Les Miles is one of the more colorful personalties in college football, and that was on full display at his introductory press conference at Kansas.

As Athletics Director Jeff Long introduced him, Miles interrupted and recalled how Long said he would talk to one candidate, and then another, and Miles finally said, ‘Hey, come talk to me.” Their relationship dates back to when they were both at Michigan.

Miles takes over a program that has a 6-31 record in three-plus seasons under soon-to-be former coach David Beaty.

“I’d like to finish my career with championships and the guy to my left, that’s who he is, and that’s who I am,” Miles said, referring to Long.

Miles signed a five-year contract that will pay him $2.7 million annually with retention bonuses of $775,000 due in November 2020 and $500,000 in November 2022.

Miles was asked about how much he wanted to get into coaching, and candidly said he didn’t expect it to take this long to get back into coaching.

“Absolutely,” he said. “The further I got away from it, the more I desired it,” he said. “… 10,000 hours supposedly makes you an expert. I think I’m closing in on that 10,000th hour.”

Having a relationship with Long made an impact on his impression of the Kansas job.

“My first impression was that Jeff Long went there,” he said. “And when Jeff Long went there, I knew that I’d be able to communicate with him. I knew that he and I are cut from the same cloth.”

He brought up from former LSU DB Tyrann Mathieu and recruiting the New Orleans area when he was the LSU coach, and Miles said Kansas needs the same type of player from the many areas they will recruit.

“I recognize the key piece for us is to get our scholarships up to 85, and 85 with quality recruits, not turn and give them to walk-ons that were not necessarily deserving, but if a walk-on is deserving, we’re certainly going to consider that.”

Miles admitted he looked at what he should change to make him more successful as an offensive coach.