Last night, Kansas had their first press conference with new head coach, Les Miles. However, this isn’t an unfamiliar face to the team or conference. Les Miles was the head coach at Oklahoma State from 2001-2004, where he led them to their winning ways. Of course, this was all before Miles decided to leave for LSU and win a national championship.
Les Miles has a knack for shifting his offensive schemes drastically to fit the weapons he has. This was more viewed upon at LSU where he had to constantly shift from good-QB situations and bad ones. Miles expressed this last night in the press conference with, “When we had guys that could not throw the ball well, that couldn’t process under the heat of the game, we ran the football and won 10 a year”. This further shows that Les Miles agrees to the press’s notion that the can adjust where he goes to what degree he needs to win. This strategic mindset came around early in his days at LSU to fit the changing personnel switches at quarterback and running back. Look for Miles to use up all the passing schemes available at an air-raid Big 12 conference.
However, not only is Miles adept to changing on offense, but he looks to bring in a new views on defense. This comes from a more power set mind from the SEC that if “you can control the ball and clock, you control the outcome”. I am sure that Miles brings this to a Kansas team that is lacking any type of positive outcome. Even Miles thinks that it might have a home in this passing Big 12 conference, “Everybody’s just chucking the ball down the field, so I think a little bit of ball security and a little bit of controlling the tempo and the game clock will certainly benefit us”. I think Miles tries to improve defense in the Big 12, such as he did in his tenure at Oklahoma State.
I believe that Kansas hired a true veteran in terms of recruiting, coaching, and family. Miles has showed that wherever he lands that he can build up a winning program fast. And even if Kansas goes up and hits a ceiling, I don’t think Kansas would be dissatisfied with 9-win seasons considering their situation at the moment. I think that Les Miles was the correct hire for this Kansas team looking for an identity and the Big 12 gets another winning team.
Photo Credits: http://www.bradfordera.com/sports/national/les-miles-introduced-as-kansas-head-coach/article_08d76771-f49d-5280-b15f-94b648759808.html
