Let me start by saying, I have no real conformation here. This is simply a gut feeling based on what a few ‘in the know’ folks have mentioned to me. Mark Stoops name has recently been linked to the defensive coordinator opening at Miami and I’m hearing there could be some legs here.
Stoops is currently defensive coordinator and secondary coach at the University of Arizona, where’s he’s coached since leaving his post as secondary coach at Miami after the 2003 season. Older brother Mike Stoops was named UA’s head coach in 2004 and lured little brother west with a promotion to DC.
On paper, this jump would be a lateral move as it’s one defensive coordinator position for another. That said, DC at Miami is absolutely a step up from DC at Arizona. Especially in an effort to climb the coaching ladder.
We’ll see what surfaces, but time is becoming of the essence. Tim Walton was let go three weeks ago and signing day is less than a month away.
A few rumored former candidates didn’t remain on the market for long, like Brian Van Gorder (took the DC gig at South Carolina) and DeWayne Walker (stayed on board as DC at UCLA).
Pickings are getting slim and Stoops would be a good hire. He has proven skills as a recruiter and spent 2001-2003 at Miami; in the thick of the most recent glory days. Stoops did a bang up job with the Canes secondary during that era and spent the past three seasons sharpening his skills as a defensive coordinator.
Another reason ‘Stoops to Miami’ makes sense is the fact that 2008 is year five in big brother’s tenure as head coach for Arizona.
Mike Stoops isn’t officially on the hot seat, but sitting unpretty at 17-29 since 2004, the heat will be on soon enough if the Wildcats don’t significantly improve next season. Team Stoops could be on their way out of the desert and a Miami-like opportunity might not be in the cards for Brother Mark if Arizona doesn’t turn things around over the course of 2008.
‘Stoops to Miami’ seems insanely logical right now (which means it probably won’t happen.) Let’s see how things play out over the next few days. This would be the best move for the Canes at this point in time. Should it not come to fruition, we could be one step closer to seeing Randy Shannon step up and handle defensive coordinator and head coaching duties in 2008.
.:Canes305:.
I don’t how good a hire Mark Stoops would be or not, but he’s better than who there right now- nobody. Stoops has been outside the programs for a few years so his infusion could be good for the program. We need some excitement around this program badly. Too much negativity, some rightly so, and in need of something positive to happen with this program. I hope we get this turned around some next year. We can not continue to lose to mediocre ACC programs such as Virginia, NC, GTech, etc. We need to some ingenuity in philosophy on both sides of the ball and get out of the base plays that are 50 years old and not adjust to what other teams are doing against us. I love the recruits we have verballed so far, and hope we can get a few more offensice guys to close off this class. I’ll take your word for it in regards to Stoops, but he’s no Bob at UF. We need some aggressiveness and nastiness around here.
-Columbus Cane
BTW, Tim Walton got the DC job at Memphis- no Miami clearly, but no small change either with Tommy West an excellent HC hiring him. Walton wasn’t another Coker who struggled to get an interview after being fired by us because it was obvious how bad a coach and recruiter he was. Walton on the other hand is going to a team that has made a bowl game four of the past five years and obviously despite this past season, he is highly thought of enough to be another shot at a school decent enough to make post season.
Stoops coming back? I’d rather have Charlie Strong, but I guess I wouldn’t mind him- he did a good job with our DBs and it’s tough to judge defensive numbers in the Pac 10. Playing the likes of Oregon, USC, Cal and everyone else in that league makes any defense look suspect.