Larry Coker (ex-Miami coach)

[WolverineTX]

There are plenty of potential candidates to replace Coker; two marquee names are former Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez, who is close with Shalala, and Rutgers coach and former Miami assistant Greg Schiano.

Close ties or not, I think you'd need a crowbar and a hand grenade to remove Alvarez from his position at Wisconsin. Not only does he really like the gig, but his current agreement runs through January 2011.

 

[ScriptOhio]

Updated: Nov. 24, 2006, 8:04 PM ET
Miami official: Canes to target Rutgers' Schiano



By Mark Schlabach
ESPN.com

Rutgers coach Greg Schiano, a former Hurricanes defensive coordinator, has been targeted by several of Miami's influential boosters as the top choice to replace deposed coach Larry Coker, a school official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Thursday.
However, it is unclear whether Schiano has any interest in leaving the Scarlet Knights, who have emerged as a contender in the Big East Conference and were ranked among the top 10 teams nationally this season. Schiano is an attractive choice for Miami because he and his coaching staff heavily recruit Florida high schools.
Three candidates who have been mentioned among possible replacements at Miami have indicated they're not interested in the job. South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier, who won a national championship at Florida, said this week that he has no interest in other jobs. Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville, a former Miami assistant, told ESPN.com Tuesday night that he has no interest in returning to the Hurricanes.
And Georgia coach Mark Richt, a former Miami quarterback, said he wasn't interested in returning to coach his alma mater, and the hefty buyout in his contract with the Bulldogs would probably preclude the Hurricanes from hiring him anyway.

James Lang/US Presswire
Greg Schiano, a former Miami defensive coordinator, has lifted Rutgers to a lofty ranking.

If the Hurricanes can't lure a high-profile coach to replace Coker -- Tulsa's Steve Kragthorpe and Wisconsin athletics director Barry Alvarez have also been mentioned as possible replacements -- there is a possibility that current Miami defensive coordinator Randy Shannon would be considered.
Shannon, a Miami native, is recognized as one of the country's best defensive coordinators and his unit was perhaps the lone bright spot on the team this season. The Hurricanes were ranked eighth nationally in total defense before Thursday night's game against Boston College and they limited the Eagles to only 193 yards offense.
Shannon, 40, was a starting linebacker on Miami's 1987 national championship team and has worked as an assistant at his alma mater since 1991, including the last six seasons as defensive coordinator.
But because Coker was elevated from offensive coordinator to head coach when Butch Davis left for the Cleveland Browns after the 2000 season, Miami might be hesitant to give Shannon the job this time. Shannon also is believed to be a candidate to replace Florida International coach Don Strock, who resigned Nov. 15. The Golden Panthers, one of only two winless Division I-A teams this season, were involved in an ugly melee with the Hurricanes in Miami's 35-0 win on Oct. 14.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/columns/story?columnist=schlabach_mark&id=2674357

 

[Steve19]

And, uh, did someone mention Ohio State... :tic:

Here is what would be really excellent, Schiano turns them down publicly. That's when their egos would take a real hit.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

Storm around Hurricanes claims Coker
Saturday, November 25, 2006
Tim Reynolds
ASSOCIATED PRESS

</IMG>


CORAL GABLES, Fla. ? Larry Coker won nearly 80 percent of his games at Miami, got players to graduate, was revered for his classy manner and led the Hurricanes to a national championship.
Despite all that, even he acknowledged the University of Miami needed to make a change.
Coker?s tumultuous and disappointing season got its predictable ending yesterday, when he was fired after six years leading the Hurricanes. The move came one day after Miami finished a 6-6 regular season by beating Boston College 17-14 to halt a fourgame losing streak and become bowl-eligible.
"There?s such a negative groundswell around the program," said Coker, who will coach Miami if it?s invited to a bowl game. "If I?m here ? I don?t see that changing in the next few months."
Coker is 59-15 at Miami, but was doomed by 12 losses in the past three seasons and no conference titles or Bowl Championship Series bids since 2003. He had three seasons left on a contract that paid him about $2 million annually. His buyout is believed to be worth about $3 million.
"It has been evident this season that we have not progressed," university president Donna Shalala wrote in a statement. "It is time for us to reclaim our national championship tradition. ... I want to make it clear that no celebration is in order today. This was not an easy decision."
There are plenty of potential candidates to replace Coker. Two marquee names are former Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez, who is close with Shalala, and Rutgers coach and former Miami assistant Greg Schiano.
Former Florida coach and current South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier said this week that he expects to be back with the Gamecocks next fall for his third season ? trying to rebuke a story that identified him as Miami?s top choice.
"This is not a job for somebody that?s a builder," athletic director Paul Dee said. "This is a job for somebody that?s out front and wants to be at the top and isn?t frightened away by the expectations."
Coker came to Miami in 1995, hired by then-coach Butch Davis as offensive coordinator. Davis resigned Jan. 29, 2001, to become coach of the Cleveland Browns. About a week later, after Miami reportedly offered the job to Alvarez and then-Miami Dolphins coach Dave Wannstedt, the Hurricanes turned to Coker, who had never been a college head coach. He went undefeated and won the national title in his first season, then got back to the title game the next year, losing in double overtime to Ohio State.

 

[sandgk]

Miami's Hiring Gun (Consultant)

UM goes to a consultant to help fill the Head Coaching vacancy:

Need a college coach or A.D.? Call this guy Neinas specializes in helping schools fulfill high-profile roles
The Associated Press
Updated: 2:15 a.m. ET July 30, 2005

BOULDER, Colo. - His Rolodex is impressive. His reputation is impeccable.
Often, when big schools such as Georgia or Florida or Colorado begin the delicate task of finding a new football coach or athletic director, one of their first calls isn?t to a candidate, but to Chuck Neinas.
With 45 years of experience at the highest levels of college sports, Neinas is one of the best-connected people in the business. Working from his small office in Boulder, Neinas uses his connections to undertake the job of finding out who might be available and who isn?t, all while keeping the process under the radar.
?I have a file,? Neinas said of the voluminous number of contacts he?s made over the years. ?But the thing I also have is I have a network of contacts who are pretty trustworthy. Very trustworthy.?
His is, indeed, a high-stakes game, and much of it is played out well before a vacancy ever develops.
Neinas (pronounced NI-nes) spends lots of time on the phone with coaches and athletic directors, talking, probing, finding out if they?re happy with their job and, even if they are, if there is any other job they might leave their current one to take.
When a university hires him to help look for a new football coach, the process usually begins with the athletic director filling out a long questionnaire filled with obvious topics, such as the school budget and scheduling, and the not-so-obvious, such as whether the school would be willing to pay for a house-hunting trip for the coach?s wife.
Beyond that, Neinas says, no two searches are alike.
Some involve schools that already have a list of candidates and want Neinas to augment the list from the long scroll of head coaches and top assistants with whom he keeps in touch. Others seek Neinas only as a go-between for an athletic director and one specific coach.
?He does a thorough job,? said Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley, who hired Urban Meyer in December, a negotiation made complex because Meyer was under contract at Utah and also considered a candidate at Notre Dame.
?He helps you find out information on the front end that helps,? Foley said. ?You find out who?s interested, who?s not interested. He?s responsive. If you call him, he calls you back. If you ask him to find something out, he finds it out.?
And most of all, Foley said, ?he doesn?t talk to anybody? in the media, or anywhere else that could turn a search into an embarrassing situation, a more likely possibility now than it was 20 years ago, before reporters and the Internet turned up the spotlight on seemingly every search.
Neinas tells of one situation ? no names, please ? in which a school hired the coach that was really its third choice.
?The third guy was highly successful, but they don?t want to know they?re third,? Neinas said. ?It can be embarrassing for a sitting head football coach to have his name out there and not wind up with the position. It?s basically to protect all the parties involved from having an embarrassing situation. You can?t always control that because there are leaks. But it won?t come from me.?
Neinas has built his contacts over four decades of work in college sports.
He began in the 1960s as an administrator for the NCAA, where one of his assignments was to organize national championship competition; he oversaw the beginning of the huge growth of what is now known as March Madness, the NCAA basketball tournament.
From 1971-80, he was commissioner of the Big Eight. Then he headed the College Football Association. That group is best known for giving college football the expanded TV exposure it had long lacked, but it also played a huge role in setting standards for recruiting and academic eligibility.
It was at the CFA that Neinas worked with Mike Bohn, the new athletic director at Colorado ? a search Neinas had a role in.
Neinas said searches for athletic directors are almost always more complex than those for coaches, simply because there are more issues to deal with and more administrators who have a role in the decision.
?He helps with searches,? Bohn said. ?But I think many people underestimate his ability to help people understand other issues around intercollegiate athletics. It?s not just the hiring process. He has a keen insight into a lot of other nuances associated with the business.?
In all, Neinas has a list of 51 institutions he has helped in searches for a new coach or administrator.
About half the Southeastern Conference is on the list ? Meyer at Florida, Mark Richt at Georgia, Bobby Johnson at Vanderbilt, Les Miles at LSU ? as are Arizona State, Michigan, Kansas and Neinas? own alma mater, Wisconsin.
He makes it clear that he?s not a decision maker, ?only a conduit? for schools in search of a good fit.
It?s a high-pressure world he works in, but Neinas says the pressure never gets to him.
?I just enjoy it,? he said. ?This may be misplaced, but I feel like I?m helping institutions, and that?s what I like to do.?

 

[Buckeyeskickbuttocks]

The Miami job isn't a destination job, it's a stepping stone job - although I think Coker would have been content to be there until retirement. Have a look, if you don't believe me - Since Schnellingberger (Or however he spells it) took the job, not one coach has stayed longer than 6 years. Not one.

It's not a premier job, and considering the way they just treated Coker, I'm not sure who the hell would even want it. Regardless, whoever gets it will be gone in 6.

 

[Buckin' A]

I have heard rumblings that Luke Fickell will not be a candidate.....

 

[sandgk]

Beside the obvious names that have surfaced, would Gruden be someone that Miami would be interested in pursuing?

 

[Folanator]

Ummmm, I am not sure that the whole choppin' wood thing is going to go over really big in Sothern Fla. I mean, do they really need to build fires in Miami? Well...maybe the riot kind anyway.

 

[Ttown]

Ummmm, I am not sure that the whole choppin' wood thing is going to go over really big in Sothern Fla. I mean, do they really need to build fires in Miami? Well...maybe the riot kind anyway.

Are burning and fires the right words to use regarding colleges ?
I'm sure Coker will find a new joband not sure who they can get to replace him. I don't think it will be anyone with substance. ie JT

 

[LoKyBuckeye]

Beside the obvious names that have surfaced, would Gruden be someone that Miami would be interested in pursuing?

probably not... Gruden has been exposed as the terrible coach that he is in Tampa Bay... even though he won a Super Bowl (mostly with Dungy's guys) the Bucs continue to go down hill... the offense and defense are terrible and his ego is out of control. Gruden is so overratted it's not even funny.

 

[sandgk]

Are burning and fires the right words to use regarding colleges ?

We are going to couch our responses to that question carefully.

 

[Dryden]

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2685494

Schiano tells Miami he's not leaving Rutgers
ESPN.com news services

After coming within a 52-yard field goal of bringing Rutgers its first Big East title in school history, Greg Schiano has risen to the top of many schools' wish lists this holiday season. But his wish is to stay at Rutgers.

Schiano said at his weekly news conference Monday that he he talked with Miami in the last 24 hours about its vacant coaching job, but he told the school he's staying at Rutgers.

"For the last six weeks, the Miami job has been asked of me, and I've been consistent with what I've said about Rutgers. I did speak [with Miami Athletic Director Paul Dee]. During those conversations, he asked if I wanted to be considered for the job. Although I'm very flattered that the University of Miami would consider me a candidate, Rutgers is where I want to be and where I'm going to be. I'm not a candidate for that job."

Schiano also said that he was talking with Rutgers about a contract extension.

Schiano has a pre-existing relationship with Dee, having served as Miami's defensive coordinator from 1999-2000.

Rutgers struggled for years before its resurgence under Schiano, who on Friday was named Home Depot's coach of the year. This year, the Scarlet Knights won their first nine games and were ranked as high as No. 7 before going 1-2 down the stretch.

Despite that disappointment, Schiano said, his team won't let down for the Texas Bowl.

"Certainly, there's disappointment," he said. "We had an opportunity to be in the BCS, and more importantly to be league champions. To come close and not get it hurts.

"But in 137 years of football, we've only been to two bowl games, so we're thrilled to be going to another bowl game -- and for the first time in our history, to be going to back-to-back bowl games."

No. 13 Rutgers fell short of the Big East title and their first BCS berth with a 41-39, triple-overtime loss at No. 15 West Virginia on Saturday. The defeat gave Louisville the Big East's automatic bid as conference champion.

Rutgers' 10-2 season was its best since going 11-0 in 1976. On Sunday, the Scarlet Knights accepted an invitation to the Texas Bowl on Dec. 28 in Houston, where they will take on Kansas State.

Miami has been in the market for a coach since the school fired Larry Coker on Nov. 24, a day after the Hurricanes beat Boston College 17-14 to salvage a 6-6 season. Coker, 59-15 with one national championship in his six years in Coral Gables, will coach the Canes in the MPC Computers Bowl on Dec. 31.

 

[BB73]

It's pretty entertaining to ponder the state of Miami football, when they can't lure away a coach from Rutgers.

But I think Schiano made a good choice to stay at SUNJ.

 

[Dryden]

It's pretty entertaining to ponder the state of Miami football, when they can't lure away a coach from Rutgers.

But I think Schiano made a good choice to stay at SUNJ.

Reminds me of ND firing Ty to get a leg up on the recruitment of Urban Meyer.

ND, Alabama, and Miami ... Next on the History Channel, Coaching Disasters: Unrealistic Expectations