Les Miles, who led LSU to the national championship in 2007, is working toward finalizing a deal to become the next head coach of the Kansas Jayhawks, sources confirmed to ESPN on Saturday.
Sports Illustrated first reported the news.
Miles, who hasn’t coached since being fired by LSU in September 2016, would replace David Beaty, who said Nov. 4 that he would not return as coach after this season.
Kansas athletic director Jeff Long and Miles know one another from their time at the University of Michigan in the late 1980s and early ’90s.
Miles, who turned 65 last Saturday, is 141-55 in 15-plus seasons as a head coach at LSU and Oklahoma State.
Kansas also spoke with Los Angeles Rams assistant Jedd Fisch and former Arizona State, Pitt, Tulsa and Rice coach Todd Graham about the job, according to a source.
On Thursday, LSU announced it had reached a settlement with Miles for a one-time, lump-sum payment of $1.5 million on his remaining guarantee from the school. He still had been owed $6.5 million in guaranteed salary after being fired.
At the time of his dismissal, Miles was owed about $9 million, to be paid in monthly installments until 2023. But Thursday’s agreement absolves LSU of any remaining funds owed to Miles, who coached the Tigers from 2005 to 2016 and went 114-34 while leading LSU to a national championship in 2007.
LSU athletic director Joe Alleva said he had discussed a settlement with Miles’ representatives for several weeks.
“It’s time for both parties to move forward,” Alleva said in a prepared statement. “One of the challenges of the buyout that was in place was there just wasn’t a lot of incentive to move on to other things. We were looking to provide that, and Coach Miles and his representatives also were ready.”
The Jayhawks (3-7) face No. 6 Oklahoma on Saturday.
ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg, Dan Murphy and Chris Low contributed to this report.