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When new University of Kansas football coach Les Miles emerged from the kitchen inside Johnny’s Tavern West on Sunday night, approximately 350 fans welcomed him to Lawrence with 30 seconds worth of cheers and applause.
Two weeks after Jeff Long first stood in Hadl Auditorium and detailed what he hoped to accomplish in his Kansas football coaching search, the first-year athletic director returned Sunday night with an old colleague in tow. Just as the buzz throughout the past several days indicated he would, Long introduced Les Miles as KU’s 39th football coach, presenting his new high-profile employee with one of Miles’ signature white baseball caps — except this one came with a KU logo instead of LSU. By Benton Smith
There was something different about the way Les Miles approached this college football season. Kathryn Miles (nickname “Smacker”), a former swimmer at Texas and currently a TV sports personality, had become accustomed to seeing the version of her dad when he wasn’t coaching football. Les Miles had been linked to multiple coaching positions since getting fired by LSU midway through the 2016, though none eventually panned out.
The fake flights were real, there actually was a little deception and it all led to Sunday evening, when KU Athletic Director Jeff Long stood at a podium inside Hadl Auditorium and introduced his good friend, Les Miles, as his newest co-worker. Kansas football coach Les Miles, to be exact. By Matt Tait
The University of Kansas football team has found its new head coach. Les Miles was introduced as the program's 40th head coach in team history Sunday afternoon. Miles brings to Lawrence 142 victories, a BCS national championship and two SEC titles in 15-plus seasons as a head coach, the most career wins of anyone who has coached football at Kansas in the modern era.
Jessica Washington waited patiently to be checked in along with Briana Osorio and Michaela Wilson. It’s the first time she’s played in a game in over a year.
Les Miles is the new head football coach and Kansas and all anyone wants to talk about is if the partnership between the national champion known as “The Mad Hatter” and one of the longest suffering college programs in NCAA history is going to work. By Matt Tait
A Kansas football program mired in a decade-long spiral that led to national irrelevance and growing local indifference now has a head coach charged with, as the man hiring him would say, breaking that cycle. So long, Louisiana. Les Miles is headed to Lawrence. By Benton Smith