Kansas places Les Miles on leave, announces review of LSU allegations

Kansas placed football coach Les Miles on administrative leave Friday night after allegations of sexual misconduct against the coach while he was at LSU were made public this week.

Athletic director Jeff Long said in a statement that KU will conduct a review the claims.

“Now that we have access to this information, we will take the coming days to fully review the material and to see if any additional information is available,” Long said, per ESPN. “I do not want to speculate on a timeline for our review because it is imperative we do our due diligence.”

Kansas spokesman Dan Beckler told USA Today on Thursday that the school did not know of the allegations when it hired Miles in November 2018.

LSU began an internal investigation of Miles in 2013 after female students who worked in the athletic department accused him of inappropriate behavior. One student accused him of “unwanted touching,” while another said Miles made her feel uncomfortable in a phone call and other interactions. 

The law firm that handled the investigation for LSU, Taylor Porter, determined the coach used “poor judgment” in his dealings with the students but did not have sexual relationships with the women. LSU released the investigation report Thursday after it and Miles fought for years in court to keep it sealed.

Miles was also named in an outside law firm’s November audit of how LSU handled recent sexual misconduct cases under Title IX. LSU released that report Friday.

Former LSU athletic director Joe Alleva wrote in an e-mail to university president F. King Alexander in 2013 that Miles should be fired for ignoring Alleva’s ban on contacting students, which was put into place after Miles’ first accuser came forward in 2012. 

“I always believe that people are innocent until proven guilty and in this case I believe he is guilty of insubordination, inappropriate behavior, putting the university, athletic dept and football program at great risk,” Alleva wrote in the e-mail, which was included in the audit report. “I think we have cause. I specifically told him not to text, call or be alone with any student workers and he obviously didn’t listen. I know there are many possible outcomes and much risk either way, but I believe it is in the best interest in the long run to make a break. The court of public opinion would favor us.”

Miles claimed during the internal investigation that Alleva never told him of those prohibitions.  

Alleva eventually fired Miles in 2016 after LSU began the season 2-2.

Kansas is 3-18 in two seasons under Miles. The Jayhawks went 0-9 in 2020. ESPN reported that offensive coordinator Mike DeBord will run the team while Miles is on leave.

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