On Sunday, Kansas football became interesting again. That's what you get with Les Miles, the singing, dancing, grass-eating, hat-wearing, fourth-down-gambling geyser of coaching personality hired to lead the Jayhawks program.
Because of Miles, people will pay attention to KU, beginning with Sunday's introductory news conference and lasting throughout the offseason.
But can Kansas do more with Les? That's not as clear. Miles is by far the most decorated coach Kansas has hired, boasting a national championship at LSU, two SEC championships and a .719 career winning percentage. But he's now leading a Kansas program that, since its Orange Bowl breakthrough in 2007, has the worst record of any FBS program (31-101). The Jayhawks haven't made a bowl game since 2008 and haven't won more than three games since 2009, Mark Mangino's final season as coach.
Miles is taking over a mess. And while he used to be an elite coach at an elite program, he hasn't been on the sideline since LSU fired him in September 2016. The reasons leading to Miles' dismissal create doubt about his ability to succeed at one of the toughest Power 5 jobs.
Will the Les Miles experiment work at KU? I spoke to several former Jayhawks coaches, as well as other coaches familiar with Miles and the Kansas program, to break down the hire and what challenges await the Mad Hatter in Lawrence.