By Jorge Milian Palm Beach Post Staff WriterCORAL GABLES ? Coaching the University of Miami used to be one of the plum jobs in college football.The formula was simple: Accept the offer, contend for or win a national championship, then cash in by moving on.It worked for Howard Schnellenberger, Jimmy Johnson, Dennis Erickson and Butch Davis.But coaching the Hurricanes isn't a sure-fire recipe for fame and fortune any longer. Just ask Larry Coker and Randy Shannon, each of whom finished his UM tenure with a pink slip instead of a fat NFL contract.Coker now coaches the University of Texas at San Antonio. Shannon is looking for a job and reportedly is interested in openings at Minnesota and Vanderbilt.Which brings us to UM's week-old coaching search to replace Shannon. Who exactly would want this job?"You look at the Miami situation - they don't have great facilities, they're playing in a stadium 20 miles away and, in a 73,000-seat stadium, they have 27,000 fans (for last Saturday's regular-season finale against South Florida)," ESPN analyst Mark May said on air shortly after Shannon was fired.Adds ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit:Others would argue that Miami won five national championships while overcoming the same hurdles in place today.Davis, who coached UM from 1995 to 2000, once joked that the gym his wife Tammy belonged to had better equipment than the Hurricanes' weight room. And support from UM's fan base has always been fickle at best. Miami won its fifth national championship in 2001 and averaged a little more than 46,000 in attendance for six games at the Orange Bowl.That Miami has relatively mediocre facilities and poor support isn't exactly a secret in college football circles."Those guys that are interviewing, they understand Miami," said Gino Torretta, the former UM quarterback and 1992 Heisman Trophy winner.UM Athletic Director Kirby Hocutt hasn't been very revelatory regarding what he's looking for in a coach."We need a leader," Hocutt said last week.That would indicate that UM's preference would be someone with head coaching experience. With the possible exception of Oklahoma defensive coordinator Brent Venables and San Diego Chargers assistant Rob Chudzinski, most of the men rumored to be on UM's wish list are head coaches like Mississippi State's Dan Mullen and Connecticut's Randy Edsall.The last person to take the UM job with previous head coaching experience was Dennis Erickson, who won two national championships with the Hurricanes. Davis, Coker and Shannon were rookie head coaches when they were hired by Miami."I think the university feels they need an experienced guy," said Don Bailey, a former UM player and the team's radio analyst.Willing to spendHocutt said that money would not be an issue in hiring a new coach. That would probably be a first for Miami. It's no mystery that one of the things that made Shannon attractive to UM's administration four years ago was that he came cheap. Shannon's first contract paid around $850,000. He signed an extension in May for $1.5 million per season, which put his deal in the middle of the pack among coaching salaries in the Atlantic Coast Conference.UM will likely have to pay upward of $2.5 million per season for its next coach and that doesn't include salaries for assistants. Clemson, for instance, paid it's 10-man coaching staff a total of $4.055 million in 2010. Only two of Clemson's nine assistant coaches make less than $200,000 a season."We can only take (university president) Donna Shalala and Kirby at their word that money is not going to be an object, that we're going to get the best guy that we can," Toretta said.Torretta said he'd like to see UM hire Jim Harbaugh, who took over a Stanford program that was a Pac-10 pushover and turned it into the nation's No. 4 ranked team.Other UM alums queried mentioned Edsall, Texas Tech's Tommy Tuberville, Green Bay Packers assistant Winston Moss and Arizona's Mike Stoops as possibilities to become the football program's 22nd coach."I just want a guy that comes in here and wins ballgames,' said Lamar Thomas, one of the top receivers in UM history.Hocutt said that he has no timetable for selecting a coach, but on Saturday athletic department spokesman Chris Freet posted on his Twitter account:Bailey said Hocutt should take as long as he needs to make the right decision."It's a huge hire," Bailey said. LEADING THE FIELDDan Mullen, Mississippi State: Much success as Urban Meyer's offensive coordinator at Florida.Randy Edsall, Connecticut: Has Huskies on cusp of first Big East championship.Kyle Whittingham, Utah: Led Utes to No. 2 ranking in 2008.Mike Stoops, Arizona: He's done as much as he can with the Wildcats.IN THE RUNNINGAl Golden, Temple: Many think he's waiting for Penn State job to open up.Rob Chudzinski, San Diego Chargers: Would he be willing to leave the NFL to come home?Winston Moss, Green Bay Packers: Former UM linebacker hasn't coached in college.Kevin Sumlin, Houston: Worked with some of the top offensive coaches in the game.Tommy Tuberville, Texas Tech: Former UM defensive coordinator would undoubtedly listen.Gary Patterson, TCU: Name comes up for every available big-time job.LONG SHOTSMike Leach: Top-notch coach weighed down by baggage.Jim Leavitt: See Mike Leach.Brent Venables, Oklahoma: Sooners' defensive coordinator played with Kirby Hocutt at Kansas State.
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