Someone from Miami must have been rummaging around in the dumpster outside Tom Jurich’s office for his old notes.

Speculation surrounding the search for a new football coach at Miami is strikingly similar to that which occurred in Louisville in the weeks before Steve Kragthorpe got the axe at the University of Louisville last season.

Even including the list of coaching candidates, with Jon Gruden’s name at the top.

All of the “insiders” were saying that a deal with the former Tampa Bay coach was imminent. That all they had to do was dot the I’s and cross the T’s. Ultra highly placed sources saying it was  a done deal. Flights were being tracked, people were meeting over lunch, the moving vans were next.

Jon Gruden would be announced within a day or so.

Even Colin Cowherd, a syndicated sports talk host, was saying Gruden was the guy, proclaiming Gruden would be a “rock star recruiter” or words to that effect, that Miami would go something like 48-4 over the next four seasons. Cowherd again with his unimpeachable sources.

Gruden, like last year, was saying nothing and not confirming anything. That’s because Gruden knows he’s much better off being on ESPN’s Monday Night Football. He told the San Francisco Chronicle Thursday “I knew there was a lot of speculation over the last few days, and for that, I’m sorry.”

Now fans on the Miami sports forums are throwing around names like Tommy Tuberville and Mike Leach, in another rewrite of the Louisville script from 2009. Charlie Strong’s name has been mentioned more than a few times. The only name missing is Butch Jones at Cincinnati.

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By Charlie Springer

Charlie Springer is a former Louisville editor and sportswriter, a public affairs consultant, a UofL grad and longtime fan.