The football field isn’t the only place where fans will be seeing less of Les Miles.
Former head coach Miles was noticeably absent from the University’s national Here to Win commercial during an airing before Saturday’s game against the Missouri Tigers. Miles was originally featured in a five-second segment highlighting the University’s No. 1 ranked landscape architecture program.
On Saturday, the segment was removed and the commercial was immediately cut from a segment highlighting the University’s ornithological discoveries to the video’s original conclusion. A list of academic honors, including the Harry S. Truman Scholarship, SEC Professor of the Year and Ford Foundation Fellowship, followed to fill the 30 second spot.
“Here to Win” pre-Miles
The amended commercial was posted to the University’s YouTube account Monday, replacing the original version that featured Coach Miles.
Interim vice president for strategic communications Jason Droddy said the amended commercial spot will run for the remainder of the football season. Alterations and additional segments are under consideration and, if executed, will air during the basketball, baseball and softball seasons, he said.
Droddy said it was a shame the landscape architecture’s feature was lost with the removal of Miles’ segment, and he hopes to incorporate the program in the rotation later this year. Droddy also said interim head coach Ed Orgeron will not fill Miles’ place in the promotional video.
“Here to Win” post-Miles
After Miles’ firing on Sept. 25, the University’s communications department rushed to edit and resubmit the video before Saturday’s game. No commercial spots were scheduled between Miles’ firing and Saturday’s game, giving the communications department time to submit the new video Sept. 28.
The short notice modifications cost an additional $2,270 to rework the audio and incorporate additional graphics, according to University media relations director Ernie Ballard. Droddy said no state dollars were used to cover the cost of the commercial.
Droddy said Miles was wonderful to work with during the original commercial’s filming. Miles was friendly, energetic and willing to work overtime to ensure the segment came out perfectly, he said.
“We regret that things didn’t work out, but I think that we’re going to make some modifications, and we’re going to be able to highlight some new programs here in the future … so we can bring some more attention to our academic programs and our students of achievement,” Droddy said.
