In a matter of days, Kansas lost its head football coach in Les Miles and the man who hired him, athletic director Jeff Long.
One reporter saw it coming in 2018.
The University of Kansas “parted ways” with Miles late Monday night after the release of a 2013 investigation into alleged sexual misconduct during Miles’ time at LSU. The day after the firing, Long led a press conference where he didn’t exactly inspire confidence in his ability to hire a new football coach. His answer about vetting Miles, in particular, drew widespread criticism.
Long was out of his job by Wednesday, and when reviewing the circumstances around that initial Les Miles hire, Sports Radio 810 in Kansas City came across this 2018 prediction from ESPN’s Will Harris.
Wow. ESPN handicapper Will Harris called his shot in November 2018 on @SportsRadio810:https://t.co/Y8oEOVKGQR
— Jesse Newell (@jessenewell) March 11, 2021
Harris said back in 2018:
“I know Jeff Long and Les Miles are buddies. But if Jeff Long hires Les Miles, and I’m giving Jeff Long enough credit to say that will not happen, but if that does happen, they’ll be exiting together in 2.5 years.”
The timeline was absolutely spot on.
Harris went on to say that the reason Miles couldn’t get a new job after losing the LSU position was that he couldn’t get beyond the interview stage. He didn’t have that capability anymore. Plus, any reasonable vetting process would have likely pointed to the LSU investigation.
That’s a prediction that everyone at KU should have listened to. That didn’t happen, and now Kansas is back to the drawing board … again.
