Published Dec 25, 2006

The Coker Country Club of Coral Gables Comes to a Close

The once-proud Miami Hurricanes face the Nevada Wolf Pack on December 31st in the MPC Computers Bowl in what will be the ignominious end to the reign of one Larry Edward Coker. It’s a fitting conclusion to his run as the head coach at UM, which began by winning the national championship in 2001 by crushing the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the 2002 Rose Bowl.

From ‘The Grand Daddy of Them All’ to the blue turf of Boise, Idaho. From regular appearances in BCS bowl games to being an ACC also-ran that will be fighting to stave off a losing mark for a lame-duck coach.

As the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve, it’s not only 2007 that will be ushered in, but hopefully a
new era of Hurricane Football. One that harkens back to the time where there was accountability, focus,
intensity and attention to detail. Things sorely lacking under Coker’s watch, which became painfully evident once the cadre of first-round picks left Coral Gables . When Coker took this job in 2001 the UM post was considered among the best in the land. Not only was there a strong tradition to build from, there was a stacked roster in place and a fertile home base from which to recruit.

Fast forward to 2006 and Coker’s plight had pundits believing across the country that the Miami gig was an
impossible one to navigate. Good thing nobody ever told that to Howard Schnellenberger, Jimmy Johnson,
Dennis Erickson and Butch Davis. The UM job is like most others at the highest plateau of college football. You’ll have plenty of chances to win big and win often. And your pay will be commensurate with the pressures and expectations that come with that assignment.

Coker, who in 2001 was paid a blue-light special wage, has since ascended to an elite tax bracket, having garnered a head-scratching contract extension (coming off a 9-3 campaign in 2004) that paid him a salary in the neighborhood of $2 million. It turns out he was the Jon Koncak of coaches: nobody did less to earn their money than he did.

He had been given the assignment of jockeying Secretariat and had promptly ridden the legendary champion to the glue factory.

As the losses came with more and more regularity, the coach who was once lauded for the clean, disciplined ship he ran saw it spring more and more leaks as time went on. At least the Titanic sunk much quicker. To many observers it was the ‘Miami Vice’ of old. Except back then, along with those warts came a dominant program, not one that limps into obscure bowl games with a 6-6 record against mediocre competition.

No, this job isn’t easy. But it’s impossible if you’re an individual who is simply overmatched and overwhelmed. And listening to Coker’s recent comments - which are at times both bizarre and maddening - you get the strong sense that he himself never really knew what it took to succeed under the scrutiny of running a college football powerhouse. He made one particularly puzzling statement suggesting that the fact that his assistants (like Mario Cristobal) were getting job offers was proof that he was moving things in the right direction. However, it’s ironic to note that Coker himself hasn’t gotten any significant interest from any major programs looking for a new CEO. Surely, a man with a career mark of 59-15 and a title ring in his back pocket should get some feelers, right?

But I guess all the scapegoating in the world of former assistants couldn’t hide the fact that Coker simply isn’t adept at running a program. Think about it - if he can’t thrive at Miami with what he inherited, what are the chances he can actually rebuild a program? You get the sense he’d be about as effective as FEMA at handling reclamations projects.

The new coach in waiting and current defensive coordinator, Randy Shannon, has set forth an edict that if players gain so much as five pounds over the holidays there will be serious repercussions. Let’s hope that the message being sent is: there’s a new sheriff in town. Barney Fife has left the building. From this point forward, Hurricane players won’t talk of what a ‘nice guy’ their coach is and what a swell fella they play for, but instead one who commands respect and fear - yes, fear - and one who will set a standard that will not be compromised. A standard that will not tolerate or excuse 9-3 records, one that will absolutely demand perfection and one that dictates that losing is not an option.

Under Coker, Miami’s standards had slipped precipitously. Losing had become accepted and even worse, expected under the old regime. This was a program that once felt it was above losing. Does that seem a bit extreme? Well, it might be, but that’s the difference between being at Miami of Florida and Miami of Ohio. This program didn’t win five national titles (and contend for many others) by having ‘realistic’ expectations.

The biggest thing Shannon has to do - even more so than hiring a dynamic offensive coordinator to resuscitate Miami’s moribund offense - is to change the culture that currently permeates this program. It’s ironic that while everyone talks about the collegiate ‘arms race’ that exists today, the same weight rooms and other facilities were in place in Miami back in 2003 and 2004, when Coker was still being lauded as one of the nation’s elite coaches. What changed?

You can have the most modern training rooms in the world, flat-screen plasma TV’s in every player’s
locker and a state-of-the-art players’ lounge, but it’s really about the culture that is established by its leader. Ask anyone who has been to USC and they’ll tell you that they have middle-of-the-road amenities. They certainly pale in comparison to those enjoyed by Oregon , who seems to be living in the world of the Jetsons, but has consistently underachieved the past few years. But what the Trojans have is Pete Carroll: a strong, charismatic, energetic general who has set a tone for his program, one that is built on the pursuit of perfection, competition and is self-policing in many ways.

Shannon doesn’t need fifty more Nautilus machines or a fresh coat of paint inside the Hecht Center . What he needs to bring back is the atmosphere that he played in from 1985 through 1988 as a smart, heady
linebacker under Johnson. He doesn’t need to be liked. He needs to be respected as the unquestioned leader of the program. To be the guy who is held in high regard by players *after* they leave the program because of the expectations they had to meet, not the guy who is well-received because he can be easily exploited.

He needs to rid Miami’s program of the culture that currently exists.

He gets to do that starting January 1st.

 

About Steve Kim * Articles Index * Home * Forums

© 2007 CanesOverHere.com