Coker Fired by Miami

ESPN.com is reporting that embattled Miami Hurricanes head coach Larry Coker has been fired by the university.

Coker was informed of the decision by athletic 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.

Miami became bowl eligible last night when the Hurricanes upset No. 18 Boston College, 17-14, to improve to 6-6 on the season. Coker will coach the team if Miami goes to a bowl game.

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.

He went undefeated and won the national championship in his first season, then ran his winning streak to 24 the next year and got the Hurricanes back into the national-title game -- where they lost in double overtime to Ohio State, 31-24.

It was the final time Coker would play for the national crown with the Hurricanes. Miami went to the Orange Bowl and beat Florida State to end the 2003 season, then settled for consecutive Peach Bowl trips that capped 9-3 seasons in 2004 and 2005.


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