Former Alabama Quarterback Questions Les Miles' Hall Of Fame Qualifications

TUSCALOOSA, AL – NOVEMBER 07: Les Miles, head coach of the LSU Tigers, looks on during the first quarter against the Alabama Crimson Tide at Bryant-Denny Stadium on November 7, 2015 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

Les Miles is suing LSU over vacated wins removing him from College Hall of Fame eligibility. Greg McElroy isn’t sure his former SEC foe is a worthy Hall of Famer anyway.

Last year, LSU stripped Miles of 37 victories from 2012 to 2015 because of recruiting violations. Since the losses from those four seasons aren’t vacated, the penalty drops his 66.5 winning career percentage down to 59.7 (108-73), below the Hall of Fame’s 60-percent requirement.

Discussing the lawsuit on his Always College Football podcast, McElroy prefaced his thoughts by saying that he considers the process of vacating wins “dumb.”

“I remember Les Miles winning those 37 games, so I’ve never felt like it really mattered that much,” McElroy said (h/t On3). “When you take away wins, it just doesn’t mean a whole lot. I mean, I still remember the games. I still remember the outcomes, and you can’t tell me that those games didn’t happen because those wins are no longer listed historically.”

McElroy’s time at Alabama coincided with Miles’ LSU coaching tenure. The Crimson Tide suffered a 24-21 loss to the Tigers during the quarterback’s final season.

While he has “a tremendous amount of respect” for Miles successfully recruiting and motivating his teams to play hard, McElroy questioned the coach’s Hall of Fame credentials regardless of those vacated wins.

“When I think Hall of Fame, I think best of all time. Best coaches of all time. And I’ve never thought of Les Miles as one of the best of all time – personal opinion,” McElroy said. “I know records and things like that would indicate otherwise.”

He implored college football to raise the required winning percentage from 60 to 75 or 80. McElroy’s former coach, Nick Saban (80.6%) is barely one of 16 coaches to reach the 80-percent threshold.

The ESPN analyst doesn’t believe a “run-of-the-mill coach” who goes 7-5 (a 58.3 percentage) over the long haul should be on the doorstep of admission, especially for someone who worked for a prestigious program like LSU.

“What’s a going rate for a Hall of Fame coach, an all-time great?” McElroy asked. Winning a national championship – that would have you in the mix. But really is the threshold just 60 percent? That, to me, seems outrageously low.”