College football needs The U to be relevant

                    

	The days of opponents being intimidated by Miami's entrance are long over. Eliot J. Schechter/Getty Images

The news that the University of Miami had willfully released Larry Coker from his obligations coaching the Hurricanes football program wasn't much of a surprise. The once mighty 'Canes had stumbled to a 6-6 finish this season, needing a season-ending win over Boston College and a loss by noted college football powerhouse Virginia to secure a postseason invitation. And in which mighty bowl game will they be competing? Nothing's written in stone just yet, of course, but SI.com's own Stewart Mandel says the 'Canes will go to the venerable MPC Computers Bowl, which would allow the Miami to escape the oppressive winter balm of Coral Gables and decamp to lovely Boise, Idaho.

Coker's departure is probably understandable; He had only been able to win 80 percent of his games over the last six years. Last Monday, Coker told the assembled media, "I'm proud of what we've done here. I don't know how that's perceived around the country or whatever. There's not a hint of an NCAA investigation. We graduate our players more now than they ever have at this university."

"It has been evident this season that we have not progressed," Miami president Donna Shalala said in a statement. "It is time for us to reclaim our national championship tradition."

After all, what is progress? Is progress making the team better academically? Is progress having closer connections to the surrounding community? Is progress selling more jerseys and being fashion-forward?

Of course not. Progress, plain and simple, means winning games, and winning as many of them as possible. Which still isn't exactly why Coker had to go.

For all of us who watch college football, the most heartening piece of President Shalala's comments is the part about "tradition." Because when I was growing up, Miami wasn't just the University of Miami; they were The U, a dominant, swaggering football program based loosely around a school.