Interim coach Larry Scott focused on job he has at Miami
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) - College football's next recruiting contact period opens on Sunday, which means Larry Scott and other coaches at Miami will be out talking to prospective future Hurricanes.
The fact that they might not be at Miami much longer won't change the approach.
It's a most uncertain time for Scott and the remaining members of the Miami staff. The bowl-bound Hurricanes finished an 8-4 regular season with a win at Pittsburgh on Friday, marking Miami's fourth win in five games since the firing of former coach Al Golden and Scott being promoted from tight ends coach. He's now charged with going out and selling Miami, knowing full well that his Hurricane career may be over after the bowl game.
"Right now we're in the position to continue moving the program forward and that starts with recruiting," Scott said Saturday. "We're going to keep moving forward and continue just to sell the brand and what the University of Miami has to offer young people."
Put another way, Scott will essentially be doing all he can to help whomever is about to get hired as his replacement. And it's not only a Miami problem, with more than 10 programs around the country already knowing they need new head coaches for 2016.
Scott said he has not had discussions with Miami athletic director Blake James about his job status, and even after the 4-1 finish many around the program would consider him a big longshot to get the job on a permanent basis.
So that means while Miami's staff will be trying to lure kids to Coral Gables, those same coaches will be keeping an eye out for opportunities to continue their own careers. It's a virtual certainty that the next head coach will bring in plenty of new assistants, which means several - or all - members of Miami's existing staff will be hiring moving trucks before long.
"We know the nature of the business and how it works and how things happen," Scott said. "Every one of these guys are really good coaches. They're going to add substance to whatever situation they find themselves in here over the next few weeks and next few months."
If there's no place for Scott on the 2016 Miami staff, what he did as the interim boss should at least help him find speedy placement elsewhere. He's long had a reputation for recruiting, and holding this team together surely didn't hurt his resume.
"I'm always going to make any decision with my family's best interest at heart first and kind of go from there," Scott said. "I don't know how this thing is going to unfold. That's the uncertainty you kind of get faced with in these situations. Keep the focus on the job that you do have at the time and what you have to do there, and your family."
Miami still has a chance for a nine-win season, which would match the school's best victory total since 2003.
"Absolutely, around the room there was a really high-pride factor about what we were able to accomplish," Scott said. "And we were able to accomplish it all together, which made it even sweeter. So we weren't perfect. It wasn't perfect. But it was a fun ride."