Tennessee should call Les Miles and be done with it

**This post has been updated since Currie’s exit.**

Tennessee’s search for a head coach has been a total failure to this point. The administration has totally botched this entire process, starting with the attempted hire of Greg Schiano. The now former Tennessee AD John Currie was forced to nix that deal after backlash from boosters, former players and fans, making him look like a puppet in the process.

The Vols were turned down by Mike Gundy, despite offering him a massive raise. They appeared set to make a really solid hire in Jeff Brohm, but that fell apart somewhere along the way (or Jimmy Hyams was just plain wrong). Reportedly they were targeting N.C. State’s Dave Doeren. Needless to say, his 33-30 record at N.C. State would not have gone over well with this fanbase.

The majority of the base simply wants Tee Martin to take over. I could get on board with that, but I’d also have real concerns with whether or not he would be ready to take on such a big job.

To me, there’s a really simple solution here.

There’s a jobless coach sitting out there waiting on his phone to ring. He holds a 141-55 career record as a head coach. He’s won two SEC titles. He’s won a national championship. He holds a 62-28 record in SEC play.

His name is Les Miles.

Tennessee seems to really value head coaching experience here as we’ve seen with his interviews and offers. They don’t come more experienced than Les Miles.

If they were willing to turn to 63 year old David Cutcliffe, why on earth would they not be willing to turn to 64 year old Les Miles? The two resumes don’t even compare.

Is Miles your guy for the next 10-15 years? Not even close. Would he clean up this dumpster fire and win some football games pretty quickly? I’d guess he probably would. Miles pulled in top recruiting classes year after year at LSU. There’s no reason he can’t at least come close to duplicating that in Knoxville.

Miles’ downfall at LSU was a sputtering offense and an inability to find a quarterback. A strong offensive staff would absolutely be a must.

Consider this. LSU ran him off after a 2-2 start in 2016. In the five years before that, Miles fielded teams that went 13-1, 10-3, 10-3, 8-5 and 9-3. At this point, Tennessee is looking at the likes of Tee Martin, Kevin Steele or Chad Morris.

In what world does Les Miles not deserve a call from Tennessee over those candidates?

Tennessee freshman quarterback Will McBride is with me.

There’s still time to salvage all this, John. Call the Mad Hatter.