BATON ROUGE, La. — Les Miles has a new seven-year contract at LSU that also will result in a pay raise for one of the most successful coaches in the history of the Tigers’ football program.
“I’m an LSU head coach and will be an LSU head coach for as long as I can be,” Miles said Wednesday. “Hopefully we’ll look up seven years from now and I’ll be looking for another seven-year extension.”
The new contract runs through 2019, which amounts to a two-year extension. LSU athletic director Joe Alleva said financial details were still being worked out and will be released after LSU plays in a still-undecided bowl game to close out this season.
A person familiar with the contract said that Miles’ new annual pay would be in the range of $4.3 million. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because financial details of Miles’ deal were not released.
Miles’ previous contract paid about $3.75 million annually through 2017. He has not received a raise since 2008, after LSU’s last national title, though he has since received an extension and raises for assistants.
“Les Miles is one of the premier coaches in the country and has LSU in contention for championships year in and year out,” Alleva said.
Miles is 85-20 at LSU since arriving in 2005, with one national title in the 2007 season and two BCS championship appearances. LSU’s victory over Arkansas last Friday clinched Miles’ fifth 10-win season with the Tigers.
“The coaching business is a competitive one and it is important to compensate our coach for his accomplishments and his worth,” Alleva said. Miles “has continued to keep LSU on the national stage.”
Miles said representatives from Arkansas had reached out to him in a preliminary way, but he also said reports of a five-year, $27.5 million offer to take over the Razorbacks was “not true.”
“I can tell you that this Miles family is awfully comfortable in southern Louisiana,” Miles said. “I think home is what we’d call this place.”
Alleva said LSU already planned to offer Miles an enhanced contract after this season, but decided to close the deal now to snuff out speculation that Miles could be lured elsewhere.
“Speculation about other job opportunities accelerated our process a little,” Alleva said. “I think we have accomplished the important step of securing Les Miles as our head coach for the long-term good of the program.”
Bryan Lazare contributed to this story from Baton Rouge, La.
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