Top Candidates to Replace Al Golden as Miami Hurricanes Head Football Coach
It's time for banner-attached planes to come to their complete landings and for coaching rumors to now fly in the Miami skies.
After suffering its worst loss in school history Saturday against Clemson, Miami fired head coach Al Golden in the middle of his fifth season with the program. Golden was 32-25 during his tenure with the Hurricanes.
While assistant coach Larry Scott will take over as Miami's interim head coach, the rumors of Golden's permanent replacement are already in full swing.
Miami is an intriguing job in a college football landscape that already has several major openings, including the ones at USC and South Carolina. While the private school doesn't have the same amount of money as many of its Power Five brethren, the Hurricanes can boast the best recruiting territory in the entire country and a rich history of five national championships.
So whom will Miami go after to take over for Golden and hopefully lead the Canes back to their days of championship-contending football? Here are seven major names to watch, from the ones with solid ties to The U to a couple of the hottest names on the FBS market.
Rob Chudzinski (Indianapolis Colts AHC)
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If the Hurricanes decide to go after a Miami guy, Rob Chudzinski may be one of the most experienced names out there.
A former tight end on two of Miami's national championship teams, Chudzinski served in a variety of assistant roles for the Hurricanes from 1994 to 2003. He was the offensive coordinator on Miami's legendary 2001 national championship team and coached in that role for two more seasons before heading off to the NFL.
Chudzinski bounced around as an NFL assistant, including a successful stint as the Carolina Panthers' offensive coordinator before getting his first crack as head coach with the Cleveland Browns in 2013. The Browns fired him after one 4-12 season, and he's been an associate head coach under Chuck Pagano—another name with Miami ties—for the last two seasons.
The former Hurricane has plenty of coaching experience already at age 47, although only one year of it was in a head coaching capacity. But Chudzinski would definitely know what it takes to win championship football at Miami, and he'd be an intriguing option for the program.
Mario Cristobal (Alabama OL Coach)
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As Bleacher Report's Barrett Sallee noted Sunday evening, Miami could look to Nick Saban's staff at Alabama for its next head coach. But the wildly popular Lane Kiffin pick isn't the clear-cut choice from the Crimson Tide—it's Mario Cristobal, a Miami native and a two-time national champion as a Hurricane.
Cristobal turned around a dreadful "Group of Five" program right down the road from Miami, and he had FIU in back-to-back bowl games during the 2010 and 2011 seasons. But after a 3-9 campaign in 2012, FIU fired Cristobal, a move that was heavily criticized at the time.
Like Chudzinski, Cristobal has strong ties to the program—if it can look past his decision to bolt to his current job at Alabama a few weeks after returning to Miami as an assistant under Golden. He has experience as a head coach and has been a ridiculously good recruiter for the Crimson Tide in talent-rich South Florida. This is a polarizing possibility among fans, but it could be the best bet for the Hurricanes.
Butch Davis (Former Miami HC)
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If you want to find out the name that has gotten the most vocal support from Miami fans, just search "Butch Davis Miami" on Twitter. Here, I'll do it for you and give you the link.
Davis went 51-20 during his six-season tenure at Miami, and he laid the foundation for the Hurricanes' championship season under Larry Coker in 2001. The former Cleveland Browns head coach, who was cleared of any wrongdoing in the academic scandal that cost him his job at North Carolina, said last year he would be open to returning to Miami, as he told The Joe Rose Show (via CBS Miami):
"I don’t think there’s any question that it’s a top-notch job. You can’t have that in your backyard of the number of athletes and players and the history and the tradition. Honestly, there’s 95 percent of the teams in the country that would kill to be able to sit in a home visit and say I represent a school that’s a private institution, that’s got a great academic reputation, and has won five national championships in the last two or three decades.
If it ever came open and people thought that I’d be the right choice, I certainly would be interested because we’ve always loved South Florida. I still live there.
"
The 63-year-old Davis has been out of the college game since 2010, but it's clear Miami fans still want to "bring back Butch."
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Justin Fuente (Memphis HC)
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The hot name in the early coaching carousel, Justin Fuente is on fire right now with Memphis. After taking two years to get things going with the Tigers, Fuente led the struggling program to a 10-win season in 2014 and a 7-0 start to 2015 that includes an upset win over Ole Miss.
The former TCU co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach has been able to put together a potent attack in Memphis with his coaching staff, which would be appealing to Miami. Memphis is currently sixth nationally in yards per game in the American Athletic Conference. Imagine what he could do with South Florida talent.
"He may have coached his way into a better job at this point, but anyone who can navigate the recruiting cesspool in Memphis could handle the equally unique South Florida ecosystem," Andy Staples of Sports Illustrated wrote.
Miami would have to battle a growing list of programs—some with much more money—in order to land Fuente. But the Hurricanes would be foolish not to reach out to a hot name who has made a lot out of a little at Memphis.
Tom Herman (Houston HC)
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Tom Herman is a similar name in coaching searches to Fuente, but the former Ohio State offensive coordinator has had immediate success in his first head coaching job.
After joining Houston from the championship-winning Buckeyes, Herman is currently 7-0 in his first season with the Cougars, who knocked off ACC program Louisville earlier this year. Houston has been quite impressive offensively with Herman's spread-option scheme, as quarterback Greg Ward Jr. is one of the nation's best this season in pass efficiency and rushing touchdowns.
Like Fuente, Herman doesn't have any ties to Miami. But Herman has been part of some fantastic recruiting staffs and is an exciting name to consider, even though he's only had a few games of head coaching experience under his belt.
Herman will most likely be a wild-card pick in Miami's upcoming coaching search, as a number of programs seem set to reach out to him. He might opt to stay at Houston for now, but he's definitely worth contacting for his offensive and recruiting success.
Lane Kiffin (Alabama OC)
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And now for the name that will cause the most extreme reactions on the coaching carousel—current Alabama offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin.
The former Oakland Raiders, Tennessee and USC head coach has had somewhat of a career revival in Tuscaloosa, bringing some added explosion and pace to the Crimson Tide offense. As Bleacher Report's Barrett Sallee wrote earlier this year, it seems like a matter of time before Kiffin tries his hand at head coaching again.
"It likely won't be about the money for Kiffin when the time comes to make a decision about his future; it will be about fit," Sallee wrote. "The thought of Kiffin recruiting in the fertile recruiting ground of South Florida makes that a match made in Heaven."
Kiffin's personality seems like a perfect fit for the swagger Miami wants to get back again, but the red flags of his past head coaching stops will be hard to ignore. If the salary truly isn't a major issue for the current Alabama offensive coordinator, count that as an advantage in favor of the Hurricanes if they decide to go after Kiffin.
Greg Schiano (Former Rutgers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers HC)
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Another coach with Miami ties, Greg Schiano served as Butch Davis' defensive coordinator in 1999 and 2000 before becoming the head coach at Rutgers, a program he turned into a consistent winner after a few seasons.
Schiano then became the head coach of the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but he only lasted two seasons after posting a record of 11-21. He's been out of coaching since the end of the 2013 season and working as a TV analyst.
According to Matt Porter of the Palm Beach Post, Schiano "has expressed interest in returning to Miami," and he was connected to the job in 2012 before the Canes hired Golden. He has solid roots with the program and the entire state of Florida, as he recruited the area when he was all the way up in New Jersey with Rutgers.
Schiano wouldn't be the biggest or best name available for Miami, but he would definitely make a splash. He combines success at the collegiate head coaching level with the Miami ties that a lot of the fanbase wants to see in the next hire.
Justin Ferguson is a college football writer at Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @JFergusonBR.
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