The departure of P. J. Fleck from Western Michigan University has left the program with a lot of questions for the future. We have even speculated on who would be the best candidate to take over the Broncos program.
With all of this worry and speculation, a few names have come up regarding the Western Michigan job. One of those names is former LSU Tigers coach Les Miles.
A report by by New Orlean's The Times Picayune has stated Miles is open to joining the Broncos program. After interviewing previously for the Minnesota job, Miles has seemingly softened on joining a Group of Five program. Here is what he had to say regarding the opportunity:
“Certainly there are the top-division schools that can play for a championship year in and year out, certainly I fit there. But when you sign up for coaching, here's what you do,” he said. “You say ‘Listen, I'm going to take a group of guys and I'm going to make them better. I'm going to take what I have and improve and direct and pull together and there's an enjoyment with the process.'
“I enjoy the grind. I enjoy coming in early, I enjoy seeing guys that are working hard. It's a part of my culture, it's a part of the culture of the teams I've coached. We like to work hard. We approach the game in a matter-of-fact way and we figure that we're going to win.”
Miles ties to the state are partially to blame for his connection to the WMU program. The “Mad Hatter” played at the University of Michigan in the mid-1970's as an offensive lineman. He also went on to serve as the offensive line coach for Bo Schembechler from 1987-94 and was linked to the University of Michigan head coaching position numerous times during his tenure at LSU.
