Miles a Finalist for Bryant Award

LSU coach Les Miles will be in Houston on Thursday night to take part in the 22nd annual Paul “Bear” Bryant College Football Coaching Awards dinner, which will take place at 7 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency Hotel.

Miles is one of seven coaches from across the country that have been named a finalist for the prestigious Bear Bryant Coach of the Year Award. Miles is joined on the list of finalists by Frank Beamer of Virginia Tech, Sylvester Croom of Mississippi State, June Jones of Hawaii, Mark Mangino of Kansas, Gary Pinkel of Missouri and Ron Zook of Illinois. All seven coaches are expected to be in attendance at the event.

In his third season with LSU, Miles guided the Tigers to a 12-2 overall mark and the consensus national title in 2007. LSU capped the 2007 season with a 38-24 win over Ohio State in the BCS National Championship Game.

In three years with the Tigers, Miles has led LSU to three straight double-figure win seasons and won a total of 14 games against top 25 teams, including a school-record seven victories against ranked opponents in 2007. Miles is the only coach in LSU history to lead the Tigers to double-digit wins in back-to-back seasons and he’s done three times.

Miles has an overall coaching mark of 62-27, which includes a 34-6 record at LSU.

The annual Bear Bryant Coach of the Year Award is chosen by national sportswriters and sportscasters and is the only college football coaching award given after all of the bowl games are completed.

Former LSU coach Nick Saban was the winner of the Bear Bryant Award following the Tigers’ national title season in 2003.

In addition to the coach of the year award, Nebraska’s Tom Osborne will be presented with the Bear Bryant Lifetime Achievement Award.