LSU fires Les Miles; former Ole Miss coach Ed Orgeron to be interim: Report

Published 4:29 pm Sunday, September 25, 2016

Saturday was reportedly the last straw for LSU coach Les Miles.

Ross Dellenger of the New Orleans Advocate, citing anonymous sources, reports that Miles and offensive coordinator Cam Cameron were fired Sunday, less than 24 hours after the Tigers’ 18-13 loss at Auburn. The newspaper is also reporting former Ole Miss coach Ed Orgeron will be the interim coach.

LSU officially announced Miles’ departure in a press release later Sunday afternoon. Athletic director Joe Alleva said in a statement the decision wasn’t easy but “it’s apparent in evaluating the program through the first month of the season that a change has to be made. Our commitment to excellence and competing at the highest level is unwavering, and our goals for the remainder of this season haven’t changed. We have an obligation to our student-athletes to put them in the best position to have success on the football field each week, and we have great confidence that coach Orgeron will do just that.”

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It will be the second interim stint for Orgeron, who led Southern Cal to a 6-2 record in 2013 after Lane Kiffin was let go early in the season. Hired as LSU’s defensive line coach last season, Orgeron went 10-25 as the head coach at Ole Miss from 2005-07.

Orgeron will take over an LSU team that’s already lost twice, falling well short of the expectations that came with a No. 5 preseason ranking. Miles yet again came under fire for his clock management Saturday when a potential game-winning touchdown pass from Danny Etling to D.J. Chark on the final snap was waved off after a review showed LSU, which didn’t have any timeouts remaining, didn’t get the ball snapped before time expired.

It was an eerily similar scene to Ole Miss’ 25-23 win over LSU in 2009 where the Tigers completed a long pass to the Rebels’ 6-yard line with 1 second left but failed to call a play or send out the field-goal unit in time, and it has apparently cost Miles his job.