College Football | Miles set at LSU through 2012

BATON ROUGE, La. — Louisiana State coach Les Miles signed a contract extension Thursday to keep him at the university through 2012, apparently ending speculation that he might leave for a job at Michigan.

"I'm thrilled to be LSU's head coach. I'm thrilled to be on the campus," Miles told the LSU Board of Supervisors before signing the deal. "I look forward to many years as the LSU head coach."

The deal was approved Thursday by the LSU board's athletic committee, but needs the approval of the full board, which meets today. That vote is considered a formality.

The contract doesn't change Miles' salary, which already will rise to at least $2.8 million annually based on LSU's Southeastern Conference championship this year. An SEC championship win requires Miles' salary to be at least the third-highest in the conference.

If the Tigers win the national championship, the contract provides Miles would become among the nation's top-earning college football coaches. University officials estimate that would put his annual earnings somewhere between $3.2 million and $3.5 million.

LSU (11-2) faces Ohio State (11-1) in the BCS national championship game Jan. 7 at the Louisiana Superdome.

Also remaining unchanged is the $1.25 million penalty Miles must pay to LSU if he leaves for Michigan, a contract clause that college football fans became well acquainted with after Wolverines coach Lloyd Carr announced his retirement in November.

According to newspaper reports, the Wolverines' focus may now be on Greg Schiano. The Rutgers coach reportedly met with Michigan AD Bill Martin earlier this week to talk about the Wolverines' coaching vacancy.

Rutgers AD Robert Mulcahy told The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J., for a story posted on its Web site late Thursday night, that Schiano's agent, Bryan Harlin, "asked for permission to meet" with Michigan.

Notes

• Arkansas junior RB Darren McFadden was honored as the 2007 player of the year by the Walter Camp Football Foundation. The trophy will be presented Jan. 12.

• Florida's Tim Tebow picked up two trophies at an awards show in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., collecting the Maxwell Award (nation's best all-around player) and Davey O'Brien Award (nation's top quarterback).

• Arizona State's Thomas Weber won the Lou Groza Award, presented to the nation's top kicker.

• Oklahoma's Reggie Smith, an all-Big 12 pick at cornerback, has a broken big toe on his right foot and will not play when the third-ranked Sooners face No. 11 West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl.

• North Carolina coach Butch Davis — who has been mentioned as a possible candidate for other coaching vacancies — said he will return for his second season in Chapel Hill.

• Texas A&M indefinitely suspended OL Yemi Babalola and DE Brandon Joiner Thursday after their arrests a day earlier on felony robbery and drug counts.

• The operators of the Rose Bowl have delayed making a decision on whether to have USC play there next season, pending comments from UCLA. The Trojans' main rivals have veto power over sharing the stadium with another team.

USC is seeking one-year lease to play at the Pasadena stadium after its lease with the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum ended over the weekend.

• South Alabama's board of trustees voted unanimously to start a football program in a long-discussed move for the university. The university plans to field a team starting in 2009 and make a full transition to the Football Bowl Subdivision by 2013.