Russ Spence
Commercial Pressure Wash Expert
By JORGE MILIAN
Cox News Service
Thursday, November 30, 2006
CORAL GABLES, Fla. — University of Miami athletic director Paul Dee said Wednesday that he expects to hire a new Hurricanes football coach within two weeks.
Dee said he has not contacted any coaches yet and is in the process of narrowing down a list of candidates with Chuck Neinas, the former Big 8 commissioner who is serving as a consultant in UM's search.
"I haven't talked to anybody yet,'' Dee said. "There's no reason to make 10 phone calls when you want to talk to three people, so we're going to make sure we have the right ones, then we'll ask permission and go from there.''
UM is looking to replace Larry Coker, who was fired last Friday after six seasons. Coker will coach his final game in the MPC Computers Bowl, which officially invited the Hurricanes on Wednesday to play in the Boise, Idaho-based game on Dec. 31 against Nevada, a Western Athletic Conference opponent.
Rutgers coach Greg Schiano is considered the front-runner to fill the job, but the only potential candidate Dee mentioned on Wednesday was UM defensive coordinator Randy Shannon.
"We have strong interest in Randy Shannon,'' Dee said.
Shannon, who has never worked as a head coach, could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.
Despite being regarded as one of the nation's top assistant coaches, the only head coaching job the 40-year-old Shannon has ever interviewed for was the Mississippi vacancy that went to Ed Orgeron.
According to one published report, Shannon is a finalist for the opening created by Don Strock's resignation at Florida International. Shannon said last week that he has not been interviewed by FIU athletic director Pete Garcia.
"Randy is a great coach,'' said UM sophomore defensive end Calais Campbell. "He has a lot of respect from pretty much everybody on the team. If he were our coach, that would be great.''
Dee said he talks two or three times a day with Neinas, based in Boulder, Colo., as the two try to pare down UM's wish list. Dee said the group of candidates has "far more people from the college ranks than the pro ranks.''
"Various agents have contacted me and [Neinas] and we've put together a list,'' Dee said. "We're in the process of culling through that list with people here on campus and determining the direction we want to go based on the availability that we're finding and the interest that we're finding. We hope we'll be able to come to a conclusion, probably in a week, maybe two weeks from now.''
The lack of a head coach didn't keep one high school player from announcing he was orally committing to Miami this week.
Daniel Adderley, a 6-foot-6 receiver from Southside Christian School in Simpsonville, S.C. said he committed to the Hurricanes on Tuesday after an in-home visit from UM receivers coach Marques Mosely.
Adderley, who grew up in the Bahamas before moving to the United States at age 16, said he wasn't bothered that UM doesn't have a head coach. Adderley said he received a letter from university president Donna Shalala that stated the school would honor his scholarship offer no matter who was hired as coach.
"I'm confident they will get a good coach," said Adderley, who attended high school in Nassau with UM freshman offensive lineman Ian Symonette. "I grew up watching the Hurricanes and looking up to them and I always wanted a big 'U' on the side of my helmet.''
Jorge Milian writes for the Palm Beach Post.
Cox News Service
Thursday, November 30, 2006
CORAL GABLES, Fla. — University of Miami athletic director Paul Dee said Wednesday that he expects to hire a new Hurricanes football coach within two weeks.
Dee said he has not contacted any coaches yet and is in the process of narrowing down a list of candidates with Chuck Neinas, the former Big 8 commissioner who is serving as a consultant in UM's search.
"I haven't talked to anybody yet,'' Dee said. "There's no reason to make 10 phone calls when you want to talk to three people, so we're going to make sure we have the right ones, then we'll ask permission and go from there.''
UM is looking to replace Larry Coker, who was fired last Friday after six seasons. Coker will coach his final game in the MPC Computers Bowl, which officially invited the Hurricanes on Wednesday to play in the Boise, Idaho-based game on Dec. 31 against Nevada, a Western Athletic Conference opponent.
Rutgers coach Greg Schiano is considered the front-runner to fill the job, but the only potential candidate Dee mentioned on Wednesday was UM defensive coordinator Randy Shannon.
"We have strong interest in Randy Shannon,'' Dee said.
Shannon, who has never worked as a head coach, could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.
Despite being regarded as one of the nation's top assistant coaches, the only head coaching job the 40-year-old Shannon has ever interviewed for was the Mississippi vacancy that went to Ed Orgeron.
According to one published report, Shannon is a finalist for the opening created by Don Strock's resignation at Florida International. Shannon said last week that he has not been interviewed by FIU athletic director Pete Garcia.
"Randy is a great coach,'' said UM sophomore defensive end Calais Campbell. "He has a lot of respect from pretty much everybody on the team. If he were our coach, that would be great.''
Dee said he talks two or three times a day with Neinas, based in Boulder, Colo., as the two try to pare down UM's wish list. Dee said the group of candidates has "far more people from the college ranks than the pro ranks.''
"Various agents have contacted me and [Neinas] and we've put together a list,'' Dee said. "We're in the process of culling through that list with people here on campus and determining the direction we want to go based on the availability that we're finding and the interest that we're finding. We hope we'll be able to come to a conclusion, probably in a week, maybe two weeks from now.''
The lack of a head coach didn't keep one high school player from announcing he was orally committing to Miami this week.
Daniel Adderley, a 6-foot-6 receiver from Southside Christian School in Simpsonville, S.C. said he committed to the Hurricanes on Tuesday after an in-home visit from UM receivers coach Marques Mosely.
Adderley, who grew up in the Bahamas before moving to the United States at age 16, said he wasn't bothered that UM doesn't have a head coach. Adderley said he received a letter from university president Donna Shalala that stated the school would honor his scholarship offer no matter who was hired as coach.
"I'm confident they will get a good coach," said Adderley, who attended high school in Nassau with UM freshman offensive lineman Ian Symonette. "I grew up watching the Hurricanes and looking up to them and I always wanted a big 'U' on the side of my helmet.''
Jorge Milian writes for the Palm Beach Post.