Former LSU Head Football Coach Les Miles has filed a lawsuit against the university following its decision to vacate 37 of his team’s wins from 2012 to 2015.
This action dropped Miles’s career win percentage from .665 to .597, just below the 60-percent threshold required for College Football Hall of Fame eligibility. Miles’s lawyer, Peter Ginsberg, clarified that the lawsuit seeks no financial damages, saying, “We’re trying to protect that right that Les has achieved by his victories to get him on the ballot so he can have a fair chance of being elected to the Hall of Fame.”
The vacated wins result from an NCAA investigation that found that the father of a former player received improper benefits from a booster, a violation of NCAA regulations. Ginsberg contends there’s no evidence suggesting Miles was aware of these violations. He argues that LSU imposed harsh sanctions, including a one-year bowl ban, as a preemptive measure to mitigate potential repercussions related to separate violations by the former men’s basketball coach, Will Wade.
Ginsberg says, “LSU, in the blink of an eye, gave away what Les and those kids had achieved for no reason except for trying to protect itself and the basketball program.”
The lawsuit also involves the NCAA and the College Football Hall of Fame as defendants. It follows unsuccessful attempts to engage with LSU on this matter, with Ginsberg noting that discussions with a high-ranking university official abruptly stopped after initial promises of support.
Lastly, Ginsberg emphasized, “Everyone should be aware that Les isn’t doing this just for himself but that those student-athletes, his staff, and his coaches earn those victories.”
Do you believe Les should be welcomed into the College Football Hall of Fame?
