A sly smirk stretched across Les Miles’ face as he sat in his team meeting room, surrounded by the culture and tradition he’d spent the previous nine years building along the banks of the Mississippi River.
It wasn’t the familiar look he gets just before ranting about defenders getting their hands up or people kissing his players on the mouth — if they’re a girl.
But instead, for a brief moment, the man in the iconic, oversized-LSU ball cap drifted back to Ann Arbor, Mich., and the legendary Michigan coach Bo Schembechler who took a chance on an undersized guard from Elyria, Ohio.
Miles credited Schembechler as one of the biggest influences in his coaching career. He said he frequently reviews the examples Schembechler set for him when making decisions in his current program.
But somewhere on his trip down memory lane, one piece of advice stuck out in Miles’ mind when thinking about his relationship with the Hall of Fame coach who won 13 Big Ten Conference championships in his 21-year career.
“[Schembechler] said, ‘Don’t get into coaching,’” Miles said of his mentor. “He said, ‘If you get into coaching, it’ll get in your blood and you’ll be there forever.’ He said, ‘Only come if you have to,’ and I did.”
Fortunately for Miles, neither he nor Schembechler remained loyal to the coach’s advice. Schembechler gave the 26-year-old his first coaching job as a graduate assistant with Michigan’s offensive line.
Miles laughed as he fondly remembered his short time under Schembechler’s tutelage. His demeanor was proud but humble as he retold tales of getting an earful after showing up late for his first day on the job — he was an hour early.
Working for a coach who adopted the slogan, “Those who stay will be champions,” wasn’t much different from his playing days as a player. Miles’ first year coaching for Michigan, Schembechler’s staff featured three assistants who would go on to win national championships of their own.
“I came in to coach the centers and guards and I can remember us talking about a base block.” Miles said. “I had to fight for air in that room. There were enough quality opinions; they just needed me to listen. I thought it was magnificent.”
But the Schembechler disciple was destined for bigger things as he left the familiar home of The Big House to pursue a head coaching career.
Miles said he made sure to stay close with Schembechler, calling him from time to time about which coaching jobs he should take. Miles said Schembechler cautiously advised him to avoid jobs that may close the door back to Michigan for good.
“He never really told me no,” Miles said. “But there were some jobs he’d say, ‘That might be a barrier you might not want to cross to be able to come back to Michigan.’ And I smiled, but he [also] said, ‘But there’s no guarantee you’ll come back to Michigan.’”
While head coach at Oklahoma State, Miles came to Schembechler with a new coaching offer, and this time, Schembechler had a different piece of advice for his former lineman.
“I called him about the LSU job and he said to me, ‘I had a friend in that [Former LSU coach Charles] McClendon and that McClendon was awfully, awfully proud of that school. I think you better check into that one pretty good,’” Miles recalled. “He never said anything like that, but that was the closest I got from an endorsement from Bo.”
That would also be one of the last pieces of advice the former coach gave Miles, as the winningest coach in Michigan history died of a heart attack in the fall of 2006 just one day before No. 2 Michigan played No. 1 Ohio State — a game the Wolverines lost by three points.
Miles’ demeanor switched dramatically as he recalled his mentor’s death. The typically unpredictable and light-hearted coach’s face fell solemn as he spoke about having to leave after LSU’s game against Arkansas that season to be at Schembechler’s funeral the following Monday.
“I saw a church full of people who were connected by Michigan and Bo Schembechler,” Miles said. “They were all people who my association with them served me greatly. I am so in debt to Bo and those people who allowed me to learn and study my trade and take a piece of Michigan with me.”
Miles honored his former coach less than a year and a half later when LSU found itself in the national championship game against the school Schembechler spent so many years competing for titles with — Ohio State.
LSU beat the Buckeyes in New Orleans, and Miles became the third and final assistant of that 1980 coaching staff to earn a championship.
But despite all the celebration and excitement, two people were missing from the sellout crowd in the Superdome that day.
First, was Miles’ father, Bubba, who passed away in 2000.
The second was the man who took a shot on an undersized guard from Elyria, Ohio.

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Michigan coach Schembechler shouts to his team from sideline during the Michigan-Michigan state game in East Lansing, Saturday, Oct. 10, 1977. His team won game 24-14 for their ninth straight win over the Spartans. (AP Photo)