Why Mark Stoops Should be the Next Miami Hurricanes Football Coach

Editor's Note: This is not the consensus opinion of the staff and we will be profiling many other candidates.

So yesterday I made the case for Rob Chundzinski to take over as the new Head Coach of the Hurricanes.

And I still like Chuds as my first choice.

But should the former UM TE and OC decide to continue his career in the NFL, another candidate I would really believe merits strong consideration, is Mark Stoops.

The current Kentucky Wildcats coach served as UM's DBs Coach from 2001-03.

Here's a little more about him:

• From 2004-09 also was Arizona's DBs Coach and Defensive Coordinator. 
  
• FSU's DBs coach and DC from 2010-2012.
  
• Just 11-20 (though currently 4-3 and showing improvement) thus far at Kentucky in 2+ seasons in the highly competitive SEC. But his first three recruiting classes were the best in school history based on Rivals.com rankings.
  
• During his stint at Miami coached such prominent players as Philip Buchanon, Kelly Jennings, Brandon Meriweather, Ed Reed, Antrel Rolle, Mike Rumph and Sean Taylor.
• Younger brother of both Oklahoma Coach Bob Stoops, and former Arizona HC Mike Stoops.

Clearly with his pedigree, experience, and impressive resume, he is worth a long look.

Let's now look at what I consider as his potential strengths and weaknesses for the job.

Strengths:

#1 Strong recruiter who is familiar with South Florida from his days at both Miami and Florida State.

#2 Outstanding defensive mind who has improved the D at every one of his stays.  Also typically prefers 4-3 over 3-4 looks. Though he and Wildcats DC D.J. Eliot  have shown multiple fronts at UK.

#3 Hands on and fiery leader.  Historically gets the most out of his teams and units.

#4 Has the background and connections to put together a strong staff behind him (given UM spends the money on assistants).

Weaknesses:

#1 Currently under contract at Kentucky though 2019 at 3.25M this year, with incremental raises up 4.25M by the final year.   Would UM pony up that kind of cash?  Would Stoops consider Coral Gables for less money?

#2 Though considered a very good coach, has yet to break through as a Head Coach (although only 3 seasons in). A lot of that has to do with being in the SEC, but is it worth taking a shot on a guy who has yet to win big at this level?

#3 If he was willing to leave one high profile job for another, who's to say he wouldn't do it again?

Summary: Let's be honest, this is a long shot.  Stoops makes too much money in Lexington. But if Miami's other top choices didn't take the position and Stoops was interested, I think this would be a very good hire. His teams always play hard, and there's no chance the 'Canes would be nearly as disorganized and unprepared defensively with Stoops in charge as they have been  the past few seasons.  And if he can bring Top 25 classes to Kentucky, there's no telling what he could haul in for UM. If this came to fruition the big q for me would be who he'd hire as his offensive coordinator.  Would he consider keeping James Coley?  Would he go for another big name?  Stoops would have the Hurricane D playing fundamental and aggressive, but what would become of the O?  Something tells me he'd figure it out, and turnaround the program within a year or two. Which of course would lead back to concern #2 and if he'd stay.  That'd be a nice problem to have though, considering the current sorry state of the program.

Stay tuned for more articles on potential candidates for the position in 2016, right here on SOTU.  Feel free to leave plenty of comments below on who you think should be the next Hurricanes Head Coach.