Despite being in the thick of the National Championship race—a #1 standing in the BCS rankings and looming showdowns with Arkansas this Friday, and either Tennessee or Georgia at the SEC Championship on December 1st—LSU head football coach Les Miles may indeed have one eye already on the Michigan job, recently vacated by Lloyd Carr. Even if Miles refrains from making a public fiasco of the matter, a la former Tiger, then Miami Dolphins, and current Alabama head coach Nick Saban, the situation will still be thorny, as Michigan likely wants Miles as soon as possible—if not sooner—in order to get a jump start on the ever-important recruiting season. But as Glenn Guilbeau of the Louisiana Gannett News writes, at least in theory Miles’ “taking Michigan and continuing to coach LSU would be extremely distracting to the players. Imagine Miles rushing from an LSU practice to call recruits and hire a staff for Michigan! He could hurt both schools. This is not like a coach finishing out in a bowl, then going to a new school. This is the national championship.”
It is interesting to note that LSU athletic director Skip Bertman prepared for this day—given Miles’ numerous Michigan ties—when Miles’ contract was initially drafted. Specifically, Bertman had Miles and his agent, George Bass, CEO and President of Dallas-based AAI Sports, agree to a “Michigan term” on page 10 of Miles’ 20-page contract, signed on Jan. 21, 2005.
Under “Termination of Coach,” the contract reads:
“Coach covenants and agrees that as part of the consideration of this agreement he will not seek nor will he accept employment as a football coach at the University of Michigan for the term of this agreement. It being expressly understood that should coach accept employment at the University of Michigan, coach shall pay to the University (LSU) in lieu of all other legal remedies, liquidated damages in the sum of one million two hundred fifty ($1,250,000.00) dollars and will forfeit any claim to funds under Section 11 of this contract.”
However, as of yesterday at least, Bass claimed that so far he has spoken to no one at Michigan.
Either way, despite the large sum, don’t expect the “Michigan term” to factor one iota into Miles’ ultimate decision. The fact of the matter is, for college coaches in general, given the buyout options, as well as the universal lack of non-compete clauses which could otherwise theoretically restrict a coach’s options (at least for a reasonable amount of time, i.e. six months or one full season, such as what transferring student-athletes must wait), whatever contractual obligations they are under in the present are not very binding. Rather, college coaches are relatively free to jump ship, whenever they see fit.
On a related sidenote, for some other interesting, head football coach-related contract provisions check out this USA Today article from last November. Although it’s important to remember that just because two parties agree to a certain provision, it does not mean that said provision cannot be attacked on some legal ground. To that extent, many contractual terms turn out to be unenforceable when challenged in court.
— Jason G. Wulterkens