Les Miles moves lawsuit over vacated LSU wins from federal to state court

BATON ROUGE, LA. (AP) — Former football coach Les Miles’ lawsuit against Louisiana State University and the NCAA over a decision to vacate 37 of his teams’ victories from 2012 to 2015 has been moved from federal court to state court.

Miles initially sued in June in U.S. District Court in Baton Rouge. He alleged that LSU never gave Miles a chance to be heard before altering the coach’s career record significantly enough to disqualify him from consideration for the National Football Foundation’s College Football Hall of Fame. The foundation is also a defendant in the lawsuit.

No reason was given for Miles’ decision to dismiss the federal suit and sue in state court in Baton Rouge. Miles’ lawyer declined to comment.

The state lawsuit, filed Sept. 9, largely tracks allegations made in the federal complaint, which was dismissed Sept. 30 at Miles’ request. But the state lawsuit does add a claim that the defendants violated the state constitution.

In documents in the federal case, the defendant organizations say Miles cannot sue because he did not have a “property right” to the LSU victories or in Hall of Fame eligibility.

The decision in June 2023 to vacate the victories stemmed from an NCAA ruling that former Tigers offensive lineman Vadal Alexander had received financial benefits that violated NCAA rules when he played.