Les Miles denies he told LSU boosters Saturday's game vs. Texas A&M will be his last

Les Miles

LSU coach Les Miles leaves a media availability with reporters following an NCAA college football game against Ole Miss in Oxford, Miss., Saturday, Nov. 21, 2015. No. 25 Ole Miss won 38-17. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

LSU football coach Les Miles on Friday denied reports he indicated to a booster club that Saturday's game with Texas A&M would be his last.

"I had no suggestion this was going to be my last game in Tiger Stadium," Miles said in an interview with the SEC Network.

Gannett News Service of Louisiana reported that Miles told the Gridiron Club of Baton Rouge "thanks for a great 11 years" and "I'll always be a Tiger." Miles -- who speaks to the booster club every Friday before LSU home games -- also reportedly said he would coach in any bowl game the Tigers play in after the regular season.

NOLA.com quoted a booster who was present at the meeting that Miles delivered something of a farewell message to LSU fans.

"He didn't use those words but he made it clear that Saturday is his last game," the booster said. "He said, 'We're a second family to him and he's going to miss us, he appreciates his real friends, and then he told us good bye,'" the source said. "It was very emotional but in control."

Earlier, LSU's athletic department disputed the reports.

Miles is 110-32 with a pair of SEC championships and the 2007 BCS national championship in his 11 seasons at LSU, but fans and boosters have grown disenchanted after five consecutive losses to Alabama and an overall decline in the program's standing in the SEC West in recent years. The Tigers began this season 7-0 and reached No. 2 in the national rankings before dropping consecutive games to Alabama, Arkansas and Ole Miss by double-digits heading into Saturday's regular-season finale against Texas A&M.

The 62-year-old Miles is under contract through 2019 at more than $4 million per season and is due a $15 million buyout if he is fired before Jan. 1. However, NOLA.com reported Sunday that LSU's big-money boosters did not consider that a stumbling point to his dismissal.

LSU boosters are said to covet Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher, one of the top offensive minds in the country and the Tigers' offensive coordinator under both Nick Saban and Miles from 2001-07. TCU's Gary Patterson and Clemson's Dabo Swinney are also reportedly on the boosters' wish list if Miles is fired.

Miles would not address his job status when asked about it during the SEC's weekly teleconference on Wednesday.

"You know what, I'm not going to look to defend or make a case. That's not what I'm going to do," Miles said. "I love the place. I'm going to work hard. I'm not going to get into what is my view. I'm fortunate to be the head coach here. I've always felt that way. I love the players I've recruited. They work hard. I'm fortunate to coach with a group of men that coach their players hard. I'm going to do my job, I'm going to look at this opponent I'm going to attack this opponent. That's all I'm doing."

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