Michigan Camp Remains Split Over Miles

Although the Michigan job is Les Miles' to lose, the Louisiana State coach is far from a unanimous choice among ranking members of the Wolverine community.

As we told you Tuesday, Miles is said to have used questionable tactics to recruit against Lloyd Carr in recent years.

Carr is believed to be stepping down because he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, perhaps as early as 2001. Through medication, Carr has been able to function normally, but Miles found out and was aggressive in telling recruits about Carr's condition and impending retirement. Carr, of course, heard about this and the relationship between the men deteriorated.

Not surprisingly, Carr has yet to endorse Miles' candidacy. Writes Drew Sharp of the Detroit Free Press:

"And the longer Carr goes without officially endorsing Miles, the more obvious it becomes that he has issues with the LSU coach becoming his successor.

"Carr has denied publicly having any preconceived reservations regarding any potential candidates. But that doesn't stop the speculation that perhaps Carr wonders about Miles' recruiting practices in that nest of nefarious conduct — the Southeastern Conference with its long history of NCAA trouble, or in his previous job at Oklahoma State."

In other coaching-related news:

Arkansas: Tommy Tuberville is still Auburn's coach and has an offer of a two-year extension and $200,000 a year raise. That would make Tuberville the seventh-highest paid coach in Division I-A.

Georgia Tech: Connecticut's Randy Edsall has interviewed for the job.

Houston: Notre Dame offensive coordinator and running backs coach Michael Haywood has interviewed for the job.

Nebraska: Bo Pelini is expected to be named coach, perhaps as early as Sunday.

And on the speculation front ...

Louisiana State: If Miles becomes Michigan's coach, where do the Tigers turn? Kevin Scarbinsky of the Birmingham News raises the possibility of either Nick Saban or Tuberville becoming LSU's coach. Not as far-fetched as one might think.

UCLA: The buzz in L.A. is that if the Bruins don't upset USC, Karl Dorrell is out as coach. Possible replacements: Baltimore Raven assistant Slick Rick Neuheisel, Texas Tech's Mike Leach and Tennessee Titan assistant Norm Chow.

Washington: Could a blowout loss to Hawaii lead to Tyrone Willingham's ouster? Seattle Seahawk assistant Jim Mora would likely be at the top of the list to replace Willingham.