Will Les Miles coach his final game for LSU on Saturday?

An LSU spokesman said Friday that Miles was not announcing his departure but rather thanking the boosters for their support.

School officials took to Twitter to address several reports indicating that Miles would resign after Saturday’s game against Texas A&M. He even told Gridiron Club members that he hoped to meet with them before the Tigers’ bowl game.

“I’ll always be a Tiger”, members said Miles said, and that he added he was at his last Gridiron Club meeting and that he will not coach the Tigers after Saturday’s game against Texas A&M.

“Of course they got a defensive coordinator I’m very familiar with, and he’s a very talented coach”, Miles said of John Chavis who left LSU after last season to move to College Station. Whitworth helped lead Miles’ first team to the SEC West championship despite the Tigers having to play 10 games in less than 10 weeks because of the postponements of games and relocation of a game due to hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Apparently others in attendance misheard what Miles told them, or just misinterpreted his intentions, resulting in a bit of a firestorm on Friday afternoon that LSU had to put out.

Speculation that the regular-season finale will also be Miles’ final game as LSU’s coach has dominated Louisiana sports talk shows, internet chat rooms and newspaper columns lately.

LSU athletic director Joe Alleva has not yet commented on the rumors surrounding Miles.

The $15 million buyout is payable over eight years and includes an additional $2 million total payable to assistant coaches who have a “Les Miles clause” in their deals.

LSU’s primary option for a replacement coach is Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher, multiple sources told the Reveille. So it goes without saying that Miles, for as eccentric as he is at times, is not an idiot.

“Lot of good kids there I really care for and wish them the best”, Chavis continued, “but not on this Saturday”.

The Tigers are coming off a 38-17 loss to Ole Miss on Saturday in Oxford after falling behind 24-0 in the first half.

Miles has compiled a 110-33 record in 11 years at the school, winning the BCS National Championship in 2007.