Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Kansas places Les Miles on administra­tive leave after LSU’s report.

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Kansas University placed football Coach Les Miles on administra­tive leave Friday night, hours after a report released by LSU revealed school officials there considered firing him in 2013 because of his behavior with female student workers.

“Even though the allegation­s against him occurred at LSU, we take these matters very seriously at KU,” Kansas Athletic Director Jeff Long said in a statement. “Now that we have access to this informatio­n, we will take the coming days to fully review the material and to see if any additional informatio­n is available. I do not want to speculate on a timeline for our review because it is imperative we do our due diligence.”

Miles is entering his third year as Kansas coach, and coming off a winless 2020 season. He was coach at LSU for 11-plus years before being fired four games into the 2016 season.

The 67-year-old Miles has denied allegation­s he made sexual advances toward students and has said he merely sought to serve as a mentor for students who expressed an interest in pursuing careers in sports.

Earlier in the day, LSU released a law firm’s 148-page review of how the university has handled sexual misconduct complaints.

Then-athletic director Joe Alleva’s 2013 recommenda­tion to former LSU President F. King Alexander to fire Miles is detailed in the report by the Husch Blackwell law firm. The report offers a scathing view of the resources and attention LSU has dedicated to complaints of sexual misconduct and violence against women campus-wide.

LSU suspended executive deputy athletic director Verge Ausberry 30 days and senior associate athletic director Miriam Segar 21 days. Both are suspended without pay and ordered to undergo sexual violence training.

Miles was investigat­ed after two female student workers in LSU’s football program accused the coach of inappropri­ate behavior.

While that 2013 investigat­ion by the Taylor Porter law firm found Miles showed poor judgment, it did not find violations of law or that he had a sexual relationsh­ip with any students. Taylor Porter also concluded it could not confirm one student’s allegation that Miles kissed her while they were in the coach’s car with no one else present.

Alleva recommende­d Miles be fired with cause. In an email dated June 2013, Alleva wrote Miles was guilty of “insubordin­ation, inappropri­ate behavior, putting the university, athletic [department] and football program at great risk.”

The Taylor Porter review had been kept confidenti­al for about eight years until a redacted version of it was released this week after a lawsuit filed by USA Today.

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