LSU Football, Les Miles Must Vacate Wins Due to NCAA Infractions
On Thursday, the NCAA levied penalties against former LSU basketball coach Will Wade for his role in the program’s reported recruiting violations. But it also issued sanctions against the school’s football program by vacating all 37 wins for the team from 2012 to ’15 under former coach Les Miles.
The decision stems from impermissible benefits given to former Tigers offensive lineman Vadal Alexander, who received $180,150 from a booster who reportedly embezzled funds from a Baton Rouge children’s hospital, according to The Athletic‘s Stewart Mandel. The penalties handed down Thursday came from the NCAA’s Independent Accountability Resolution Panel, whose inquiry was primarily focused on Wade but looked into other elements of the school’s athletic programs.
With the vacated victories removed from his ledger, Miles’s official career record now drops from 145–73 (.665) to 108–73 (.597). The College Football Hall of Fame requires coaches to have a career winning percentage above .600 to be considered for induction, and recognizes the coach’s official NCAA record, meaning Miles is no longer eligible.
Miles coached LSU from 2005 to ’16, winning the national championship in ’07 and guiding the program to five top-10 finishes in the AP Poll. He later spent two years as the coach at Kansas from 2019 to ’20.
In March 2021, he was placed on administrative leave due to an investigation into sexual harassment allegations during his time with LSU in ‘13. He and the school later mutually agreed to part ways. The allegations were previously unreported, but came to light shortly before his departure from Kansas.
