Former college football coach Les Miles filed a lawsuit against LSU claiming that the school's decision to vacate 37 of his wins from 2012-15 eliminated him from consideration for the College Football Hall of Fame. According to the suit, filed in the Middle District of Louisiana, Miles is seeking "appropriate remedy for the blot placed on his good name and reputation" by LSU's decision.
The NCAA and the National Football Foundation, which oversees the College Football Hall of Fame, are also listed as defendants. At issue is the fact that the 37 vacated wins dropped Miles' career winning percentage below .600, which is the automatic cutoff for a coach to be considered.
According to CBS Sports' Dennis Dodd, Miles would have been eligible for the hall of fame in Nov. 2023 when he turned 70. Dodd notes that neither of the three Division I schools at which he coached -- Oklahoma State, LSU and Kansas -- are believed to have nominated him.
Boasting a career record of 108-73 without the vacated wins, Miles' winning percentage sits at around .597. LSU was forced to vacate the wins and was placed on probation when an NCAA investigation uncovered a Level I recruiting violation committed during Miles' tenure.
According to the NCAA's release, the Level I violation dates back to 2012 when a representative of LSU's athletics interests paid the father of a prospective athlete a total of $180,150 over a five-year span as part of an embezzlement scheme. The athlete enrolled at LSU and competed from 2012-16. The representative has been disassociated from the program for 10 years.
