4 candidates to replace Les Miles at Kansas
With Les Miles officially, and expectedly, out at Kansas, who might replace him as the Jayhawks football coach?
I won’t dive deeply into the lewd and troubling details of Les Miles’ alleged behavior while he was head coach at LSU. He was placed on leave by Kansas last Friday , as the prelude to what was deemed as a decision to “part ways” on Monday night. But let’s not get it twisted, Miles was fired.
Instead, I’ll focus on who might replace Miles as the football coach at Kansas. His two-year tenure (3-18; 0-9 in 2020) was just the latest in a decade-long series of busts.
The Jayhawks went 12-1 and won the Orange Bowl under Mark Mangino in 2007. Mangino lasted two more seasons, with a combined record of 13-12. Turner Gill was hired to replace him, and went 5-19 in two seasons. Charlie Weis followed him, with a 6-22 record over less than three seasons (2012-2014). Then came David Beaty (6-42 over four seasons), who Miles replaced. Add in one win under interim head coach Clint Bowen after Weis was fired, and the Jayhawks are 21-108 over the last 11 seasons.
The Kansas job is in the running for the worst job in college football, and I’m talking at any level. Some candidates to replace Miles have surfaced, realistic or otherwise, but it’s hard to know if anyone with better options (looking to after next season) would take the job. So I’m going to go a little deeper to unearth four candidates to replace Miles at Kansas.
4-Mike DeBord
DeBord just came aboard as the Jayhawks’ new offensive coordinator. He’s also the acting head coach, until an interim head coach is determined and as a national search for a new head coach starts. The fruits of said search for a permanent head coach are to be determined.
For at least next season, sticking with DeBord might be the only course of action. Even if he’s technically an interim. Defensive coordinator D.J. Elliot also deserves a mention here.
3-Sean Lewis
Kent State only played four games last season, but they led the nation in scoring offense (49.8 points per game). In 2019, the Golden Flashes went 7-6 and won the first bowl game in program history. Lewis was a candidate at UCF after Josh Heupel left for Tennessee, and it’s probably only a matter of time before he makes the jump to a Power 5 job. Kansas will probably want to talk to him, but it’s unclear if he’d listen.
2-Chad Lunsford
Over three-plus seasons as head coach at Georgia Southern, Lunsford is 27-18 with three straight bowl appearances and a 25-14 mark over that span (10-3 in 2018). The Eagles run an option offense, and in 2020 they had the fifth-best rushing attack in the country. If Kansas goes against the grain, outside the box, etc. for their next football coach, Lunsford should be a candidate. But he’s got deep roots at Georgia Southern, and it may take a better opportunity than Kansas to get him to leave.
1-Skip Holtz
Holtz has led Louisiana Tech to seven straight bowl appearances, and he’s 61-41 in eight seasons there. Remove his first season and the shorter 2020, and that record is 52-28 in the middle six seasons with nine or more wins four times. He’s no stranger to challenging jobs (UConn, East Carolina, South Florida), with just six losing seasons in 21 total campaigns as a head coach. As with everyone on any list for Kansas, would Holtz even entertain taking the job?