Just when we thought the college football coaching carousel was over, there was an unexpected twist: Miami coach Mark Richt announced his retirement on Sunday.
Although Richt was being heavily criticized for the Hurricanes' 7-6 finish, including an ugly 35-3 loss to Wisconsin in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl, athletics director Blake James expected Richt to return for a fourth season at his alma mater.
With Richt out, who could take over? Oregon's Mario Cristobal? Syracuse's Dino Babers? Or what about FAU's Lane Kiffin? Andrea Adelson and David Hale joined me to discuss The U.
How good is the Miami job?
Schlabach: The Miami folks aren't going to want to hear this, but I really don't think it's a very attractive job right now. Until Miami fans understand that Jimmy Johnson and Dennis Erickson -- and Michael Irvin, Warren Sapp, Ray Lewis and Bennie Blades -- aren't walking through that door, any coach who takes the job is going to face unrealistic expectations. Yes, Miami doesn't have to leave the 305 area code to recruit players. Yes, Richt did a good job in raising money to begin improving Miami's facilities, which have fallen behind other ACC programs. But there are a lot of things about Miami that aren't that attractive right now.
Hale: Richt's three seasons with the Hurricanes showed that there's still a fertile recruiting base in South Florida that views Miami as a destination, and he did a solid job of reestablishing a brand for the school that has top recruits wanting to stay close to home while still playing on a big stage.
Adelson: As the ACC title game showed last season, the talent gap between a championship-caliber program in Clemson and Miami is immense. Expectations surrounding the program are also unreasonable given the results since the last championship in 2001, and former players are vocal when things don't go right, and that doesn't help matters.
The candidates
Mario Cristobal, Oregon head coach
Schlabach: Cristobal was born in Miami, played at the U and worked as an assistant coach there. He was an offensive lineman on two of Miami's national championship teams in 1989 and 1991. In 2007, he became the first Cuban-American head coach in the FBS when he was hired as FIU's coach. He went 27-47 with the Golden Panthers and probably never should have been fired. He coached under Nick Saban and Willie Taggart before he replaced the latter as Oregon's coach. The Ducks are 8-4 in his first full season, and quarterback Justin Herbert just announced he's coming back in 2019.