Kansas Jayhawks Football

The University of Kansas announced Wednesday athletic director Jeff Long has stepped down from his position.

"Jeff and I spoke at length last night, and while I know he would have loved to stay here many more years, I respect his selfless decision to step down so that we can move Kansas Athletics in a different direction," Chancellor Douglas A. Girod said in a statement.

Long also addressed his decision:

"Last night, Chancellor Girod and I met and both agreed that it was in the best interest of our student-athletes and program for me to step down as of today. It is not easy, but I leave KU with a heavy heart and profound confidence that I have always acted in the best interests of Kansas Athletics. I have done everything in my control to move Kansas Athletics forward in a positive manner, that’s what makes this most difficult."

Girod said Kurt Watson will serve as the interim athletic director:

"We will immediately begin our search for a new athletics director. I will lead the process with the assistance of a search firm and four alumni advisors, each of whom have experience in collegiate athletics: Linda Ellis Sims, Ray Evans, John Ballard and Wayne Simien. Each of these Jayhawks will bring tremendous expertise and passion to the search, and I know their counsel will benefit the process. We will move quickly but judiciously, and my hope is to have a new athletics director in place within the next few weeks.

"Once a new athletics director is in place, that individual will determine next steps related to our football coach position. To assist the new athletics director make that determination once he or she arrives, I am assembling a committee of advisors who will be ready to help when called upon."

Jayhawks basketball legend Danny Manning expressed a desire to The Athletic's CJ Moore to succeed Long.

Under the separation agreement Kansas signed with Long, he will collect his usual salary through the end of March and receive a $1.4 million payout.

Kansas will pay fired athletic director Jeff Long $1.375 million to not work. pic.twitter.com/86BnoqrRGo

— Andy Staples (@Andy_Staples) March 10, 2021

This move comes two days after the school and head football coach Les Miles mutually agreed to part ways.

Kenny Jacoby, Nancy Armour and Jessica Luther of USA Today reported last week that LSU investigated allegations of sexual harassment by Miles toward female students in 2013 when he was the Tigers head coach.

The investigation found Miles acted inappropriately, and he was reprimanded and banned from contacting or spending time alone with female students. Kansas placed Miles on administrative leave in the wake of the USA Today report.

Long addressed Miles' departure Tuesday in a press conference that may have done more harm than good to his job security. He told reporters he asked Miles before hiring him in 2018 whether he had done anything in the past that would reflect poorly on Kansas, and the former coach responded, "No."

Long said Tuesday it was "debatable whether that was a lie."

Beyond the scrutiny directed toward that hiring process, some questioned whether Long should be leading the search for a new coach:

Jeff Long speaking@mellinger: you're Arkansas hires weren't succesfull

Long: in what regard?

Mellinger: ...... on the field

— Mike Vernon (@M_Vernon) March 9, 2021

Jeff Long insists he will be leading the coaching search. Took exception to a reporter's question that characterized his Arkansas hires (Petrino, Bielema) as not having had "success," and pointed to his long history working in college football.

— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) March 9, 2021

During his tenure, the crown jewel of the athletic department has been mired in its own controversy. Kansas men's basketball was part of the FBI's investigation into corruption in college basketball. A former Adidas employee testified to paying representatives for Billy Preston and Silvio De Sousa as a way to get them to sign with the school.

The Jayhawks face five Level I violations, which the NCAA described as "egregious" last May. The case is in the hands of the Independent Accountability Resolution Process.

Long was also in charge when the university fired Miles' predecessor, David Beaty. Beaty filed suit against Kansas, alleging the school attempted to fire him with cause by claiming the football program was potentially guilty of NCAA violations.

The sides reached a $2.6 million settlement last June.

Kansas athletic director Jeff Long said the school conducted multiple background checks on Les Miles before hiring the former LSU head coach to lead its football program in 2018, per Harry Lyles Jr. of ESPN: 

"When Les Miles was identified as the lead candidate to be the head coach in 2018, the University of Kansas and Kansas Athletics does, with all hirings, we ran multiple background checks on Coach Miles.

"I also asked Coach Miles directly during the interview process whether there was anything in his past that could potentially embarrass the university or himself or our program, and he said no. We also did our due diligence by talking to individuals within the LSU athletics department to see if there was anything we should be aware of regarding Coach Miles tenure at LSU and received no indications of any issues."

As Lyles noted, Kansas placed Miles on administrative leave Saturday when allegations stemming from his time at LSU were made public.

The Jayhawks and Miles have since mutually agreed to part ways.

Kenny Jacoby, Nancy Armour and Jessica Luther of USA Today reported an internal investigation completed by the law firm Taylor Porter for LSU in 2013 revealed the coach "was accused of texting female students, taking them to his condo alone, making them feel uncomfortable and, on at least one occasion, kissing a student and suggesting they go to a hotel after telling her he could help her career."

Miles denied kissing the student and said he was serving as a mentor for women at LSU.

Former LSU athletic director Joe Alleva suggested the school should fire Miles with cause:

New information. Former #LSU athletic director Joe Alleva recommended in 2013 to fire Les Miles with cause and said the public opinion would be in LSU's favor. pic.twitter.com/x1C6TzOX6a

— Brody Miller (@BrodyAMiller) March 5, 2021

During Tuesday's press conference, Long said Miles told him in February there was nothing Kansas should be worried about even though there was a legal dispute from his time at LSU. The athletic director also said Kansas did not receive the full report on Miles until it was publicly available.

The University of Kansas has reached a $2 million settlement with Les Miles after agreeing to part ways with the football coach late Monday night, according to the school.  

As expected in these types of things, both Miles and certain KU employees (Long, Girod, Freet, Lester) agreed to non-disparagement clauses as part of the settlement.

— Jesse Newell (@jessenewell) March 9, 2021

Jesse Newell of the Kansas City Star noted Miles will receive monthly checks of $201,187.50 from April to June followed by payments of $231,250 from July through December. 

Miles was fired two years into his Kansas tenure following the revelation of past inappropriate conduct while head coach at LSU in 2013, resulting in the Tigers' then-athletic director recommending his firing and LSU ultimately banning the coach from interacting with female student employees in private. 

Speaking to reporters Tuesday, KU athletic director Jeff Long, who hired Miles to coach the Jayhawks, said an outside firm would be involved in finding a new head coach, but the decision would ultimately rest with him. 

Yet concerns over Long's track record in hiring coaches were notably raised during Tuesday's press conference. 

Kansas Athletic Director Jeff Long was asked about his track record hiring head coaches and why KU fans should be confident he can make the right hire. #kufball pic.twitter.com/1XL61E04Zr

— Pete Francis (@Pete_Francis) March 9, 2021

Following the departure of Bobby Petrino at Arkansas, Long hired John Smith, who was fired after one season and a 4-8 record, and Bret Bielema, who went 29-34 in five seasons. Bielema put together only one season of eight or more wins in his time with the Razorbacks. 

The Jayhawks are in an even worse spot now as they attempt to hire their fifth full-time head coach since 2010. Kansas has won just 21 total games since then and is coming off an 0-9 season under Miles. 

Some context. There is a non-disparagement agreement in the settlement. So Long can’t call Miles a liar if he wants to now.

But the question Long can answer — but chose not to — is why they settled with Miles in the first place. (Probably because they botched Beaty so badly.) https://t.co/DjGdJwkShr

— Andy Staples (@Andy_Staples) March 9, 2021

For clarity, Long says there were no reports of improper conduct by Les Miles during his time at KU that concerned him... #KUfball

— Matt Tait (@mctait) March 9, 2021

Long attempted to fire David Beaty with cause in order to hire Miles, though Beaty sued and the school eventually settled, paying out $2.55 million of the final $3 million on Beaty's contract. On Tuesday, the athletic director said he conducted "multiple" background searches on Miles and asked the coach if there was anything in his past that could embarrass the school.

Miles declined to reveal LSU's investigation. 

The University of Kansas and head football coach Les Miles mutually agreed to part ways after the school initiated a review of his behavior while at LSU.

"I am extremely disappointed for our university, fans and everyone involved with our football program," athletic director Jeff Long said. "There is a lot of young talent on this football team, and I have no doubt we will identify the right individual to lead this program. We will begin the search for a new head coach immediately with an outside firm to assist in this process. We need to win football games, and that is exactly what we’re going to do."

Miles also released a statement:

"This is certainly a difficult day for me and for my family. I love this university and the young men in our football program. I have truly enjoyed being the head coach at KU and know that it is in a better place now than when I arrived. To our student-athletes, I want you to remember that you came to play for KU and earn a degree here. So, I implore you to stay and build on what we started and do all of the things we talked about doing together. There is a bright future for all of you and for KU Football."

Offensive coordinator Mike DeBord will serve as the acting head coach until an interim replacement is announced.

Miles was placed on administrative leave by Long on Friday following the release of an external probe by law firm Taylor Porter in 2013, which documented alleged inappropriate conduct by Miles while he was head coach of the Tigers.

The 67-year-old allegedly asked female student employees of the LSU athletic department to contact him on a private phone under false names, took them back to his condo and, in one case, kissed a female student in his car after offering to help advance her career.

Miles denies the events occurred, and the investigation could not unequivocally conclude Miles carried out sexual relationships with any students. However, LSU banned the coach from being alone with female student employees after 2013.

Former LSU athletic director Joe Alleva recommended firing Miles with cause.

New information. Former #LSU athletic director Joe Alleva recommended in 2013 to fire Les Miles with cause and said the public opinion would be in LSU's favor. pic.twitter.com/x1C6TzOX6a

— Brody Miller (@BrodyAMiller) March 5, 2021

Miles' alleged behavior was only unearthed after USA Today's Kenny Jacoby, Nancy Armour and Jessica Luther sued for its release following a broader investigation into LSU's handling of sexual misconduct cases.

"Even though the allegations against him occurred at LSU, we take these matters very seriously at KU," Long said in a statement. "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. I do not want to speculate on a timeline for our review because it is imperative we do our due diligence."

Long initially attempted to fire KU coach David Beaty with cause to bring Miles to Lawrence—and avoid paying a $3 million buyout on Beaty's contract—a plan that backfired, with the university settling at $2.55 million while exposing the AD's infatuation with Miles.

Sworn testimony given by Long showed the athletic director struggled to name another coach he interviewed before hiring Miles. In his statement regarding Miles, Long wrote that he was unable to access any official reports on the investigation until Wednesday. It's unclear what Long knew of the 2013 investigation into Miles before hiring him to coach Kansas in 2019.

It's another dark chapter for a program that hasn't produced more than four conference wins in a season since head coach Mark Mangino led the Jayhawks to an Orange Bowl victory in 2007.

Dating back to 2010, Kansas has hired and fired Turner Gill, Charlie Weis, Beaty and now Miles. The program has finished 10th in the Big 12 in all but two seasons during that span—a stretch that includes winless campaigns in 2015 (0-12) and 2020 (0-9).

Miles leaves KU after going 3-18 (1-16 Big 12) and following a mass exodus of assistant coaches before the allegations were released.

The University of Kansas has placed head football coach Les Miles on administrative leave following a report from USA Today's Kenny Jacoby, Nancy Armour and Jessica Luther that revealed a 2013 investigation by LSU concluded Miles had conducted inappropriate behavior with female students while head coach of the Tigers. 

Full statement from KU AD Jeff Long... #KUfball pic.twitter.com/yK3wKpIBIQ

— Benton Smith (@BentonASmith) March 6, 2021

Miles is alleged to have texted with women working as student staffers in the LSU athletic department, taking them alone to his condo and—in one case—kissing a student in his car after offering to help advance her career.

The USA Today report noted the investigation did not find Miles carried on sexual relationships with any of the women, yet LSU issued a letter of reprimand as well as banned him from being alone with student employees. The investigation was not disclosed until USA Today sued for its release amid a broader look at LSU's handling of numerous sexual misconduct cases. 

Then-LSU athletic director Joe Alleva recommended firing Miles with cause in 2013 after the head coach allegedly defied rules put in place to keep him away from meeting with student workers alone.

New information. Former #LSU athletic director Joe Alleva recommended in 2013 to fire Les Miles with cause and said the public opinion would be in LSU's favor. pic.twitter.com/x1C6TzOX6a

— Brody Miller (@BrodyAMiller) March 5, 2021

Miles, who was hired by KU in 2019, denied the allegations through his attorney, Peter Ginsberg. 

On Saturday, Ginsberg called the school's decision to put Miles on leave "disturbing and unfair" and categorized it as "media blowback," according to ESPN.com's Chris Low. 

"As the report concludes, the allegation that Coach Miles attempted to kiss the woman was supported by no evidence and warranted no discipline: 'We do not believe under existing law and the terms of the contract there is cause to discipline and/or terminate' Coach Miles," Ginsberg wrote in a statement, citing the investigation's findings. 

The Jayhawks did not announce an interim coach. In two years at Kansas, Miles is 3-18 (1-16 Big 12) including a winless season in 2020. He's the fourth head coach hired by KU in a decade following Turner Gill, Charlie Weis and David Beaty. 

Former LSU and current Kansas head football coach Les Miles ended a legal bid designed to stop the public release of findings from a 2013 investigation.

Kenny Jacoby, Nancy Armour and Jessica Luther of USA Today reported the news Wednesday, noting the investigation was done in response to allegations Miles sexually harassed student workers and made sexist comments when he was the coach for the Tigers.

"Quite simply, Mr. Miles cannot defend himself against the inaccurate and unfair media attention that this matter has received during the past week without citing to the Report's findings and conclusions," Miles' attorney, Peter Ginsberg, wrote.

LSU refused to publicly release the findings of the report, which prompted USA Today to sue for access. That is when Miles intervened and said releasing the information would violate the privacy granted to him by the Louisiana constitution.

The SEC school still objects to the report's release.

While the Miles investigation was done by law firm Taylor Porter, LSU also hired outside law firm Husch Blackwell to audit how it handled sexual misconduct cases after USA Today reported it mishandled numerous cases and allegations.

Wednesday's report cited independent sources who said the Miles probe did not absolve the coach of wrongdoing but determined he did not break the law.

Miles coached at Oklahoma State from 2001 to 2004 before he coached the Tigers from 2005 until he was fired four games into the 2016 season. Kansas said it was not aware of the allegations against him when it hired him in 2018.

Kansas Jayhawks running back Pooka Williams Jr. announced on Monday that he is opting out of the remainder of the 2020 college football season.  

He explained in his announcement he is doing so "to be closer to my mother and family in Louisiana," adding that his mother is "battling health issues." Williams also thanked head coach Les Miles and said he believes the former LSU coach has the program heading in the right direction despite an 0-4 start to the campaign:

Family over everything 💜.. I’m going to miss all my guys & coaches, it’s forever Rock Chalk🤞🏾 pic.twitter.com/5vV2dFUVuF

— Pooka Williams👣 (@PookaWilliamsJr) October 19, 2020

"We fully support Pooka's decision to opt out of the season to be able to support his mother in person during this difficult time as she fights this battle," Miles said in a statement, per Scott Chasen of 247Sports. "I'm proud of him for making this tremendous sacrifice to support his family and do what he believes is right. We will be there for Pooka and his family in every way possible moving forward."

While Kansas traditionally struggles on the gridiron, Williams has been a rare bright spot in terms of on-field production.

He arrived as a 4-star prospect in the recruiting class of 2018, per 247Sports' composite rankings, and ran for 1,125 yards and seven touchdowns while mixing in 289 yards and two scores through the air as a freshman. He even threw for a touchdown and appeared well on his way to superstardom.

Williams then followed up with 1,042 rushing yards, 214 receiving yards and five touchdowns in 2019.

He often put up those numbers without much support up front, as Pro Football Focus noted his 33 percent forced missed tackle rate was the highest for any Big 12 running back since the 2014 season.

The junior was off to a much slower start this year, though, and averaged just 3.8 yards per carry through his first four games. He was also yet to even reach 80 yards on the ground in a single contest, although he scored twice against Baylor.

Kansas next faces Kansas State in a rivalry clash on Saturday.

Kansas head football coach Les Miles said Friday that he has been cleared to return to work after testing positive for COVID-19 last week. 

According to Bruce Feldman of The Athletic, Miles said that despite being cleared, he will not travel with the team for their game against West Virginia on Saturday. Tight ends coach Joshua Eargle will serve as the Jayhawks' acting head coach for the game.

Miles said the following about his decision, per ESPN's Adam Rittenberg: "There is too much still unknown about this virus for me to feel 100 percent confident that I won't transmit it to someone who comes into close contact with me on the team charter, hotel or at the game Saturday."

According to ESPN's Mark Schlabach, the 66-year-old Miles said he entered into a 10-day quarantine at his home after announcing he tested positive Oct. 8. Miles handled his coaching duties remotely and didn't attend any practices.

Miles is in the midst of his second season as the head coach at Kansas after previous stints with Oklahoma State and LSU.

Overall, Miles owns a 145-67 record and he led LSU to a national championship in 2007. In his first season as head coach of the Jayhawks in 2019, Miles went 3-9.

Kansas, which hasn't won more than three games in a season since going 5-7 in 2009 and hasn't had a winning record since going 8-5 in 2008, is off to an 0-3 start this season.

The Jayhawks fell to Sun Belt team Coastal Carolina in their first game this season and have since been blown out by Baylor and Oklahoma State.

WVU, which is hosting Kansas at Mountaineer Field in Morgantown, West Virginia, on Saturday, is 2-1 on the season.

Last week, the Mountaineers beat Baylor 27-21 to improve to 2-1, making them a big favorite against Kansas since the Jayhawks struggled to hang with Baylor.

On Saturday, Kansas will look to score its first victory over West Virginia since beating the Mountaineers 31-19 in 2013.

Kansas head football coach Les Miles announced he has been diagnosed with COVID-19 in a statement Thursday.

Miles said he will continue with his duties as head coach while undergoing a quarantine process.

Les Miles has tested positive for COVID-19. He received the test result today, he said. One day ago, he hosted an episode of Hawk Talk, where he told the crowd he had a cold. #kufball

Statement: pic.twitter.com/vhDTrpzK8B

— Scott Chasen (@ChasenScott) October 8, 2020

"Although I will physically not be able to attend practice for the time being, I will be using the technology available for remote working to stay connected during staff meetings, meetings with players, etc.," he said.

Kansas athletic director Jeff Long said the school believes Miles could return for the team's Oct. 17 matchup against West Virginia.

"Based on the other test results, no other coaches tested positive. As long as Coach Miles does not develop symptoms or have a fever, we anticipate he will be able to coach the West Virginia game on Oct. 17," Long said in a statement.

Long's statement is not fully accurate because Miles said he had a cold Wednesday. That would imply he is having some symptoms, which may hamper his ability to return for the game against West Virginia. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends an isolation period of at least 10 days, which is particularly important for symptomatic carriers.

Kansas is off to an 0-3 start in Miles' second season, bringing his overall mark to 3-12 at the school. The Jayhawks have not had a winning football season since 2008.

The University of Kansas suspended voluntary football workouts Friday because of an increase in positive COVID-19 tests.     

According to the school's official athletics website, 164 student-athletes were tested recently. Those tests yielded 16 positive results, 12 of which came from the football team. Overall, 45 Kansas student-athletes are in quarantine.

All Jayhawks football players and staff will self-quarantine for the next 14 days. When that time is up, everyone will be retested, and the program will decide whether to resume workouts.

Kansas athletic director Jeff Long released the following statement regarding the suspension of football workouts:

"After the increase in positive COVID-19 tests within our football program, our medical team at Kansas Team Health has recommended discontinuing voluntary workouts immediately. Our priority remains to keep our student-athletes safe and healthy, especially during this pandemic, and will follow the recommendations of our medical professionals.

"We will only resume our preparations after the 14-day quarantine is complete and our student-athletes and staff have been tested for the virus prior to participating in football activities. In the meantime, we continue to educate our student-athletes, as well as coaches and staff, on the importance of following the policies and procedures and recommendations from our Kansas Team Health physicians and the CDC."

Kansas head football coach Les Miles also commented:

"When we welcomed our young men back to campus a couple of weeks ago for voluntary workouts, even with the policies and procedures in place to try and protect them from becoming infected with the virus, events outside of our control has made the decision to pause these workouts necessary. Our trainers and doctors will remain in daily contact with each of the student-athletes that tested positive to support them and what we hope will involve only minor symptoms if any. We will follow medical recommendations on returning to activities."

In the weeks since college football teams have been allowed to start working out together, several high-profile programs have reported positive COVID-19 tests. Among them are LSU, Clemson, Alabama, Auburn, Florida State, Oklahoma State, Iowa State, Ole Miss and Oklahoma.

Kansas' in-state rival, Kansas State, suspended football workouts on June 20 for 14 days after 14 student-athletes out of 130 tested positive for COVID-19.

The NCAA is moving forward with the idea that football will be played in the fall, but if the coronavirus cases keep rising, it is possible that the season could be pushed back to the spring or at least be delayed to some degree.

Kansas hasn't had a winning record since 2008, and it is coming off its second consecutive 3-9 campaign. Even so, there is some excitement surrounding the team with Miles at the helm since he won a national championship as LSU's coach in 2007 and owns a career record of 145-64.