The college football coaching dominoes continue to fall. Now the Miami Hurricanes job is open after the dismissal of Al Golden.
I worked with Golden when he was a student-athlete at Penn State, and he is a good coach who inherited a mess at Miami.
Current head coaches Tommy Tuberville (Cincinnati), Mark Richt (Georgia) and Rich Rodriguez (Arizona) have all been rumored to be on Miami's wish list, but it's hard to imagine any of them leaving their current job for the Hurricanes job.
There are plenty of players in Miami but the facilities were outdated until a year ago and the fan base has always been a fickle house of cards.
If I were Miami, here are the more realistic names to consider.
Mario Cristobal: This could be a home run hire at Miami. Cristobal understands the recruiting base and the culture. He won at FIU as a head coach and he has spent the last two seasons with Nick Saban at Alabama. When I look into the crystal ball, I see this as a great hire by the Canes.
Greg Schiano: The former Rutgers and Tampa Bay head coach is also a former Penn State assistant and Bucknell player. He would be a good fit. He is a former Hurricanes assistant and knows the culture. He can sell tickets and regenerate enthusiasm just as he did at Rutgers. He is eager to get back in it, and this would be a good spot.
Rob Chudzinski: The former Hurricanes player is a former NFL head coach and is popular with many involved with the Canes family.
Larry Fedora: The current head coach at North Carolina was on the hot seat when the season started, but the Tar Heels have only one loss this season. I would be surprised to see him make this jump.
Butch Davis: The former Miami head coach had the Hurricanes nationally relevant and left Coker a national championship team.
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There are rumors that Arizona head football coach Rich Rodriguez and his staff have a desire to be closer to home. He has a good situation at Arizona and works for a terrific athletic director in Greg Byrne.
How about Virginia Tech for Rich? Could Mountaineer fans handle having the former Mountaineer head man in Blacksburg? It is ridiculous speculation right now as the Hokies have a Hall of Fame coach in Frank Beamer. However things are a little stale in Blacksburg and a change could happen in the near future.
Virginia Tech AD Whit Babcock and Rich worked together at WVU. Blacksburg is close to home for Rich and his staff. Also, their families could actually also see most road games in the ACC,something that is hard to do in most other leagues.
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As always, there are several "hot" names of coaches working outside of the Power 5 conferences that might be intested in making a move up. Here are some of those names.
Dino Babers: One of the hot names in the Mid-American Conference, he won at Eastern Illinois before going to Bowling Green.
Matt Campbell: His Toledo teams have won at Arkansas and at Iowa State. The former Mount Union player would be a good hire at many places.
P.J. Fleck: The head coach at Western Michigan is one of the most respected young coaches in the country.
Justin Fuente: He is a former TCU assistant who has done an attention-getting turnaround at Memphis. After upsetting Ole Miss, he is hot, really hot.
Doc Holliday: I love the Marshall head coach. I hope he stays in the state forever. Heck, I live in Hurricane where the sign says "Home of John 'Doc' Holliday, head football coach at Marshall University." However, if someone like South Carolina comes calling, he has to listen.