A Tale Of Two Programs

Want to know the difference between the football programs at Miami and Florida right now? Simply look at their current coaching searches.

Miami fired Randy Shannon after he and his team lost the season finale to South Florida. Since that time, the 'Canes have thrown out lots of big names, including Jon Gruden and Bo Pelini. But my sources tell me that the job will be offered to Temple's Al Golden or Connecticut's Randy Edsall.

Really Miami? You have a job open for two weeks, and that's the best you can do? No offense meant to Golden or Edsall. Both are good coaches who have done tremendous jobs at their current stops. But is one of these guys supposed to turn Miami back into the 'Canes of the 1980's and 1990's? I'm not buying it.

On the other side of the coin, check out Florida's coaching search. Urban Meyer resigns on Wednesday. And on Saturday, Florida AD Jeremy Foley announces the hiring of Will Muschamp as the new head coach.

Three days, and a coach is hired. And, by all accounts, Muschamp is one of the rising stars in coaching. Muschamp was the "coach in waiting" at Texas, but with no retirement coming from Mack Brown, he decided to jump ship and take the Florida job.

Granted, no one knows how Muschamp will do as a head coach, since he's never served in that capacity before. But all indications are that the 39-year-old will be an outstanding head coach, and he'll certainly have all of the resources he needs in Gainesville.

It's a shame that Miami's search is going the way it's going, while another Florida school is able to make a quick and solid decision. NCAA Football would be better if Miami were better, but as the brass at UM botch another search, it may be a while before that happens.