Shannon hired by Miami; 'Bama-Rodriguez appears imminent

Defensive coordinator Randy Shannon was hired Thursday as the next coach of the Miami Hurricanes.

A source told CBS SportsLine.com that former Miami coach Jimmy Johnson had been lobbying hard on Shannon's behalf.

The hiring would seem to indicate that Alabama is close to finalizing a deal with West Virginia's Rich Rodriguez. It was widely reported Wednesday that Alabama had offered Rodriguez a contract.

Miami was known to have interest in Rodriguez but had already been spurned by its top two choices -- Rutgers' Greg Schiano and Wisconsin AD Barry Alvarez.

The 40-year-old Shannon would become the sixth black head coach currently at one of the 119 Division I-A schools, joining Mississippi State's Sylvester Croom, UCLA's Karl Dorrell, Buffalo's Turner Gill, Kansas State's Ron Prince and Washington's Tyrone Willingham.

A Miami native and graduate of the school, Shannon has spent most of his coaching career with the Hurricanes, first as a graduate assistant in 1991, a defensive line coach in 1992 and then as linebackers coach from 1993 through 1997.

He was with the Miami Dolphins from 1998-2000 as a defensive assistant and linebackers coach, then returned to the Hurricanes in 2001 as defensive coordinator -- and immediately helped the program win its fifth national championship in his first season back at Coral Gables.

He takes over for Larry Coker, who was fired last month after six seasons. He had three years remaining on his contract. He was 59-15 in six seasons with one national championship and another appearance in the Bowl Championship Series title game, but lost 12 games in the past three seasons -- including six this year, when the Hurricanes fell from the national rankings for the first time since 1999, a span of 107 weeks.

The AP contributed to this report.