Skip to content

Ad Disclosure

College Football

Les Miles files lawsuit against LSU over vacated wins and HOF eligibility

Paul Harvey

By Paul Harvey

Published:

Les Miles has not coached since the 2020 season at Kansas, and his last season at LSU came all the way back in 2016. However, the former head coach is in the news after filing a lawsuit against LSU and others over 37 wins that were vacated as a result of an NCAA investigation.

The reasoning behind the lawsuit is simple. The 37 wins vacated from Miles’ career record dropped his overall win-loss percentage below the .600 mark needed to qualify for the College Football Hall of Fame.

As of this writing, Miles’ career record is officially listed at 108-73, a winning percentage of .596. The lawsuit seeks to re-establish Miles’ “true career win-loss record” at 143-73 and a winning percentage of .665.

In a statement shared by AJ Perez, Miles’ agent George Bass called LSU’s actions “particularly disappointing,” even when compared to other instances of “institutional disloyalty.” Bass also claims LSU promised to help undo “this injustice” but went back on its word.

“Les clearly earned the right to appear on the HOF ballot, and LSU’s wanton action depriving Les of that opportunity inexplicably sacrificed Les in exchange for protecting those who put LSU in its compromised position,” said Bass. “For all those who helped make LSU football so successful, the action is a slap in the face and reflects a disregard for the entire program’s hard work and dedication under Les’ leadership. After LSU promised us its help in undoing this injustice, LSU went back on its word, forcing us to take this unfortunate action of suing in order to regain Les’ rights.”

Fans can check out the full complaint here:

RELATED: Now is the perfect time to check out Daily Fantasy Sports and get into the action! SDS is here to help with our best Sleeper Fantasy promo code to get started.

Examining Les Miles’ case

Whether or not Miles has a case in court will be determined. However, he’s hitting on a couple of points that some fans have grown weary of when it comes to college football.

Many fans are already frustrated over most instances of vacating wins and awards. That came to a head recently when Reggie Bush finally had his Heisman Trophy reinstated.

Miles is unlikely to get the same amount of support that Bush had in his efforts, but the same principle of vacating wins that took place on the field is frustrating to some.

Then there’s the arbitrary win-loss percentage threshold established to reach eligibility for the HOF. That threshold was a recent topic of conversation, mainly as it relates to the late Mike Leach.

Leach, one of the truly innovative figures in college football’s history, is currently ineligible for induction with a career win-loss percentage of 59.6%.

Then again, there are a few other ways of thinking about Miles’ record, one of those ways including Miles only has himself to blame for falling below .600% for his career. After his time at LSU ended in 2016, Miles would take the Kansas job ahead of 2019.

Results with the Jayhawks were disastrous with Kansas going 3-18 overall in 2 seasons. Without those results, Miles would easily be over the threshold.

And, even if Miles has his wins reinstated, that is not a guarantee he will reach the HOF. Once on the ballot, Miles would still need to be voted in from the NFF chapter members, NFF academic members and Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) members.

We’ll see how it all plays out, but it’s an interesting chapter in the career of Miles.

Paul Harvey

Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.

You might also like...

2025 RANKINGS

presented by rankings