Miami fired football coach Larry Coker on Friday, a day after the Hurricanes beat No. 18 Boston College 17-14 to salvage a 6-6 season to become eligible to play in a postseason bowl game.
A Miami official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Coker’s firing would be announced later today. Coker was informed of the decision by athletics director Paul Dee early Friday. Coker has three years remaining on a contract that pays him nearly $2 million annually, and the school will owe him between $2.4 million and $3 million in a buyout.
“The university has made a decision to change head coaches for our football program,” Dee said at a news conference.
If Miami is invited to a bowl game, Coker will coach the team.
Coker, 58, won more games in his first six seasons than any other Hurricanes coach except Dennis Erickson, and he has won more games since 2001 than all but five Division I-A coaches.
Coker had a 59-15 record, a winning percentage of nearly 80 percent, and won a national championship in 2001 and played for another title the following season.
Coker’s teams were 4-2 against rival Florida State, 3-0 against Florida and won two BCS bowl games, including a 37-14 victory over Nebraska in the 2002 Rose Bowl, which gave the Hurricanes their fifth national title.
But the Hurricanes slipped considerably the last two seasons, after they won their first 25 games under Coker, a former Miami offensive coordinator, who was elevated to replace Butch Davis following the 2000 season.
Miami went 9-3 in 2004 and 2005 and salvaged a .500 record this season after beating the Eagles. The Hurricanes will probably play in the MPC Computers Bowl in Boise, Idaho or the Emerald Bowl in San Francisco.
The crowd of 23,308 at the Orange Bowl for the Boston College game was the smallest in Miami’s 44 home games since Dec. 4, 1999.
“The future is very bright at the University of Miami,” Coker said after the game. “We’ve been a little down. We won’t be down long here, and you can print that.”
-From ESPN.com News Services
