By BRIAN CHRISTOPHERSON / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Thursday, December 9, 2010 8:50 pmForgiveness is granted if you spit out your Cheerios this morning.Miami and Bo?Call it coaching search babble if you wish. But there's no doubt the reports that Miami athletic director Kirby Hocutt has either spoken with or plans to speak with NU coach Bo Pelini sent some tremors across Husker Nation.Lots of uncertainty. Lots of anonymity. And, as always goes with coaching searches, probably a fair share of bull.So let's back up a step and tackle a question we can maybe get our grips around: What is Miami's sales pitch?And would the Hurricanes' head coaching job, which some national talking heads say has lost its luster, be something a coach in Pelini's position would consider taking?As Miami's play-by-play man Joe Zagacki told the Journal Star on Thursday, the Hurricanes must nail this hire after seven years of basically being irrelevant on the national scene."It is a very important hire because the fan base is dying to fall in love with somebody," Zagacki said.Can Miami convince a coach that it can become the Miami of the past?Perhaps it's best to start by looking at the man who is trying to do the convincing on behalf of the Hurricanes.Kirby Hocutt is energetic , thoughtful and young -- just 38 years old. He knows the Pelinis and the Nebraska program well.Hocutt played football at Kansas State, a teammate of Husker linebackers coach Mike Ekeler. Both were Wildcats while Carl Pelini was getting his college coaching start under Bill Snyder at Kansas State.Hocutt served under the wings of Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione, getting to know Bo Pelini while the coach served as OU's defensive coordinator in 2004.Hocutt also was the Ohio athletic director who hired Frank Solich when the Bobcats needed a football coach."He's easy to talk to. He's just a good person," Solich told the Journal Star."He's got a good vision," Zagacki said of Hocutt.Determined, too."At The U," Hocutt declared as he set upon this coaching search,After all, this is a school that won national championships in 1983, 1987, 1989, 1991 and 2001.But as those in the Miami fraternity affectionately call the program, isn't exactly riding high these days.Never was that more clear than in Miami's last home game of this season, a loss to South Florida, when about 27,000 fans filled the 73,000-seat stadium.And while one source close to the situation believes Miami could be willing to offer as much as $3 million per year for its next football coach (Bo Pelini currently makes $2.1 million plus bonuses), the program's facilities aren't on par with what you'll find at most Top 25 programs."If you have a great job right now, I don't know why you would go to Miami and take that job and the pressure that goes along with it," ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit recently told the Palm Beach Post.The Miami weight room is 11,500 square feet. Nebraska's was 30,000 square feet back in 1988 and has only grown since then.And while Miami definitely has certain advantages with the climate, Zagacki said a better training area, medical facility and academic area is needed for student-athletes."I do believe to a certain extent, a lot of kids have come to Miami because of the brand and not the facilities," he said.^(each recruiting class)?"What they lack in facilities, the Hurricanes can help make up for in location.You don't have to take too many steps from your front porch when your Miami's football coach to find some of the most sought-after athletic talent in the country.No doubt Hocutt will be selling coaches hard on those recruiting possibilities.It's also the kind of place where a coach can be brash if he wants to be. See Howard Schnellenberger. Jimmy Johnson. See Dennis Erickson.Zagacki thinks Bo Pelini is the kind of coach who Miami fans would love."I think Pelini gets people excited because down here we're great for examining sideline demeanor," he said.Zagacki has been part of Miami's announcing team for 23 years.He's seen people prematurely bury the Hurricanes before.In June of 1995, a Sports Illustrated story criticized the off-the-field problems engulfing the Miami football program. The magazine's cover came with the words:Less than six years later, Miami beat Nebraska in the Rose Bowl to win the national championship. The Hurricanes were in the midst of a 34-game winning streak.So whatever disappointment there's been recently, Zagacki said Miami is still a big-time program."I say it's a big-time program because I travel with them every week. And I know that when we go to the opposing stadium, the stadium's sold out," he said.Zagacki reminds that college football is cyclical.Giants fall, only to rise again. It's Hocutt's job to make some coach believe that Miami is about ready to beat its chest."I don't know if anyone gets us back to winning 34 in a row," Zagacki said.
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