Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze resigned from his position last week, and since then, several names have been tossed around as potential replacements.
One name that has really gained steam in recent days is former LSU head coach Les Miles, as it was reported on Sunday that Miles had interest in the position. Miles is a big name on the free agent coaching market, so it makes sense that would be a connection there, but do the two parties actually make sense for each other?
Here are three reasons why Les Miles and Ole Miss just aren't a fit for each other.
Ole Miss is going to be a rebuilding job
This was always going to be the big one: if Ole Miss does end up getting hit with NCAA sanctions, then there is a good chance that their next full-time head coach doesn't last at the school for very long. That's just the nature of the beast in these situations.
Even if the idea is to have Miles serve as the "caretaker" for the program for a few seasons, how much of a benefit will it be if the school is looking for another head coach in by 2020? Also feeding into that...
Les Miles turns 64 this year
There's likely a good reason Miles wants to get back into coaching so badly: he doesn't have a lot of years left and if he wants to take another job, it needs to be now.
In some ways, Miles' age means this doesn't work for either side. A potential rebuild job is going to demand a top tier recruiter, and while Miles did well with recruiting at LSU, that's not something that is going to get easier as he gets older. For Ole Miss, it might make more sense to go after a young upstart that can inject some life into the program.
On Miles' side of this, there will be a big question on if he wants to spend his final years of coaching at a job that may not prove to be very rewarding. His time as a coach may be limited, and it might actually make sense here to try and wait out the 2017 season to see which jobs open up before impulsively trying to grab a new job.
There's a reason why Les Miles is no longer the head coach at LSU
Les Miles did win a national championship at LSU back in 2007, and while he's kept the program competitive, many feel that he had been underachieving in recent years considering the level of talent that was consistently being brought in. Miles' peak as a head coach could very well be in the past, and if you are Ole Miss, it probably doesn't make sense to dish out the money for Miles when cheaper and better coaches like Chad Morris and Mike Norvell could be available.