Les Miles: Coach of the Year Award Is Well Deserved

I remember back at the beginning of the season when there were lots of "Best College Football Head Coaches" lists flying around.

I also remember a lot of controversy about where Les Miles was being placed. He was either way too high or way too low, but one thing was sure. He was easily one of the most polarizing men on the list.

After this season, the polarization may never be that high again. 

According to Cecil Hurt, who covers Alabama football for the Tuscaloosa News, Miles has won the AP Head Coach of the Year award.

"LSU's Les Miles wins AP Coach of the Year voting," said Hurt via his Twitter account earlier today.

This is far from the most shocking decision ever, but Miles deserve a little bit of recognition for the job he's done this year. So here we are. 

The Tigers came into this college football season ranked No. 4 by ESPN. They clearly had a ton of talent, but no one thought they would be this good.

No one figured they would beat eight, yes, eight ranked opponents en route to a 13-0 record and a national championship appearance.

No figured they would beat Alabama in the "Game of the Century."

No one figured they would beat Oregon by 13, West Virginia by 26, Florida by 30, Auburn by 35, Arkansas by 24 and Georgia by 32. 

Those are not bad teams. And those are not close margins. LSU simply did something this year that we may never see again.

It can't be stressed enough how, to put it in a word, ridiculous, this season has been for the Tigers. 

Look at it this way: they were thought to be the fourth best team at the start of the season and they showed they were one of the best teams ever.

A lot, and I mean a lot of that has to fall on the head coach. Les Miles deserves a ton of credit and it starts here with the AP Coach of the Year award.

Certainly other coaches around the country did a lot with less talent than Miles, but a season like LSU's can't be overlooked. 

I don't know how the voting broke down, but if Miles got anything but No. 1 on every ballot it would be a serious travesty. 

OK, not that much of a travesty because it wouldn't really matter, but it would just be wrong if he wasn't the consensus winner. That's how good he and LSU were this year.

When those same head coach lists are being compiled this offseason, I would be very surprised if Miles wasn't No. 1 on every single one of them.