Earlier tonight, Scott Rabalais - who does a great job covering LSU athletics for the Advocate - wrote that there are "strong indications" that Les Miles is coaching for his job these next two weeks (at Ole Miss and vs Texas A&M).
Rabalais notes that Les' buyout alone, if triggered before January 1, would be $15 million. He adds in an additional $2 million to buyout the contracts of the assistant coaches, meaning a move like this would tax LSU athletics and or their boosters to the tune of nearly $20 million once you consider the costs of bringing on a new staff.
Rabalais notes that the total buyout alone of $17 million is a "staggering sum, but apparently not a deal breaker."
For quite some time, people in Baton Rouge have shared with FootballScoop privately that the relationship between athletic director Joe Alleva and Miles has seen better days. Alleva staunchly refused to provide the program with the requested contractual support for John Chavis...and Chavis walked, defiantly, in the face of Alleva. Word in the profession is that Alleva already feels LSU's assistants are more than generously compensated. How's it going to work out if you need to bring in a whole new staff?
Les went 13-0 in 2011 and played for the national championship. Since, they have won 10, 8, 8 and 7 so far this season....and that gets you run off now at LSU. My, oh my.
It's hard to imagine Alleva having the stroke at LSU to run off the most successful head coach in the program's history, one who had them ranked No. 2 in the country just three weeks ago, without the full blessing of the board. But Rabalais is close to this and I wouldn't dismiss what he writes.
One this is certain, if you go to your boss / board and ask for for $17 - $20 million of their money to fire the best head coach in the history of your program, you better have their backing or you might as well start packing yourself.
It is clear, change is coming at LSU. Will that be at the AD position, the head coaching position, or a bevy of assistants...only time will tell.