I don't think the Miami players like Ken Dorsey who have publicly stated they understand Davis' decision are being disingenuous. It wouldn't be fair if they held a grudge against Davis given that they expect coaches to be understanding when players decide to leave school early for the NFL. If a player leaves school for the right reasons, they expect their coach to be supportive. The same thing can be said for a coach when he moves on to another job, especially a great opportunity in the NFL.

The denials by both Butch Davis and the Cleveland Browns that negotiations were ongoing is deceitful but is actually part of the normal lobbying by both sides you will find in most situations like this. You simply cannot believe denials in these cases until someone is actually hired. Everybody is a free agent given the extraordinary amounts of money involved at this level.

At the same time Butch Davis had to have been doing something -- besides going 11-1 -- in the last year or two to attract the attention of the Houston Texans and the Cleveland Browns. He had to give some indication that he was interested on some level despite his assurances to the folks at Miami. He was basically covering his bases in case things fell through. If he ended up back with the Hurricanes, it had to look like he wanted to be there all along. Behind closed doors he was excited about the prospect of going to the next level. Where there's smoke there's fire and the people in Miami were right to have been nervous about Davis.

The initial reaction for most people in South Florida was how Davis' defection was going to affect recruiting so close to national letter-of-intent day. Will they be able to defend and keep the kids who have already verballed. It was very important for the Miami program to immediately name Larry Coker as the interim head coach. It gives them a little stability through signing day.

Coker is a credible coach. He's proved over his tenure as offensive coordinator what he can do. The players love him. People are still waiting to see if Miami will opt to bring in a "hammer" -- a big name with instant credibility. But Coker has the ability to be a successful coach.