In the huddle: An amendment that would extend the contract of LSU football coach Les Miles and increase his annual compensation will be presented to the LSU Board of Supervisors on Friday, Feb. 1, LSU Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Joe Alleva announced today. Miles will receive $4.3 million per year for seven years under the new contract, up from $3.751 million annually in his current contract—which was due to expire in December 2017. The new contract would expire on Dec. 31, 2019. LSUsports.net has more details here.
The bottom line: Though he’s not revealing specifics at the moment, newly reinstated New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton made it clear to the The Times-Picayune during his first day back on the job Wednesday that repairing his defense is at the top of his lengthy to-do list. “The defense, man, that’s the one thing that keeps me up at night right now,” says Payton. Read the full story here.
Off the dribble: In an announcement scheduled this afternoon, the New Orleans Hornets are expected to change their name to the New Orleans Pelicans. As The New York Times reports, making the name change official opens the door for a number of strange possibilities in terms of NBA recordkeeping. If the Charlotte Bobcats—an expansion team that replaced the Hornets after the team moved to New Orleans in 2002—decide to reclaim the Hornets’ moniker, the team in Charlotte would have a history dating to only 2004, when the Bobcats began play. The records and statistics of the Charlotte Hornets from 1988 to 2002 would be credited to the Pelicans. And the confusion doesn’t stop there. Read the full story here.
