Rich Rodriguez To The Miami Hurricanes?

For some reason Mike Leach seems to have fallen off of Paul Dee’s radar. I haven’t heard much mention of his name the past day or so and now guys like Rich Rodriguez and Mike Stoops are in the fold. Did Leach really fall out of Dee’s graces that quickly or was it just smoke and mirrors.

Crazy how the Internet plays into all of this. Last time Miami made a big time hire was Butch Davis in 1995. Larry Coker just fell into place in 2001, but when Davis came aboard a decade ago the Internet wasn’t what it is today. There were no hourly updates nor were there forums for fans to come together and chat about anything and everything.

On CanesTime.com, their message board reports 550 visitors in the last 15 minutes. Talk about too many opinions, a load of misguided posts and information overload. Hell, in ’95 the Miami Herald and Sun-Sentinel didn’t even have real online presence. Out of towners needed to get newspapers mailed to them if they wanted to follow local sports.

Some of the message board posts regarding Leach? Someone said he hits the sauce too hard while others said too much was made over the initial meetings on Monday/Tuesday. Local newspapers reported Leach and Dee had and “informal” chat and with all the new names in the mix, combined with the lack of Leach talk, you have to wonder if there’s any legitimacy to his candidacy.

I saw promise in this hire if Leach was teamed up with current defensive coordinator Randy Shannon. The fact Leach isn’t the hot name this Thursday, leads me to believe Shannon isn’t sticking around The U as second fiddle. He either lands the head coaching position at Miami or FIU. To Dee, no Shannon had to equal no Leach.

Leach, lover of all things pirate-related, will most likely isn’t bringing his aereal assault to Coral Gables. We’ll wait for official word, though.

Regarding Shannon, I’m glad he interviewed well, but I still believe he can’t be any higher than Miami’s 3rd or 4th choice. The Canes can’t take another chance on a guy with no head coaching experience. Not after six years of Larry Coker.

Other news of note:

>>> FIU is waiting patiently to see what both Shannon and Mario Cristobal do. Both are in the running over there and aren’t going to budge until they know what Miami’s next move is. How long will Pete Garcia wait on these two Canes? I assume he’ll give them as long as he needs if he’s trying to build Miami: Part Deux over on 8th Street.

>>> Dee has asked West Virginia for permission to speak to Rich Rodriguez. For an athletic department which claimed to be strapped for cash, I don’t get what Miami is thinking here. Rodriguez will come with a hefty price tag. $2.5-3M a year… not to mention the $2M his new suitor will have to pay the Mountaineers to break his contract.

This interview seems like a waste of time to me. If Mike Stoops is showing interest and Miami can have him for $2M or less per year and bring Mark Stoops back to The U in this package deal, it’s a no brainer.

(NOTE: In the time since this was originally posted, ESPN reported that Alabama officially offered Rodriguez.)

>>> Bernie Kosar is still telling anyone who’ll listen that he wants the Miami job. Bern, say it with me “quarterbacks coach.” That’s really your only play here. Bring that knowledge to Kyle Wright, Kirby Freeman and hopefully, Nick Fanuzzi.

More to come as the day progresses. Hang tight.

.:Canes305:.

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