The Next Coach at Miami...

[da12ken]

...might be Steve Spurrier?

According to sources late Saturday, South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier will likely be named the next head coach at Miami. Spurrier, who won a national championship at Florida, is in his second season with the Gamecocks with a 13-10 overall record, including 6-5 in 2006. The coach is in the second year of a seven-year contract.

http://www.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/stories/111906aak.html

[Alex]

I don't know why Spurrier would get involved with that mess but he's certainly a guy who could do a quick turnaround there.

Bad news for South Carolina if true. Spurrier has them on the road to finally emerging as at least a consistent bowl team. If he leaves, it is a giant step backwards.

[themush]

I believe Spurrier didn't return to UF after Zook was fired due to the pressures of coaching at Florida. I'm pretty sure the standards set at Miami are at least as high as those of the Gators.

I don't see it happening.

[HibachiDG]

The word perfect comes to mind for this.

[NY Jay 05]

Haha, wow, that would be an interesting story in the college football world. If Spurrier becomes the Miami coach I would love to see Miami play Florida in The Swamp to see the reaction he gets.

[doublee]

Well, supposedly, he is Miami's top choice but 'The Ole Ball Coach' ain't interested:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2668273

To be honest the idea that Spurrier is coming to Miami sounds like something being floated by folks who "know someone in the boosters club who told them Spurrier was going to be named the next coach".

We heard a lot of the same bluster around here last spring when NC State was supposedly ready to name Rick Barnes, then John Calipari, then John Beilein as head basketball coach.

[da12ken]

By at this point, what is Spurrier supposed to say? "Yep, I'm going to coach the Hurricanes, even though I'm still under contract and Larry Coker still runs the program."

I expect this topic to come up again after the season is over and Coker is axed.

[bama4256]

I think Mr. Spurrier will stay where he is at. The university is committed to spending a lot of money on athletic facilities because of Spurrier. But nothing is written in concrete and now days no coach has any real loyalty left to anybody.

[doublee]

Besides that, Miami may want to do some due dilligence on the police blotter down in Columbia. Spurrier has not exactly done a great job of keeping his kids from getting arrested the past couple of years.

Also, the thing with Spurrier is he is getting up there in age to the point where he is going to be looking for his last job before retiring. Is he really interested in going somewhere where he is going to have to spend another two or three years putting a program back together when he has already invested the past two years in South Carolina?

[themush]

Besides that, Miami may want to do some due dilligence on the police blotter down in Columbia. Spurrier has not exactly done a great job of keeping his kids from getting arrested the past couple of years.


He should fit right in down in Coral Gables then.:thumbup:

[brady_44]

Wasn't there a bunch of talk when Miami first started struggling about Greg Schiano also?

[doublee]

Yes, there was but since he just signed a new deal with Rutgers one can only imagine what the buy out might be to get him.

[Marc]

Intriguing, but highly unlikely. I think Spurrier still has a lot of work to do in SC and he's like 62, so this might be his final stop, as doublee mentioned.

[buckeyefan78]

Yes, there was but since he just signed a new deal with Rutgers one can only imagine what the buy out might be to get him.

I could have sworn I heard someone on ESPN say that his buy out is pretty cheap. Well...you know what I mean by cheap.

Anyway...that might be crazy talk so don't mind me.

[doublee]

The problem is Miami doesn't spend like a top notch football program. They have put little to no money in the Orange Bowl over the years and their overall facilities, according to most in the media, are a joke for a program that has been one of the elite programs over the past 25 years.

Miami barely waited for the last whistle to blow before announcing Coker was gone:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2674282

Although everyone knows it was inevitable anyway.

Schiano appears to be the top candidate, due in large part because none of the other big names mentioned aren't interested:

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

[brady_44]

With a good coach I don't think there is any reason why there wouldn't be a quick turnaround. I just hope the incoming coach can bring some class to the program.

[doublee]

Well it is not going to be Schiano. He officially withdrew his name today:

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

[Alex]

Not really surprised Schiano turned down the job. Miami is a mess right now and popular opinion is that he's interested in the Penn State job. Considering Paterno's declining health (it will be a miracle for an 80-year old man to recover fully from the injuries he sustained) and supposedly Tom Bradley is not as popular a choice to replace Joe inside the program as he is amongst fans, it's not hard to see why Schiano would at least wait a couple of years. The only thing he's risking is that Rutgers reverts back to its old ways and that 2006 was just lightning in a bottle. Then Schiano is stuck.

I'm not sure what's going to be a tougher sell- Alabama or Miami. Supposedly Texas Tech's Mike Leach is a candidate, I guess what only matters is if he's an interested candidate. The spread is proving to be successful at big time programs and Leach could do a lot with the talent currently at Miami. Especially in what appears to be a weakened ACC.

[doublee]

My guess is that Rutgers will be alright for a year or two longer yet. They may not 10-2 next year but Teel and Rice are only Sophs and their two starting wideouts are back as well. This is a fairly young team with only 23 seniors and 15 juniors and 88 freshmen and sophomores. Given the success he had this year and the returning talent he should be able to start building on that.

[doublee]

Wow, according the New York Daily News Schiano turned down a deal worth $2 mil a year from Miami. I cannot imagine Rutgers is paying him anything close to that.

[buckeyefan78]

Kosar's name got put in the mix...

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2688010

[doublee]

Sounds like Randy Shannon is getting bumped up to the Head job:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2690489

I kind of like the selection. He has shown himself a more than capable D-Coordinator and from what I have heard he has been one of their key recruiter of the defensive talent in Miami.

[MountaineerDave]

Is Randy Shannon (http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2690489)

I'll leave it to others to determine the value of this choice.

What it does say is that whatever 'Bama's offering Rodriguez is beyond what "The U" wanted to give him.

Congratulations to the new coach. I wish him... well, a better time off the field that poor Larry Coker suffered the last couple seasons, anyway. If he's a failure as a football coach, though, I won't shed any tears about that.

BTW, since they've made the decision, and he's already on the staff, they should just let the door hit Coker in the arse and allow Shannon to coach the bowl game. (Why Coker would want to travel to Boise, ID is beyond me anyway.)

[doublee]

What it does say is that whatever 'Bama's offering Rodriguez is beyond what "The U" wanted to give him.



I don't know. They supposedly offered Schiano $2 mil a year and that is what 'Bama is supposedly offering Rodriguez.

Although, since the Athletic Department is supposedly $10 million in debt they probably did the more prudent thing in not breaking the bank on a new coach until they get their finances in order.