New LSU Football Coach Les Miles Combines Family and Football
Saturday Night in Death Valley!
These five words drum up emotion in the hearts of Tiger fans worldwide. Years of tradition, bonding, and memories are relived by just hearing these words. Tiger fans are a proud group, and they love to share their experiences with newcomers.
This is part of the reason why new football coach Les Miles is constantly asked how he feels about coaching his first game in Tiger Stadium. Whether he is on a speaking tour across the Gulf South or running into students on campus, everyone wants to tell him about Saturday Night in Death Valley.
“My first Saturday night in that stadium will be an emotional one,” Miles said during his introductory press conference on January. 3. “It is a majestic, grand venue. I am told that the opponents have a very difficult time hearing the snap count. I think that is a wonderful advantage for the home folks.”
Since being hired in January, Miles has landed a Top 25 recruiting class, led his team through spring practice, and toured the region speaking to various alumni groups and Tiger supporters. Yet the LSU head coaching position has not worn on him.
“Am I comfortable? Yeah. Is it old shoe (coming to work)? No,” Miles said. “I look forward to this season. As I get close to the season, my intensity increases. I get excited.”
The LSU players have seen this excitement and intensity in spring practice and meetings. They are excited about the possibilities next season holds and are assured that Miles will continue the success at LSU.
“I’m very convinced he can,” said Skyler Green, senior wide receiver. “When he first talked to us, he said that this is not my team, this is our team. We’re going to take it and run with it that way – together we’re going to do this.”
The Football Coach
When
Miles was hired as LSU’s 32nd head football coach, he brought with
him an impressive resume.
For the past four years, Miles was the head coach at Oklahoma State University, where he turned the program around and led the Cowboys to three straight bowl appearances. Miles, the 2002 Big 12 Conference Coach of the Year, finished his tenure at Oklahoma State with a record of 28-21, including two victories over traditional football power Oklahoma.
Prior to being head coach at Oklahoma State, Miles worked as an assistant at Michigan, Colorado, and Oklahoma State. He also worked in the NFL as the tight ends coach for the Dallas Cowboys.
“The Dallas Cowboys experience really opened my eyes in a number of ways,” Miles said. “Some of the methods by which they teach – the way they approach special teams – there’s a lot of things that had an effect on me.”
At each coaching stop, Miles honed the skills that he brings to LSU.
“My preparation for this job spans several different programs – Michigan, the Dallas Cowboys, two pretty high profile opportunities to be around,” Miles said. “I wasn’t the head coach at those places, but certainly I understood the media attention and the concerns that were large, the very large alumni base and the fan base in Dallas.”
The Family Man
When
LSU hired Miles, they were not simply hiring a football coach. They were
hiring someone to be the face of the LSU football program. However, Miles
represents more than LSU’s football players and assistant coaches.
Away from athletics, he and his wife, Kathy, have four children – Kathryn,
Leslie Matthew, Benjamin, and Macy Grace.
Thankfully, Miles said, the transition from Oklahoma State to LSU has been smooth for the family.
“I’m awfully fortunate that this group that I represent, this family, just really adjusts pretty well,” Miles said. “They enjoyed their life and their lifestyle in Oklahoma, but now, they have hit the ground running in each way.”
His family has even traded in their black, orange, and white and embraced the purple and gold.
“They really enjoy LSU very much right now. My 22-month-old (Macy Grace) can dang near sing the fight song,” Miles said, as he demonstrates how she can say “FIGHTING TIGERS!” followed by a roar.
“My
daughter (Kathryn) knows the fight song extremely well, and when we go
on vacation, we’ll throw in the CD and sing the LSU songs,” he
added.
Miles spent the offseason working hard on scouting opponents and game planning for LSU’s football season, but those long work days usually ended with him attending a Little League game or picking up his daughter from swim practice.
Seeing the LSU football coach at the Little League park sounds like a great opportunity to get inside information on the upcoming season, but Miles said that besides an occasional autograph, he gets to just be one of the dads at the ballpark.
“People are there to watch their kids play,” he said. “For the most part, they’re there to do the same thing I am – be a parent.”
Combining the Two
Miles
is a parent first. He has stressed family at his previous stops and hopes
to do the same at LSU.
“People that have worked for me understand that’s the way it’s going to be,” Miles said. “Those that are comfortable with it are attracted to it.”
The children of Miles and his assistants will often be seen in the football offices and around the practice fields. Some of the coaches’ children were in Tiger Stadium during the spring scrimmage, and there are plans to get them involved during upcoming holidays.
“We do something that we’ll do here over Halloween,” Miles said. “The assistant coaches’ kids will dress up and deliver candy to our team and ‘trick or treat’ our team by giving candy. It will be a nice way for the assistant coaches to experience trick or treating the only way they can because they’re going to be watching film and will be busy right away.”
Other family-oriented activities are being planned for Christmas, and on Friday nights during the season, Miles plans to have his family with him at the team hotel.
“College players should be used to seeing kids and family around this program,” Miles said. “When you work as hard as we do – it doesn’t make any difference, successful or not – you’d better have your family around. I think it’s important that our families feel welcome around here.”
Continued Success
Just
two years removed from a National Championship season, Miles knows
he has high expectations for his first season at LSU. The program’s
winning tradition and ability to compete on the highest level were
major reasons why Miles was interested in coming to Baton Rouge.
“I realized that if I looked at LSU from afar that they had everything. They had a great school, a wonderful community, and world-class facilities,” Miles said during his initial press conference. “The goal is to run the finest football program in the country, where our guys have an experience second to none.”
The LSU football team knows that having the finest football program in the country takes hard work and dedication. With a new coach leading them on Saturdays, the team is ready to build upon their recent accomplishments.
“This team has a goal to be successful, and we have a huge senior class coming back this year,” said Andrew Whitworth, senior offensive tackle. “I think guys are going to be ready to win and be successful here at LSU again.”
In his short time here, Miles has already learned that being the head of the LSU Fighting Tigers is a job like no other in the country.
“I can tell you I believe the fans, the support of LSU is very unique to LSU,” he said. “I don’t think it exists any other place.”
That support reaches its emotional pinnacle in the fall. LSU fans have experienced it and know it well, and they cannot wait for their new coach to feel it first hand. It is a place where football and family have come together for generations.
It is Saturday Night in Death Valley!
Contact Ernie Ballard | LSU
University Relations
Homepage photo courtesy Sports Information
Highlights Team
Fall 2005
