, as Stewart Mandel of Fox Sports tweeted:

It's true that times have been leaner in Baton Rouge lately. Regardless of what happens against the Aggies, LSU will win no more than eight regular-season games for the second straight year. What's more, LSU has lost five straight games to Alabama, dating back to the 2012 BCS National Championship Game.

The offense has failed to develop a quarterback over the past couple of years, and this past offseason, heralded defensive coordinator John Chavis left for the same job at Texas A&M.

It's rare for even great programs to maintain a dynastic level of success annually. What Miles has been able to do over the course of 11 years—and 11 years is an eternity to stay at one place these days—is a remarkable achievement.

If LSU is in fact pushing Miles out the door, the least it can do is be entirely upfront with him about its intentions.

Just a month ago, LSU was the No. 2 team in the College Football Playoff rankings:

And this is how LSU treats Miles in return? By leaving him to fend for himself in press conferences and to fans at radio call-in shows?

“I don’t know how you keep smiling, but you do,” one emotional person said at Miles' call-in show this week, via Dellenger. “That’s why we love you. … We’re not going to let you leave town.”

What fans are owed pales in comparison to what Miles is owed. However, with the amount of money poured into athletics—and the part fans play in that, what with season tickets and donations to the athletic department—they have the right to know what the university's plans are for its head coach.

That's not to say fans should have a say in the outcome, but they shouldn't be left in the dark about what it will be.

Miles is also a player's coach. If it were up to him, Saturday's home game against A&M would be all about those players and the departing seniors. Instead, the overtone of the game will be wrapped around Miles' future—not the kids who gave everything they could for him.

College football asks a lot of its players. It asks them to sacrifice and play through injury. It asks them to be as perfect as they can possibly be. At a place like LSU, it also asks them to win national championships.

So, yes, LSU needs to have a clear plan so the players who do everything for Miles can know who their head coach will be.

If LSU has a plan, it's not doing a good job of relaying it. How else do you describe unconfirmed, conflicting reports and secrecy from the school? The whole situation screams of a hasty reaction with no real long-term vision.

If LSU does fire Miles, it must have an ace hire ready to go. And then a good Plan B. And a good Plan C. Elite jobs don't always get their first choice, either. Letting a coach go is the easy part; it's finding the next guy that's difficult.

Upgrading from a bad coach/situation to a good coach/situation would be one thing, but LSU would be attempting to upgrade from a good/very good situation to an even better one. That's not as easy as you think because it limits the pool of coaching candidates. Chances are most of those candidates have good jobs already.

Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher, a former assistant for the Tigers under Saban and Miles, has been connected to the LSU job, per Safid Deen of the Tallahassee Democrat. For what it's worth, Fisher said, “I’m happy where I’m at. I’m very happy here. I’ve got a great job. I love this place. It is a great place and it has been very good to me."

But think of it this way: Fisher is two seasons removed from a national championship and is recruiting well enough to win more. It's not like Fisher would be upgrading in either of those areas. LSU has the No. 2 class for 2016, according to 247Sports, and regularly pulls in blue-chip talent, but you could also say the same thing about Florida State.

When you think of it that way, that seems like a lateral move for Fisher. If LSU can't lure him away, whom exactly are they going to get who's just as good and still considered an upgrade over Miles?

Forget money—there's only so much one can do with it—and forget recruiting, as Florida is actually a better state for it than Louisiana. Would you want that job knowing why your predecessor was let go?

These are the things LSU has to think about if it's going in a new direction. But first, it needs to think about Miles—you know, the guy who may or may not still be the coach there—and the lack of respect it is showing him after all he's done.

Ben Kercheval is a lead writer for college football. All quotes cited unless obtained firsthand. All records courtesy of Sports-Reference.com.