Why LSU football is vacating 37 wins from the Les Miles era
By John Fye
The LSU football record books are lighter after Thursday’s notice from the NCAA. The Tigers must vacate 37 wins because of Les Miles’ era improprieties.
An Independent Resolution Panel investigation revelated that LSU football fielded an ineligible player during Les Miles’ tenure as head coach. As a result, the Tigers have vacated all 37 wins, including two bowl games, circa 2012-15.
LSU’s ineligible player was Vadal Alexander, an interior offensive lineman that appeared in 50 games for the Tigers. Alexander was ineligible because his father received over $180k from LSU football’s former assistant athletic director of operations. One can assume such payment was in exchange for Vadal’s commitment to play football for the Tigers.
Unfortunately, the story gets worse.
The money paid to Vadal Alexander’s father originated from funds embezzled by John Paul Funes, the former head of the Our Lady of the Lake Foundation. Funes pled guilty to stealing nearly $800k in funds for cancer patients. According to one report, Funes’ fraud included “flying family and friends to LSU and New Orleans Saints football games on charter flights” designated as patient transports.
Funes’ also used some of his stolen proceeds to pay for play.
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LSU football now leads all of college football in vacated wins. Such contests include their 10-7 win over No. 3 Ole Miss and 23-17 win at Texas A&M in 2014, and Bowl wins over Iowa (2014) and Texas Tech (2015). Moreover, the penalty drops Les Miles’ head coaching record from 145-73 (.665) to 108-73 (.597).
Miles is now ineligible for the College Football Hall of Fame because of the career-winning percentage minimum (.600) requirement.
Vadal Alexander is a former four-star recruit from Buford, Georgia, that drew interest from LSU, Alabama, Georgia, Miami, and Ohio State. Alexander was a four-year starter for LSU football and a 7th-round draft pick by the Oakland Raiders in 2016. Most recently, he played for the St. Louis BattleHawks in the XFL.
The NCAA notified LSU of numerous recruiting violation allegations, including Alexander, in 2020. Funes remained affiliated with the athletic department until October 2020.
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What’s gross is John Paul Funes is out of prison and seemingly living his best life. He has an active Twitter account that families affected by cancer might find interesting (or disgusting).