Indianapolis Colts associate head coach Rob Chudzinski is among at least half a dozen candidates reportedly expected to receive serious consideration as the next coach of the Miami Hurricanes.
Others include former Cleveland Browns coach Butch Davis, former Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Greg Schiano, Texas coach Charlie Strong, Houston coach Tom Herman and Alabama offensive line coach Mario Cristobal, according to the Palm Beach Post.
Davis has deep coaching roots at UM as both an assistant and head coach, while Cristobal is a former UM player and assistant coach. Chudzinski was a three-year starting tight end for the Hurricanes and won a pair of national championships there in 1987 and 1989.
From a financial standpoint, Strong figures to be the least likely possibility. He earns more than $5 milliion per year at UT, according to USA Today, and is only in his second season. Former Miami coach Al Golden, fired in midseason, barely earned half of that at $2.54 million. With Miami's attendance figures sagging at an embarrassing level, Strong would almost certainly be looking at a significant paycut to leave the Longhorns. Strong brushed off a question about the UM job last month.
It's not the first time Davis has been linked to the job, as the Miami Herald reported the school's interest last week. Davis, for his part, hasn't hidden his interest in returning to the school he coached from 1995-2000. He hasn't been a head coach since he was fired at North Carolina in 2010, amid an academic fraud scandal for which he was criticized but not implicated.
Former Miami Hurricanes Jonathan Vilma and Vinny Testaverde have been named to an advisory committee to help find UM's next coach.
The six-member committee and a search firm will be used to assist athletic director Blake James, Vilma and Testaverde will be joined on the advisory committee by three members of the school's trustee board, and a deputy athletic director. Vilma and Testaverde were stars at the college level, with Vilma helping lead a national championship team in 2001, and Testaverde winning the Heisman Trophy in 1986. Both are in the UM Sports Hall of Fame.
Vilma had a 10-year NFL career while Testaverde played 21 NFL seasons with seven teams.
*Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter **@ChaseGoodbread*.
