After a two-week search, it appears that the Miami Hurricanes have found their next head coach.
ESPN's Bruce Feldman tweets that Temple head coach Al Golden is the choice.
Temple’s Al Golden has been offered and accepted the Miami coaching job, a source confirmed. The deal has not been finalized yet.
That last bit gives Miami (and Feldman) a bit of wiggle room, but Golden to Coral Gables has been long rumored as a possibility, and the move makes sense with Golden on the way up and Miami looking to avoid more mediocrity.
Golden's just 27-34 as Temple's head coach, but that record improves substantially since Temple joined the Mid-American Conference in 2007: Golden's Owls have been 26-23 since then, and were 9-4 and MAC champions in 2009 and 8-4 this year with a win over BCS participant Connecticut.
Golden's often been tabbed as a hot coaching candidate, and it has been assumed that his Penn State ties — he was a Nittany Lion tight end from 1987 to 1991 — would make him a candidate to replace Joe Paterno in State College. For the Hurricanes to grab him now shows a lot of confidence in his ability to make mid-major success translate into wins at a BCS school.