Former LSU football coach Les Miles filed a lawsuit against the university on Monday, claiming the school unfairly vacated many of his wins with the Tigers and prevented him from being eligible for the College Football Hall of Fame.
The NCAA and the National Football Foundation, which is in charge of the hall of fame, are also defendants in the case.
As a result of recruiting violations, 37 of Miles’ wins were voluntarily vacated by LSU under pressure from the NCAA in 2022, as part of a massive Notice of Allegations brought to the university that included the men’s basketball program and coach Will Wade.
Without those wins, Miles has a career record of 108-73 (.597), which is just short of the .600 winning percentage that coaches need to be eligible for the hall of fame.
“The University betrayed Les Miles by sacrificing his opportunity to enter into the College Football Hall of Fame and by turning its back on the student-athletes, coaches and staff whose achievements should be championed,” said Peter R. Ginsberg, Miles’ legal representative, in a press release.
Miles and his representatives claimed he was denied the right to due process when LSU decided to vacate his wins. They said he was given no notice and that blame was unfairly heaped on him, especially as the men’s basketball program didn’t vacate any wins.
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They also noted that Miles’ decision to sue LSU was a reluctant one.
In the lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court in the Middle District of Louisiana, Miles asks that he be recognized as officially eligible for the hall of fame and that his vacated wins be included in that consideration.
The NCAA investigation that caused LSU to vacate Miles’ wins found that from 2012 to 2015, LSU representatives had paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to offensive lineman Vadal Alexander.
While at LSU, Miles brought the Tigers the 2007 national championship and competed in the 2011 title game, both times as the Southeastern Conference champion.
Before his time at LSU, Miles was the head coach of Oklahoma State.
After he was fired from LSU in 2016, Miles signed with Kansas and coached there for two years before the two parted ways. Miles had a record of 3-18 with the Jayhawks.
Also playing a part in his ousting from Kansas was an ongoing investigation of allegations of sexual misconduct with an LSU student that took place while he was with the Tigers in 2013.
