832 days. That’s how long it took Larry Coker to land his next head coaching gig after the University of Miami finally let him go late November 2006. Let us proudly introduce to you the new head coach of the University of Texas – San Antonio. From a Hurricane to a Roadrunner.
For those keeping score, this is now the fourth head coaching gig in 38 years for Coker. Before landing the cushiest of cushy gigs at UM in 2001, Coker was the head coach for Claremore High School (1977-1978) and Fairfax High (1971-1976), both in Oklahoma.
Where are all the folks – mostly in the national media – who stood by Coker as a coach earlier this decade? When Miami fans saw the writing on the wall around 2003-2004, where are those who claimed Coker was a quality head coach, quick to spout off biased stats? “You don’t fire a guy who went 24-0 and won a national championship his first year.”
The hell you don’t.
35-3 with your predecessors talent, three straight BCS games, two straight title games, one championship and another given away versus 25-12 the next three years, two Peach Bowls, a Blue Turf bowl and some lopsided, embarrassing losses. Not to mention the inability to recruit his own backyard and develop the talent he did reel in. What more do you need to know?
For those quick to Coker’s defense, why did it take over two seasons for him to get back in the game. Furthermore, how come the best head coaching opp on the table was upstart University of Nowheresville Texas?
Congrats to Larry (I guess….). This chapter is finally closed.
Amen. Well said. The LC is a nice person, but a bad head coach. He’ll get a few years at UTSA because he can use the excuse, “It’s a new program” when the team still stinks after 5 years.
Larry (Beetle Juice) Choker, will be the best coach the University of Texas-San Antonio has ever seen!….HAHAHAHahahahaaaaaa
You underestimate the prestige that comes with being the head coach for the mighty Claremore Fighting Zebras.
I never knew it was open!
I never knew it was open!
Oh it was open.
Everytime I had to tune into a Canes game on ESPN U over the past two seasons and listen to that old codger commentating a game… talking about players he recruited, how he did things at Miami, etc. Now that he’s gainfully employed again, we don’t have to listen to his drivel over a telecast, where he was basically pimping himself for a new gig by reminding everyone that he used to be the guy at The U. Good riddance.
Listen, I wanted Coker outta here just as bad as everyone else, but I still have respect for the man. He always seemed like a real nice guy (probably too nice for a head coach), and it’s nice to see good things happen to good people, such as when he won the title with Butch’s players. That being said, I wish all the luck in the world to Larry and his family in San Antonio. Considering the odds of him getting another high-profile head coaching gig are slim to none, I hope he’s able to have some success out west.
So not even 1 D1 college in the entire NCAA, big conferences or small, wanted this guy.
He’s coaching a football team, whose season begins in 2011.
This is how BAD coach Clapper is.
Thank goodness he got another gig and we will not be punished further with his “color” commentary during Canes games. Seems like he just WOULD,,,,,,,NOT,,,,,,,GO,,,,,,,,AWAY!!!!!!!
Only wish here was that it was further away than San Antonio.
Aren’t the Aleutian Islands Penguins starting up a program in 2010???
GO LARRY, IT’S YOUR BIRTHDAY! GO LARRY, IT’S YOUR BIRTHDAY! GO, GO, GO, GO AWAY!!!
Listen, I wanted Coker outta here just as bad as everyone else, but I still have respect for the man. He always seemed like a real nice guy (probably too nice for a head coach), and it’s nice to see good things happen to good people, such as when he won the title with Butch’s players.
When I talk about Coker here, I’m not judging Coker ‘the man’ – I judge Coker ‘the head coach’… where he failed miserably.
Larry is a good man, but was a horrible head coach. Right down to the end of the 2005 season when he cut bait and fired long-time guys like Don Soldinger and Art Kehoe in an effort to save his own ass.
Fast forward to the off-season when the admin wants Rich Olson to return to Miami to run the offense and Coker wanted his guy Todd Berry. Olson and Berry never saw eye to eye and it caused a rift that lasted the entire 2006 season.
Of course the offensive woes started two years prior in 2004 when Rob Chudzinski left and Coker promoted the inept Dan Werner to OC. No outside search whatsoever. LC simply promoted a quarterback coach who didn’t have the resume to be Miami’s OC. He acted more like a friend than he did a head coach. He didn’t want to make the tough decisions. He didn’t want to hurt feelings and conduct and outside search… part of which led to his demise.
Add in the fact there was never a recruiting coordinator, there were no relationships built with local coaches and high schools (something Coker saw Butch Davis do from 1995-2000) and you can now see why Miami fell apart on his watch.
Also, I have a hard time “feeling bad” for someone who was making over a million dollars a year, didn’t do their job and was STILL earning a check after they were let go.
Coker was given a dream job and he blew it. Compare that to Shannon, who was given his dream job and is working tirelessly to rebuild things the right way — recruiting South Florida, assembling a solid staff, heeding the advice of Jimmy Johnson, Bill Parcells, Pete Carroll, etc.
Shannon was also a first time head guy and he’s been learning on the job and has spent the past two years continuing to improve. He’s an up and comer who is ready to shine. He’s not afraid of tough decisions, as proven when he fired his friend Tim Walton. Business is business.
Coker was an over the hill, perennial #2 guy that never went after a head coaching gig until one fell into his lap. Simply put, he never put in the legwork required as a head coach at the highest level.
An under the radar job at a piss-ant school like UTSA is perfect for him. Low expectations and he can coast on his reputation.
All I’ll say is how does UTSA expect Coker to build a program from scrath when he couldn’t even caretake one of the most dominant programs in the last 25 years? Coker was pretty much a career assistant for a reason. And I’m saying this about Coker the coach, not the man. I wish him luck.
-Columbus Cane
anyone see the news of our good friends up at Felony State U and their suspensions?!? And they call us Thug U..,
anyone see the news of our good friends up at Felony State U and their suspensions?!? And they call us Thug U…
Saw it but didn’t really want to “go there” and throw stones. Miami had its share of trouble in the past and cleaned things up. As a Canes fan, it’s great to see Florida State in shambles… but again, I didn’t want to dedicate a blog to ripping the Noles.
Regarding Bobby, what goes around comes around. I used to respect Coach Bowden years back, but he’s a fraud. He lost me in 2000 when he lobbied for FSU to be in the title game, laid an egg and then after the fact made a comment that, “maybe Miami deserved to be there” – or something to that effect.
Even worse, in 2005 he let both Ernie Sims and AJ Nicholson start the season opener against Miami, when both were arrested in the offseason — Sims, for beating his chick’s ass and Nicholson for a DUI.
Bowden later said that he’d never suspended his players for a big time game like Miami — and the media gave the old man a pass.
All his corner-cutting ways are now catching up to him and the price he’ll pay is the all time wins record, which meant more to him than anything else.
Again, what comes around goes around…..
Hey 305:
Did you read the article on ESPN.com, where Larry Choker was announced as HC at UTSA. He went on about how he had tons of offers to be offensive coordinators for major colleges and (get this s**t) NFL teams. The president at UTSA went on about how great he is! It was pathetic. The students packed the gym with signs that said “World Series of Coker…We’re all in!”. What a fu**ing joke!!
For the most part, u are a class act, but not when it comes to Mr. Coker, there you sink to new levels of ‘no class’. There was no reason for you to run this piece other than so you could get another shot in at a former head coach who u blame completely for this programs downfall. I thought Coker was here for a season too long but the guy was always class and in no way deserving of the crap you fling at him. If Shannon happens to fail, I can only imagine the garbage you’ll say about him, altho at this point, the way you speak of Randy makes one think he’s the individual that brought u into this world .
For the most part, u are a class act, but not when it comes to Mr. Coker, there you sink to new levels of ‘no class’.
I’m sorry you feel that way, but obviously I disagree.
I don’t take personal shots at Coker — I rip him as a head coach, though. I never name call and make it personal. All my words are based on the job he did as head of one of the biggest programs in college football. He got the job by default, he “managed” the project a few years and his inexperience prevented him from being able to keep the program at the level Butch Davis built it up to.
Forget keeping it going, Coker couldn’t even maintain what he was given — getting progressively worse every year he was on board. As I said before, 35-3 his first three seasons. 25-12 his final three. He broke a program that was in tip top shape again, because he was inexperienced and was never head coaching material.
For someone you deem so ‘classy’ Coker has never once accepted resposibility for the program’s undoing on his watch. After the 40-3 loss to LSU, Coker was quick to throw several assistants under the bus, instead of admitting he was in over his head. Ask Donny Soldinger and Art Kehoe how “nice” a guy Larry Coker is.
Coker hired some new guys and the following year went 7-6 and dealt with an on-the-field brawl with FIU — which was absolutely a result of him being a ‘nice guy’ instead of a head coach that his players feared and respected.
Coker spent the past two seasons on ESPN U, often calling Miami games and rambling on about his time at The U and doing all he could to keep his name out there for a new opportunity. All while collecting a check from both Miami AND ESPN.
Sorry I don’t share your sympathy, simply because he was a “nice guy”. I’m judging him solely on his job title — head coach — and as a head coach at Miami, the man was an absolute failure, which is why it took over two years to land a new gig and it’s at an upstart like UTSA.
There was no reason for you to run this piece other than so you could get another shot in at a former head coach who u blame completely for this programs downfall.
Coker just got a job this week — after 2 years in the booth. Every media outlet talked about Coker’s hiring this week. They reported the story as non-biased sports journalists. I wrote my piece as a Miami guy who’s watched this team “rebuild” for two years thanks to his mistakes. You’re absolutely high if you think there was “no reason” for me to run a piece on Coker when he just got a new job.
If Shannon happens to fail, I can only imagine the garbage you’ll say about him, altho at this point, the way you speak of Randy makes one think he’s the individual that brought u into this world .
I’d never trash a guy who gave it his all and took this job when no one else wanted it. I respect the path Randy Shannon took to get to Miami, as well as what he overcame in his lifetime. Coker took over the most loaded program in college football history… and blew it. Shannon took over the worst Miami program in THIRTY YEARS and is attempting to rebuild. He took a job that no one else wanted, much like Butch in ’95 and replaced the first coach Miami fired since Carl Selmer in 1976. Howard, Jimmy, Dennis and Butch all left for promotions. Larry was canned like tuna — even with a national championship on his resume. He was THAT bad.
Shannon came from the streets. He beat the odds. He’s a Miami guy and he the ONLY ONE who is going to work tirelessly for this program. No other coach wanted this gig and if they did, it’d be a stepping stone to bigger and better. In an era of huge athletic budgets and high-priced head coaches, Shannon has taken on the challenge of bringing Miami “back” at a fraction of what other coaches are paid. It’s a labor of love for him.
I’ll put my stock in a local guy who is viewing this as a “lifer” type gig. He won as a player, as a grad assistant and as a defensive coordinator. He knows the landscape, knows the culture, knows the local high school coaches and will live and die with this program. What other coach out there would give a s**t about UM like Shannon does?
I am simply going on record now that I think Shannon is going to be ‘the guy’ at Miami and turns this around. Should he fail, I’ll be too busy eating crow to rip him for failing. I’ve backed this guy from day one. Conversely, Coker started losing me in 2002 and I was officially done with him when Miami lost to Tennessee, 10-6 the week after a 31-7 ass beating at Virginia Tech.
Any Miami coach worth his weight goes out and puts a beating on a sub par Tennessee team the week after the first regular season loss in over three years. Not L-L-L-Larry. His Canes laid an egg and did so again several times from 2004-2006.
Fully agree, 305. Coker is a good guy but was a putrid head coach. You’ve never personally attacked him. I don’t know what “Anonymous” was talking about. Coker’s record down the stretch makes him fair game in regards to shredding him as a head coach and his big paycheck for a job not well done also makes him fair game.
DONT EXPECT HIM TO DO ANY RECRUTING… THATS NOT EXACTLY HIS “FORTE”..