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Sentinel:
The University of Miami’s new president, Julio Frenk, has taken a backseat in the hiring of a football coach. This is a complete U-turn from previous president Donna Shalala, who was in the middle of vetting candidates and overseeing decisions.
Frenk wants the finalists – or perhaps the finalist – brought to him. So the question becomes who will be deciding on who that finalist is. The answer is it’s essentially a three-man committee involving athletic director Blake James and two Board of Trustee members with deep roots and deeper bank accounts, Paul DiMare and Stuart Miller.
Don’t discount the Board members’ political weight (and financial backing) here. Miller and his family’s homebuilding company, the Lennar Corporation, gave more than $221 million toward the school’s medical school, according to the university and reports.
DiMare’s latest donation to the school was $12.5 million, of which $6 million was to fund scholarships to the Leonard Miller Medical School. Leonard Miller founded Lennar. Stuart Miller is Leonard’s son.
See how this is all interconnected?
DiMare also has given $3 million in recent years to the athletic department. That’s why the Paul J. DiMare Gallery of Champions in the athletic building that showcases national championship trophies. His son, Gino, a long-time Hurricane baseball assistant, will take over as coach when Jim Morris retires in 2018.
It’s clear these names know business. Do they know what make this football program tick?
One of the first names that was reached out to was Mike Shula, according to a source. Shula is a respected name and becoming a hot commodity as Carolina’s offensive coordinator. He isn’t interested, it seems.
The larger question is whether he would have been right for the job. Does he have any connections with Miami high schools, which is the prime selling point for the job? Could he develop them quickly?
It says something more about the process that Shula was contacted last week and that whispers came from all over when he was. We’ll have to see where this goes. These are strong, influential and rich businessmen involved. They obviously love the university. They also were involved in the hiring of Al Golden during the previous coaching search.
The question becomes: Do they get the right coach for the job this time?
The University of Miami’s new president, Julio Frenk, has taken a backseat in the hiring of a football coach. This is a complete U-turn from previous president Donna Shalala, who was in the middle of vetting candidates and overseeing decisions.
Frenk wants the finalists – or perhaps the finalist – brought to him. So the question becomes who will be deciding on who that finalist is. The answer is it’s essentially a three-man committee involving athletic director Blake James and two Board of Trustee members with deep roots and deeper bank accounts, Paul DiMare and Stuart Miller.
Don’t discount the Board members’ political weight (and financial backing) here. Miller and his family’s homebuilding company, the Lennar Corporation, gave more than $221 million toward the school’s medical school, according to the university and reports.
DiMare’s latest donation to the school was $12.5 million, of which $6 million was to fund scholarships to the Leonard Miller Medical School. Leonard Miller founded Lennar. Stuart Miller is Leonard’s son.
See how this is all interconnected?
DiMare also has given $3 million in recent years to the athletic department. That’s why the Paul J. DiMare Gallery of Champions in the athletic building that showcases national championship trophies. His son, Gino, a long-time Hurricane baseball assistant, will take over as coach when Jim Morris retires in 2018.
It’s clear these names know business. Do they know what make this football program tick?
One of the first names that was reached out to was Mike Shula, according to a source. Shula is a respected name and becoming a hot commodity as Carolina’s offensive coordinator. He isn’t interested, it seems.
The larger question is whether he would have been right for the job. Does he have any connections with Miami high schools, which is the prime selling point for the job? Could he develop them quickly?
It says something more about the process that Shula was contacted last week and that whispers came from all over when he was. We’ll have to see where this goes. These are strong, influential and rich businessmen involved. They obviously love the university. They also were involved in the hiring of Al Golden during the previous coaching search.
The question becomes: Do they get the right coach for the job this time?
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