It's a rUmor Thing...

Even at 1-2, the Canes are dominating the headlines. Paul Dee made an appearance on the Dan LeBatard radio show yesterday in an attempt to defend the program and Larry Coker's job.

As most of you know, Dee is an attorney. Coaches have 'coach speak' and Dee had his 'lawyer speak' in full force. While he reaffirmed that Coker would stay on as head coach for the Canes in 2006, no promises were made for 2007. He also left the door wide open for the rest of this season.

Dee could've easily come out and said, "Larry Coker will remain the coach of the Hurricanes this season come hell or high water. You have my word that we are not going to fire our coach midseason."

Instead, he talked around the issue with statements like "The plan right now is to have Larry be the coach the remainder of the year - and hopefully beyond, but we'll see."

Not exactly a ringing endorsement, but we'll see how it plays out. Most likely, Coker will be around through 2006 - but based on Dee's comments, even that doesn't seem 100% guaranteed.

For those who missed the Paul Dee interview on the Dan LeBatard show, click here.

The 'what the hell's going on with the Canes' chit-chat continues around the nation. Here are some other recent comments on The U:


Stewart Mandel of Sports Illustrated: Butch Davis and Greg Schiano are intriguing possibilities, but by no means sure things. Davis burned a lot of bridges at UM when he abruptly bolted for the Browns right before Signing Day in 2001. Would most 'Canes fans welcome him back with open arms? Absolutely. Would Dee? That I'm not so sure about. (Though, according to Tuesday's South Florida Sun-Sentinel, there may be a movement afoot at the school to force Dee out with Coker.)

Schiano is an ideal fit in a lot of ways -- he's continued to recruit South Florida hard while at Rutgers -- but it's a big step up from running a long-time Big East doormat to a long-time national juggernaut. Miami may prefer someone more experienced.Obviously, Miami has the cachet to attract some very big names. The question is, will it be able to afford one? Despite all those national titles, the 'Canes do not do overly well attendance-wise at the Orange Bowl and are not as well-funded as many of the nation's elite programs, and it's already going to cost the school an arm and a leg to buy out Coker after it just gave him a fat contract extension last year.

For the right price, Miami could probably land someone like Tommy Tuberville (a former Miami assistant under Jimmy Johnson and Dennis Erickson) or Rich Rodriguez, or perhaps go the Pete Carroll/Charlie Weis NFL route. If Miami gets rebuffed, or if it can't afford it, expect Schiano's phone to be ringing. (Note: Schiano's spot on the call list could rise exponentially if Rutgers beats Louisville and/or West Virginia this season.)


Wisconsin State Journal: The former coach and current athletic director at the University of Wisconsin, Barry Alvarez, interviewed for the Miami job in 1995, turned it down in 2001 and, if Coker is eventually fired, can expect a call as long as Donna Shalala is president at the school.

Shalala, the chancellor who hired Alvarez at UW in 1990, has great respect for the way Alvarez turned around the UW program.But even though people close to Alvarez say he misses coaching, there are some good reasons why he won't end his one-year retirement to be the next coach at Miami: As AD, he's already got a good-paying job that doesn't include the day-to-day stress and 24/7 work week of a coach. Plus, he has a successor, Bret Bielema, who appears capable of keeping the football program - and the athletic department - in fine shape.

Dry runs have indicated Alvarez is going to be a natural as a game analyst for Fox when it televises the Bowl Championship Series in January and he likely will parlay that into a lucrative TV contract for next season.With apologies to the governor, he's the most high-profile public figure in Madison, a status he seems to enjoy. And he's surrounded by his entire family - wife, children, grandchildren - in a place where he's lived for almost 17 years.The Hurricanes might have more interest in other coaches, especially Davis, who recruited the talent Coker won with before leaving for a short, ill-fated stint in the NFL.

Dee might still be mad at Alvarez because he felt Alvarez used Miami to get a raise at UW when he rejected the school's $1.4 million-a-year offer in 2001.At 59, Alvarez would lack the energy to resurrect another program, although resurrect might be too strong a word for Miami, which recruits top-10 talent almost by default.


Miami Herald: If Larry Coker is fired after this season (which is expected to happen if the program's downward spiral continues), Miami intends to conduct a national search, and Butch Davis and Rutgers coach and ex-UM assistant Greg Schiano would be among those considered, several UM officials said in the past week. UM also would consider two others with UM ties -- Auburn's Tommy Tuberville and Georgia's Mark Richt -- but there's skepticism about whether either would leave their programs.

Former Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez, who drew UM's interest when Davis left, likely would not be a candidate, and defensive coordinator Randy Shannon would be an unlikely choice, highly-placed UM officials said.

There's no front-runner yet if Coker is fired. Davis has some internal support, but it's not universal -- one top UM official wasn't impressed with his work in big games at Miami.
Davis, who coached Miami from 1995 through 2000, left on strained terms because Hurricanes officials thought he was staying when he took the Cleveland Browns job. But that's not much of an issue now.

Word in the NFL is Davis would love to coach the Dallas Cowboys if Bill Parcells retires. But if that doesn't materialize, he would have interest in several college jobs, including UM and North Carolina, though UM's strengthened admissions standards (which concerned Davis when he left) could be an issue. Davis told his employer, NFL Network, he won't do interviews about UM.


The Playmaker chimes in: Regarding Coker, ex-Canes star Michael Irvin on Monday told Dan Patrick on ESPN Radio: "It's time to make a change. I'll call Larry and apologize to him later. You lose two games a season in Miami, it's bad. And you've already lost two? . . . Look for this to be a tough year.'"