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Les Miles confirmed as new Kansas HC

Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Kansas has officially announced Les Miles as its next head coach, and he will be formally introduced at a press conference Sunday afternoon.

"Since the beginning of our search, we focused on identifying and recruiting an experienced head coach with a strong track record of success on and off the field," athletic director Jeff Long said in a statement. "Les Miles is exactly what we need for our program right now. His national reputation as a great recruiter and as a coach who student-athletes love playing for will enable us to break the cycle and return a winning tradition to the Kansas Jayhawks. We are thrilled to have Les and his family as Jayhawks."

The head coach will receive a five-year contract worth $2.78 million annually, with additional retention bonuses due in 2020 and 2022.

"I am humbled by the opportunity to lead the KU football program and I am grateful to Chancellor (Douglas) Girod and Jeff Long for the opportunity," Miles said. "We will bring Jayhawk Football back and we will do it with outstanding coaches, tremendous student-athletes of character and ability, and an unrelenting drive for excellence. My family and I cannot wait to be a part of the KU family!"

Miles hasn't coached since LSU fired him four games into the 2016 season. He posted a 114-34 record with the Tigers and won a national championship to cap the 2007 campaign.

The 65-year old will inherit a Kansas program that's spent the last several years dwelling in the Big 12's cellar. The Jayhawks have won just three games over the last three years and haven't finished with a winning record since 2008.

Miles was first mentioned as a leading candidate for the Kansas job in early November after the program announced current head coach David Beaty wouldn't be retained for next season.

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