Coker is out as Miami’s coach
Larry Coker won nearly 80% of his games at Miami, got players to graduate, was revered for his classy manner and led the Hurricanes to a national championship.
Despite all that, even he acknowledged Miami needed to make a change.
Coker’s tumultuous and disappointing season got its predictable ending Friday, when he was fired after six years leading the Hurricanes. The move came one day after Miami finished a 6-6 regular season by beating Boston College, ending a four-game losing streak and becoming bowl-eligible.
“There’s such a negative groundswell around the program,” Coker said. “If I’m here, unless we just win all the games, I don’t see that changing in the next few months. I really don’t.”
He may coach one more game: If Miami goes to a bowl, Coker will be on the sideline.
“He deserved it,” said Athletic Director Paul Dee, who told Coker of his dismissal Friday morning -- saying it pained him to do so. “He earned it. If we are invited, we will play, and Larry Coker will be our head coach.”
Coker, 59-15 at Miami, was doomed by 12 losses in the last three seasons and no conference titles or Bowl Championship Series bids since 2003. He had three seasons left on a contract that paid him about $2 million annually. There is a buyout provision in his deal, believed to be worth about $3 million.
“It has been evident this season that we have not progressed,” university President Donna Shalala wrote in a statement. “It is time for us to reclaim our national championship tradition. I want to make it clear that no celebration is in order today. This was not an easy decision.”
There are plenty of potential candidates to replace Coker; two marquee names are former Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez and Rutgers Coach Greg Schiano, a former Miami assistant.
Former Florida coach and current South Carolina Coach Steve Spurrier said this week that he expects to be back with the Gamecocks next fall for his third season -- trying to rebut a story that identified him as Miami’s top choice for Coker’s job.
Miami entered this season as the favorite to win the Atlantic Coast Conference championship, and was mentioned by some as a contender for the national title.
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Arizona State players found an unpleasant surprise when they took to their practice field Friday.
A blue “A” and “Bear Down,” the University of Arizona motto, had been painted on their turf in Tempe.
An Arizona red “A” also had been painted on the rocks on the north side of nearby “A” Mountain, which overlooks ASU and Sun Devil Stadium.
The rivalry between the Sun Devils and the Wildcats, which goes back more than a century -- starting in 1899 -- resumes today at Tucson.