BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -LSU coach Les Miles insisted he isn’t letting speculation about being the top candidate to replace Lloyd Carr at Michigan sway his focus from this week’s matchup against Arkansas.
“The key is I’m completely focused on this place and this team,” Miles said during his regular Monday news conference. “I want to stay just where I’m at. I don’t want to think about it. I don’t want to envision it.”
LSU, which is No. 1 in the BCS ranking, must defeat the Razorbacks on Friday to keep pace for a date in the national championship game.
“With another team, I would be worried about this being a distraction,” Miles said. “But I am not worried about that with this team.”
By defeating Ole Miss last Saturday, Miles became the first LSU coach to win at least 10 games in three seasons. The Tigers were 11-2 in 2005 and 2006 and are 10-1 this year.
“We are where we hoped to be,” Miles said. “We want to contend for a (Southeastern Conference) title. We want to be ranked nationally. Then, at the back end of the season, we want to play in a bowl game of significance.
“When I daydream, I daydream of the future,” Miles continued. “When you look at our recruiting board and the guys we have coming back, we can do nothing else but continue on that line. The young men have done what they came here to do. We have several others behind them.”
Miles has been in a similar situation. In 2004, he was preparing his Oklahoma State team for an appearance against Ohio State in the Alamo Bowl while involved in negotiations with LSU.
Oklahoma State played poorly and lost decisively to the Buckeyes. Miles recalled that was a difficult time for everyone involved.
“That was an unfair position, period,” Miles said. “It was unfair to either school. It was unfair to the team. It was unfair to me.
“Right now, I’m just going to do the best thing for me and the best thing for my team,” he said. “I’m just going to leave it alone. My goals are to help this team.”
Add A Comment