LSU was reportedly in negotiations with Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher before the university's president, F. King Alexander, intervened in favor of keeping Les Miles as the head coach, according to Ross Dellenger and Elizabeth Crisp of the Advocate.
The university reportedly started leaning towards keeping Miles as early as the Wednesday before their final game against Texas A&M, according to Dellenger and Crisp. The decision to keep Miles as the head coach in Baton Rouge reportedly did not come until the third quarter of the Tigers' win over the Aggies this past weekend, according to ESPN's Joe Schad.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal reportedly made calls to officials prior to Saturday's game and expressed that the university should keep Miles as their head coach, according to Dellenger and Crisp. "LSU made the right decision in retaining Coach Miles," said Jindal, via the Advocate. "As the (second) winningest coach in LSU history, he earned it."
Reports of Jimbo Fisher staying at Florida State came out prior to the Tigers game last week. Both Fisher and Miles are two of the top coaches in all of college football, and Miles' 111-32 record at LSU was likely more than enough to keep him as their head coach. The Tigers salvaged their season with a win over Texas A&M and finished with a 5-3 conference record.
It would have been interesting to see if Fisher would have gone back to LSU, as he was an offensive coordinator and quarterback coach there from 2000-06. Miles is currently safe as the Tigers' head coach, but he will need to have LSU competing for an SEC title game next year, or his job will likely be in jeopardy once again.
