Leach And Shannon Mentioned As Possible Replacements At Florida Atlantic

With Howard Schellenberger getting out of college coaching, Florida Atlantic has been looking for a replacement to take over the football program. A few names that have been thrown into the mix are Randy Shannon, Mike Leach, and former South Florida coach Jim Leavitt.

Athletic Director Craig Angelos told the Miami Herald he would consider Shannon or Leach as candidates for the job.


"Randy is a man of integrity, a first-class guy and first-class coach,” said FAU athletic director Craig Angelos, who worked at UM when Shannon was an assistant there. “I want to see if he’s interested.”

Angelos also has a good relationship with Leach: “I would consider Mike,” he said

He also said he would give a call to Jim Leavitt, who put South Florida football on the map and is now the linebackers coach for the San Francisco 49ers.

Leach does plan to coach again and has been mentioned with a few jobs since being fired by Texas Tech. That's if a school can get past the "issues" he had with Texas Tech. Apparently Maryland couldn't and that's why he's not coaching there now.

Shannon is rumored to be seeking a high profile west coast job and might be interested in the Arizona opening.   

The best bet for the job would be Leach, who has been linked to the job at New Mexico and recently UCLA if they happen to get rid of Rick Neuheisel. But I think they will land neither since I think Shannon prefers a bigger job and Leach might find a landing spot at Arizona. Just my opinion.