Coker wonders what went wrong

CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- He looks more like a grandfather than a head coach. His drooping eyes and kind smile and measured tone don't fit with our belief of what a coach should be -- a man who is all at once proud, competitive, impatient and more than just a little bit angry.

Larry Coker fooled us all. We thought he was too nice to be a coach. That he was too unassuming to really get upset. But ignore the look. Listen to the words.

Coker sits in his recliner in the ornate living room of his immaculate home. He has a view of the courtyard, with its bubbling fountain and trim garden. Coker looks tan and fit and 10 years younger. But then again, he is only 59 -- young enough to be Bobby Bowden's son.

Being away from football looks as if it has refreshed him. No one would blame him if he retired, spending his days taking long walks, reading and serving as a consultant.

After all, coaching for six years at the Miami is like coaching 12 years anywhere else because of the unrealistic expectations -- especially after winning a national championship in your first season. The trials of last year took their toll on him, but he begged for another shot.

Miami said no and gave him no explanation when the Hurricanes showed him the door. Coker still wonders why. He wonders about a lot.

"You win 80 percent of your games, you win a national championship, you lose another in double overtime ... plus we've been a clean program," Coker said. "This whole thing really makes no sense, but it doesn't need to make sense. The university felt like it needed a change. Did I agree with it? No. Do I respect it? Yes."

It is not that hard to see why the university made its decision. The Hurricanes slipped in his past three years as head coach, failing to make it to a BCS bowl game. Last year, the Hurricanes went 7-6, but off-the-field problems marred the game results.

Before the season even began, one player was injured in a shooting. Then came one of the ugliest moments in recent memory, when a brawl in the middle of the Florida International game in October sent the program on a downward spiral.

Miami made national headlines, bringing back comparisons to the bad old days of the 1980s and '90s. Thirteen Hurricanes players were suspended. Coker defended his players and took little responsibility for what happened, saying the brawl took the heart out of his players.

"Every day, it was just on and on and on. Don Imus wasn't close to what we experienced," Coker said.

Defensive player Bryan Pata was shot and killed in early November. The events of the year were too much to handle. Miami ended up losing four straight, and a victory against Boston College in the season finale salvaged a .500 record. Coker was fired but coached the team to its bowl victory. His career record: 60-15. Only Dennis Erickson has won more games in a six-year span at Miami.