Miami and Randy Shannon parted ways two weeks ago today, and what a two weeks it’s been.
The early infatuation with Jon Gruden and questions surrounding how close the two sides did or didn’t get. Both talk of mystery and off-the-radar candidates as well as a message that no coach with baggage would be in the running. (Much to the chagrin of the Mike Leach faithful.)
Outside of that, Kirby Hocutt and the athletic department have operated off the grid, which has caused tons of speculation regarding who has or hasn’t been spoken to and legitimately considered.
The Miami Herald reported a final three a few days back – Randy Edsall of Connecticut, Al Golden of Temple and former UM offensive assistant Marc Trestman of the Montreal Alouetes – and none are even close to being the ‘home run’ hire Hocutt spoke of in his post-Shannon presser two Sundays back.
Adding another element of drama to the story, the fact that Urban Meyer stepped down as Florida’s head honcho and an uproar that he was replaced within days by Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp.
The million dollar question in Hurricane Nation this morning; how did Florida land a guy in two days while Miami’s turned up nothing in two weeks?
For starters, let’s get the timeline correct as athletic director Jeremy Foley has been seeking Meyer’s replacement for a over year; since Urban’s first retirement speech. The way it’s played out, we now see that Meyer returned for the 2010 season to save a recruiting class, keep up appearances and to give the program time to start thinking about its next move.
In the grand scheme of coaching options, who is overly-hyped about Muschamp? Florida didn’t just haul in Boise State’s Chris Petersen, Stanford’s Jim Harbaugh, TCU’s Gary Patterson or some other flavor of the year, big time guy. They couldn’t even lure Meyer’s protege and former offensive coordinator Dan Mullen back to Gainesville after a few seasons in Starksville. Instead, the quick search turned up a 39-year old defensive coordinator with no head coaching experience.
Butch Davis was just a few years older than Muschamp – with just a little more experience (and hardware) – when heading to Miami a decade and a half back. Having been under Jimmy Johnson in both Coral Gables and Dallas, Davis had enough know-how for the UM experience to prove successful, albeit a different era for the college game.
In the same breath, Shannon was also a defensive-minded, long-time coordinator and first-timer when he took over the UM program a decade later and that experiment failed on many levels.
Muschamp will probably be more Davis than he is Shannon, but for all the money, resources, facilities and recent success, Florida didn’t reel in a big fish with this recent hire. The allure of Gator Nation didn’t cause any highly-touted head coach to vacate their current perch – not even former defensive coordinator and long-time Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops, who was rumored to have wanted the job a year ago when Meyer first walked away, but opting to stay in Norman this time around.
In time Muschamp might prove to be a great fit, but he wasn’t a coveted name and Florida hasn’t one-upped Miami with this recent hire. Especially not considering the names being thrown around soon after Meyer stepped down.
Miami is said to be down to three – Edsall, Golden and Trestman – with Texas Tech head coach and former Canes coordinator Tommy Tuberville a dark horse and I’m one of several to admit that list is disappointing.
That’s not to say that any of the aforementioned guys couldn’t come in and succeed. It’s simply the truth; there’s no ‘wow’ factor and none are the ‘home run’ hire that Hocutt said UM was looking for, should this truly be the final three.
In a matter of days, for one reason or another Hocutt is going to look like a zero or hero and if it’s the former, we’ll never have a clear understanding as to what fell on him, versus what was simply circumstantial.
Who has Hocutt spoken with to date? How deep have some of these meetings gone? What big names have been reached out to and how close have some come to getting on board?
Sports Illustrated’s Andy Staples called Miami is “a great job” for the right person – right being the operative word.
“If you’re already at a school that has great facilities and great booster support, great fan support and a lot of money, then no, it’s not a good job for you,” Staples said. “But if you’re an up-and-coming coach who wants to win, who might be in a place that is kind of a lower-tier school that will not ever compete for a national championship, then you’d be crazy not to take it.”
Not only does that make complete sense, but it would also rule out a Patterson, a Harbaugh or some of your other big name guys (though Petersen not being in a BCS conference would at least have to think about making the leap) but for up and coming coodinators (Muschamp, Brent Venables, Gus Malzahn) or head coaches from “lesser” teams (Edsall, Golden, Trestman) – those are the types who would leap at a Miami-like opportunity that might be few and far between.
Many are still hoping for and waiting on a ‘mystery’ candidate or someone hiding in the shadows, waiting on the proper time to announce. In one sense it fits with Hocutt’s vision and said expectations for the program – that desire for a big time hire to fill seats and build excitement – as well as the reason for so much secrecy surrounding the process.
Of course it could also prove to be nothing more than wishful thinking from a fan base that simply wants to believe again.
No part of me wants to see The Pirate take over this program, but I can understand why a percentage of Canes do. Whether he’d get the job done or not, Leach’s renegade ways and high-flying offense give fans something to buy into.
He’s not a Gruden, Harbaugh or Petersen-type hire, but to his credit, Leach gets some peoples’ juices flowing in a way the current threesome of finalist stiffs never would.
A few guys from the northeast who lack that Miami “feel” and another from north of the border who hasn’t been part of the program in twenty-six years?
Meh.
While many want the trigger pulled and a new name announced, for now the silence is golden. The more time that passes without Edsall, Golden or Trestman named ‘the guy’, the more hope one can hold out that the process continues and others remain in the mix.
Two weeks without a head coach, revisionist history is getting the better of some. Years of an anti-Shannon campaign has been followed up with some now questioning the firing, feeling the devil you know is better than the devil you don’t. “Maybe we were better off with Randy,” cries a portion of this disgruntled, hard-to-appease fan base.
Wherever the search winds up, the Shannon era truly had run its course and a quick look at the current State of The U proves that.
Offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland has assumed leadership duties and even a program in-flux appears to be running smoother during bowl preparations than it did the past several seasons.
Coaches are opening up to the media, as are players. Back-up quarterback A.J. Highsmith as finally been moved to the secondary and rarely-used linebacker Jordan Futch has shifted to tight-end, citing that he wasn’t getting the opportunities he deserved to shine on defense.
Offensively, quarterbacks Jacory Harris and Stephen Morris are truly engaged in a battle to earn a starting spot in the Sun Bowl and the competition is fueling everyones competitive fire. Players are said to have a bounce in their step and appear truly focused on Notre Dame, despite the lack of a new head coach.
Addition by subtraction seems to be working and if the inexperienced, hard-headed Shannon was able to stockpile some talent, getting this thing back on the right track, you have to believe the next hire will have the experience and game plan to build on that – regardless how unsexy the name could be at first.
The waiting game has been frustrating, but it’s part of this process as Miami obviously doesn’t want to settle. A safe bet that UM could’ve done their best UF and focused in on a highly-touted coordinator and given him the career upgrade; but Miami wants a proven guy and Muschamp absolutely doesn’t fit the bill.
Instead, ‘The U’ is trying to sell guys with head coaching gigs on why they should leave where they’re at for this opportunity. A completely different sales pitch than what Florida was dangling out there.
Hocutt is definitely up to his eyeballs, but it’s way too soon to claim he’s in over his head. This is a career-defining search for the young athletic director and there are countless reasons why personally and professionally this cannot be rushed. Miami football hangs in the balance and the wrong hire can not only be a career-killer, it can also send this program into the abyss. (No pressure though, KH.)
And so it goes. Entering week three and hopefully closing in on the finish line with a worthy candidate.
great article. recently discovered this blog, absolutely love your insite
ESPN has posted a story claiming Golden will be Miami's next coach.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=5912786
If true, how do we feel?
I'm going to put on my optimistic-face, if only for the fact that he isn't coming to us via the CFL.
Go Canes.
I wish the diligence of coverage for in-season football matched that of this coaching search.
Yours Truly
While I usually agree with your conclusions i couldn't disagree more that Al Golden wouldn't be a fit at Miami. My guess is that if you did some research on the man and the coach you would find him to be a very good fit at Miami.
I challenge you to do some research on the guy and write an article about him. I would be interested to see and hear what you found and if you would still feel that way about him
MUSCHAMP????? HOW ABOUT CHARLIE STRONG THE DC THAT WON TITLES WITH YA!!!!!! REALLY AND DIDNT TEXAS LOSE 7 GAMES LAST YEAR..NO ENVY HERE!!!!!! FOLEY TALKIN ABOUT THEY GOT THEIR MAN…YEA RIGHT… MULLEN WASNT INTRESTED….STOP WITH THE POKER FACE , FOLEY…LOL
says on espn we hired Al Golden. the article spoke very positively of him. Go canes!
Bruce Feldman reporting Al Golden has the job. I know there have been plenty of rumors and "sources" over the past 2 weeks, but my gut tells me this is for real. Agree that this doesn't have "home run" buzz, but it looks like that is what we are facing. He has done a very respectable job at Temple. I sure hope he can get the most out of these kids. It would be sooooo nice if our team was consistently the better coached one.
Bruce Feldman reporting Al Golden has the job. I know there have been plenty of rumors and "sources" over the past 2 weeks, but my gut tells me this is for real. Agree that this doesn't have "home run" buzz, but it looks like that is what we are facing. He has done a very respectable job at Temple. I sure hope he can get the most out of these kids. It would be sooooo nice if our team was consistently the better coached one.
Its Al Golden….
OMG! ESPN is reporting that Golden has been offered the job and is expected to accept! Home run hire? Give me a flippin break! Welcome to the U Mr Golden. There are no scrubs on this schedule…oh..and you open 2011 with road games at VTech and N Carolina..then at home against Ohio State and Kansas State. You ever have a stretch like that at Temple? Wow..someone start up the fire Hocutt website! The recruits should really be on board now..NOT! We stole a coach from Temple? That's the best we could do? Reguardless..go Canes! Bury Notre Dame on NYE! I support the team as always but not this hire at all!
ESPN reporting "The University of Miami hired Al Golden to be its next football coach Sunday evening. The school will introduce Golden in a news conference Monday."
Hope he is all he is said to be. Not the big name we were all looking for but I would rather have a good coach that can win than a big name only.
Temples Head Coach?????????? WOW that's a great hire????? Are you kidding me. Miami will lose to UCF and USF every year with this hire. We go from Jon gurden to Al Golden. What joke!!!!!!!!!!
Al Golden Really?
So much for our big name hire.
Al golden? For real? Tomorrow night @6 they are going to announce? Really, temple?
I love you guys, but are you constantly drinking the Kool-Aid? Hocutt makes what by all accounts seems to be at least a bit hasty call to appease the masses (I'll never be OK with firing a man who has three rings with the program, although 7-5 last year is not acceptable), promises a home-run hire, and comes NOWHERE NEAR delivering on it. I'll agree, out of the "final three," Golden makes the most sense. But is no one calling Hocutt's blatant futility into question? Firing Shannon without a backup in place was a HUGE mistake. We all jumped the gun on the Gruden ship, and better outlets would have questioned in advance why he made sense. He didn't at all. And you guys didn't point that out until after it obviously wasn't happening. Now we're implying that relatively we did better than UF? Sure, we need to give things time to play out. And by all means, I respect a guy who took TEMPLE of all places to being a winning program. But let's not sit here and pretend we came anywhere near what Hocutt promised. If we have a losing season next year, sit and watch everyone and their sister talk about what a mistake it was to get rid of Randy. I'm also very curious to see what kind of staff Golden will assemble. If we keeps anyone sans Barrow from the current crew, we might as well call this a failure now.
Breaking news OF COACH THAT WILL BRING DOWN THE U AGAIN!!!!! NO COMMENTS ALLOWED!!!
ESPN is reporting we hired Golden….Can you friggin believe it??? We're hiring AL Golden…fml. I hope these people know what they're doing….
How about Jerry Moore from Appalachian State? He is consistently coach of the year, albeit in Div II, and knows what winning feels like. Plus, he recruits from South Florida.
Al Golden, WOW. I am now officially an Akron Zips fan. Thanks for the memories U. He gone.
If you're looking for somebody who can "develop" talent, you needn't look any farther than Randy Edsall. This guy has gotten more out of less than anybody since Jim Grobe took Wake Forest to the Orange Bowl. Now, granted, he hasn't been a really great recruiter at UConn, but, come on, could anybody be a great football recruiter at UConn? And he's pretty darn tough, too. I say go for Edsall.
HAHAHA…the message boards in full on meltdown…classic UM style! The dude is known as a tireless worker/recruiter. He's obviously been able to coach up some ball players…take a look at what he did at Temple of all places. This is the same dude that had his Owls up on Penn State just a few short months ago and ended up losing in the second half. Granted Penn St didn't have a spectacular year but a Randy coached Canes team wouldn't have beat PSU thats for sure…f*ck they couldn't even beat USF. Maybe this will help people calm the f*ck down a bit:
“The pressure was enormous for [Kirby Hocutt] to come up with a good guy,'' said CBS Sports national recruiting analyst Tom Lemming. “. . . Miami needed a good recruiter and could have really suffered, but they hit a home run. Al Golden, he's as good as Nick Saban, Urban Meyer, Pete Carroll, Mack Brown and Jim Tressel, who I consider the top five recruiters in the country. He just never had the platform like he will at Miami . . .''
The least we can do is give the guy a chance. Welcome to the U family Al Golden…do us proud!
Go Canes!
While I usually agree with your conclusions i couldn't disagree more that Al Golden wouldn't be a fit at Miami. My guess is that if you did some research on the man and the coach you would find him to be a very good fit at Miami.
I challenge you to do some research on the guy and write an article about him. I would be interested to see and hear what you found and if you would still feel that way about him
Never said I was anti-Golden. Simply said he wasn't a big name, a sexy name and the immediate 'home run' hire that fans were expecting.
Based on what Hocutt promised two weeks ago, people were expecting a Jon Gruden and if that fell short, a bigger name from a bigger program.
Golden is a winner and is a MUCH better hire than a Tommy Tuberville, Randy Edsall, Marc Trestman or Mike Leach – hands down.
I much prefer a 41-year old up and comer who will work tirelessly to turn things around as opposed to some retreads or some never-was types.
I do like the hire. It just lacks the immediate sizzle many were hoping for. That's all.
Let's keep in mind that Jimmy Johnson wasn't the biggest name either coming around when the U hired him. What'd he turn into? Oh, just one of our best coaches of all time.
Since when has the U during our nice 30-year run ever hired a big-name coach? Butch, Jimmy, Erickson, Coker, Randy, hell even Schnelly…they weren't home run hires, but solid base hits that laid down a foundation and ran with it.
You can't tell me Golden's all that different from the coaches of the past, and he's brought a Temple program that was in the dumps up to respectability. I, for one, am going to give the man a chance – and I look forward to seeing what he comes up with.
Most of my reaction is based on the fact that KH finally stopped the bleeding.
Neither thrilled or disappointed by the Golden hire. Let's see what he's got. We have no other choice.
Once again another Miami Hurricane LET DOWN!!!!!!!
Good luck putting people in seats next year with this Bum.
Kirby promised a home run hire but delivered a total strike out with this guy.
Looks like the plane and Banner for next years first home game will read fire Kirby Houcut.
You think Ohio State embarrased us this year????? LOL just wait until next year.
AllCanes belives he is a good fit just like they thought Randy Shannon was a good fit 4 yrs ago.
It will be intersting to see how many of the new recruits are still committed to the "U" after todays announcement.
Its yet another sad day in Canes Nation….
I have to say I was a deflated as about everyone else on here that the next coach is to be Golden from Temple. After all Holcutt and the media started the rumors with Gruden, and that's a incredibly high bar on the buzz factor.
Then I really started to breath and think about this thing logically with less eviseral reaction and more relatistic expectations.
Lets be honest, when you start the bar at a sexy pick like Gruden, anything else is downhill. We all knew that Harbaugh and Petersen were long stretches who had no real interests in moving at the moment. And some of the other names our little UM hearts wished upon after we were sent to a frenzy with a Gruden idea, were wild and not even close to realistic..my own emotions included.
Now look…this is all that we need to know about Golden, he WANTS it, and is dying for the chance to prove himself with a real BCS team. That is an HUGE intangible, and given what he succeeded in doing in a horribly poor football school in an area so dense with recruits and talent lost to nothing short of 20 other schools..this may actually turn into the homerun hire after all.
Will recruits be asking for his autograph or touting his past, no…but given everything I've heard about his interview, his drive, and his attitude, I am starting to like it. That stuff is contagious, and you know recruits that really want to be successful and be in south florida will be able to really sign onto those qualities.
Overall, I realized all I want in my "U" is the ability to feel like the drive and emotion and NEED to succeed is there. I loved Randy, but he was about as dead a fish in emotion and drive department as you can get. Just Golden's attitude gets me excited…that's infectious to both the fans, the players, and the recruits. We never lacked talent, we never lacked a great or desireable campus (It's MIAMI..come on, regardless of facilities, everyone wants to live here), we only lost the drive and "us against the world" mentality..and this guy has it in spades.
Now, we just need to see the wins, and a decent recruiting class, and I'm ready to be on board 110%.