LSU penalties may impact Miles’ HOF eligibility

Adam Rittenberg, ESPN Senior WriterJun 22, 2023, 07:29 PM ET
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- College football reporter.
- Joined ESPN.com in 2008.
- Graduate of Northwestern University.

Former LSU coach Les Miles may no longer be eligible for the College Football Hall of Fame after the school vacated 37 wins as part of NCAA penalties announced Thursday.

LSU football vacated the wins from 2012 to 2015 because of recruiting violations stemming from impermissible benefits paid to the father of former player Vadal Alexander by a former booster. The school self-imposed the penalty, which was revealed for the first time Thursday, after receiving a notice of allegations from the NCAA in March 2022. Alexander competed for LSU from 2012 to 2015.

Miles, who coached LSU from 2005 to 2016, went 114-34 at the school and won a national title in 2007. His overall coaching record at Oklahoma State, LSU and Kansas had been 145-73, a winning percentage of .665. Coaches must have a career winning percentage of .600 in at least 100 games to qualify for selection to the College Football Hall of Fame.

Following the vacated wins, Miles’ career win percentage drops to .597 (108-73). Kansas and Miles parted ways in March 2021 shortly after the coach was placed on administrative leave amid accusations of inappropriate behavior toward female students during his head-coaching tenure at LSU. Miles has not coached since.

According to the Hall of Fame’s criteria, a coach is eligible for nomination three full seasons after he retires. At that point, the National Football Foundation, which oversees the Hall of Fame, would assess whether Miles meets the criteria and decide whether to accept the nomination.