Tim Reynolds of the ASSOCIATED PRESS broke the news late Saturday that Miami Hurricanes football coach Randy Shannon had been fired and that Miami Athletic Director Kirby Hocutt, who made the call to jettison Shannon, would meet the media about his decision Sunday at 1pm ET.

(Canes AD, OU Coach were K-State teammates)

After firing Shannon, Hocutt said in a statement, “Our expectations are to compete for championships and return to the top of the college football world. We will immediately begin a national search”

The PALM BEACH POST reports, “offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland has been told he will be named interim coach,” while UM Offensive Coordinator Mark Whipple has also been fired.

The Post reports candidates for the job may include former Univ. of Miami quarterback and current Georgia coach Mark Richt and perhaps current Texas Tech coach Tommy Tuberville, who served as a UM assistant under Dennis Erickson.

Former Texas Tech Coach Mike Leach actively pursued the Miami job in 2006 when Shannon was hired by University of Miami President Donna Shalala and then-athletic director Paul Dee. Read more…

Longtime SNL fans (or just Will Ferrell fans) probably recall the epic sketch with Ferrell and Sarah Michelle Gellar in which a frigid family of WASPs sit down for dinner, only to have the situation devolve into an affluenza-riddled shouting match in which Ferrell bellows, as a point of pride, “I DRIVE A DODGE STRATUS!” Y’know, this sketch.

(No word on if they were girl push-ups. We’re running this picture anyway.)

We bring the sketch up for a reason, and not just because it’s early on a Friday afternoon and we’re already too drunk to walk. No, before Ferrell’s climactic scream, another of his pedestrian boasts is that he “can do a hundred push-ups in 20 minutes.” For whatever reason, something in the wiring of a straight man’s brain* will lead him to believe that large amounts of push-ups are an effective demonstration of how correct he is in an argument. Like, for example, what transpired between Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano and his right tackle, Kevin Haslam.

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• It was a big day for grainy video of youth football controversy. First, some high school kicker abused the the goal post support, Phil Dawson-style (but didn’t get the call). Then, some youth coach just flat-out abused an opposing player.

• Paraguayan javelin-thrower Leryn Franco is nippin’ out on the runway. She’ll use the photo for her Christmas card like Elaine Benes did.

• Don’t expect a closing baseball stadium to just let you stroll in and scoop up your dead father.

• Brett Favre’s home in Wisconsin has decided it’s time to move on, and is going forward in finding a new owner.

• Lions fans should be pretty excited that they’re still going to go 12-4, according to Roy Williams. The Cubs are also going to be the only team to come back from a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-five series.

• Just when you thought we’d gotten rid of Kevin Costner once and for all, it’s time for a Bull Durham sequel. Read more…

Following a 1-4 start that has Scarlet Knights fans hearkening back to the good ol’ days, Rutgers coach Greg Schiano thinks pretty much everything may be holding them back. Coaching, talent, luck, graduation timelines, the NFL, halftime adjustments, and even confidence.

 (Don’t worry, SUNJ fans; the last couple years were an aberration)

From the NEWARK STAR-LEDGER:

“Probably, maybe I overestimated a little bit,” Schiano said of the current team’s talent level, compared to those of seasons past. “Probably we haven’t played at some veteran positions as well as we’re capable of. “

And probably we haven’t coached as well as we’ve needed to. So when you add those three things up — maybe one area on one day and one area on another play — the result is where we are.”

More attribution after the jump. Read more…

Rutgers has been one of college football’s best stories over the past three seasons, but with a loss to Navy on Saturday dropping the Scarlet Knights to 0-3, this season is officially a disaster.

Senior quarterback Mike Teel, who has shouldered much of the blame for the team’s poor showing, threw an interception as the team was driving late in the 23-21 loss on Saturday, clinching the win for Navy. Then, as a teammate was consoling Teel, he reacted as any reasonable person would — by attempting to punch him in the face.

Video after the jump.

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In the past two years, Rutgers coach Greg Schiano has resisted overtures from powerhouse programs like Michigan and Miami, signing an extension that will (supposedly) keep him in Jersey until 2016. Based on how things are going so far this year, he won’t need to worry about any those distractions anymore (nor will have to worry about Rutgers offering to extend that contract again).

The Scarlet Knights were blasted 44-12 on Thursday night by North Carolina, a team that hadn’t won a game played outside of its home state in six years. That’s two games, two home losses, for the coach who just two years ago had his program ranked as high as #6 in the nation. And on a night where his team carried the banner for New York-area teams on the anniversary of 9/11, the sell-out crowd was booing senior quarterback Mike Teel before halftime.

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• THE WIZARD OF ODDS learns that if Rutgers can’t complete its football stadium work on time, coach Greg Schiano could be Penn State bound.

• Inspired by the Danica-Milka brush-up, Jeff Bartlett of the BEDFORD (IN) TIMES-MAIL proposes some other sports celeb scrapes he’d like to see.

• RUMORFICIAL finds Jessica Simpson back on stage & going a bit country, even dedicating one of her songs to boyfriend Tony Romo.

• Meanwhile, THE SPORTING BLOG hears that the Cowboys QB’s botched snap vs. Seattle convinced Bill Parcells to finally retire from coaching.

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Could this season finally be the last for Joe Paterno in Happy Valley? And is Greg Schiano the man who will fill his wingtips?

(”Hit the road, old man!” “You want some of this, punk?“)

THE PHANATIC MAGAZINE can believe it. The Philly sports site hears word from the always-reliable “unnamed source” that plans are afoot in Penn State to punt the 81-year-old coach out of the picture, and bring in the man who’s revitalized Rutgers’ once-rotten football program: Read more…

SCHIANO STAYING AT RUTGERS; GA. TECH GRABS JOHNSON: It seems that Michigan is turning into Arkansas - no one wants to take their head coaching job.

The NEWARK STAR-LEDGER reports how Rutgers coach Greg Schiano, who was mulling over the opening with the Wolverines, ultimately selected to stick with the Scarlet Knights.Schiano is the 2nd coach to say adios to Ann Arbor this week, after long-rumored candidate Les Miles signed a contract extension to remain at LSU.

Dealing with similar employment problems, the Razorbacks have had three head coaches turn down the chance to live high off the Hogs - Tommy Tuberville, Tommy Bowden and Jim Grobe.Meanwhile, Georgia Tech no longer has coaching concerns of their own, as Navy coach Paul Johnson is setting sail for the Yellow Jackets:

The ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION reports that the new king bee of Tech football signed a 7-year deal worth over $11 million.During his Naval stint, Johnson help the Midshipmen reel in their first win over Notre Dame in 44 years, while chartering a 6-0 record against rival Army.

GT hopes Johnson can channel his success against the Black Knights to victory against their own rival Georgia. The Bulldogs have won 6 straight against the Jackets.

And the new coach is no stranger to the south. Before anchoring in Annapolis, Johnson captured 107 wins in his 11 seasons at Georgia Southern, while guiding the Eagles to two 1-AA national championships.So, for those playing at home, here’s how the current college football classifieds look, with these 1-A schools still searching for a gridiron general:

• Arkansas
• Colorado State
• Duke
• Houston
• Michigan
• Navy
• Northern Illinois
• SMU
• Southern Miss
• UCLA
• Washington State

SCHIANO TALKS TO U.M. AD, COULD GET JOB OFFER TODAY: Now that Les Miles won’t be motoring up to replace Lloyd Carr, Michigan has turned its eyes eastward, and may have met their model man in Greg Schiano:

New Jersey’s HOME NEWS TRIBUNE hears word that the Rutgers coach had talked with Bill Martin on Wednesday, when the Michigan AD was in New York for the College Football Hall of Fame banquet.The paper further reports that with “mutual interest from both sides,” Schiano could be offered the Wolverines job as early as today (Friday).

Last year, after coming within a 3-OT loss of a Big East Championship, Schiano turned down an offer to coach Miami after meeting with Hurricanes AD Paul Dee. Two months later, Greg signed a contract extension to park himself in Piscataway through 2016.With Schiano at the helm, Rutgers will be going to its 3rd straight bowl game for the 1st time in the school’s 138-year football history, when the Scarlet Knights face Ball State in the International Bowl at Toronto.

In addition to the remarkable turnaround of a long-time doormat, Michigan may also be interested in Schiano because he could do what Lloyd couldn’t - defeat their 1-AA opponent.