Nix fired, wanted to open offense up

The Miami Hurricanes have parted ways with offensive coordinator Patrick Nix. Really, that's not much of a surprise. The bigger surprise -- what he told our Susan Miller Degnan after she, Barry Jackson and I spent the day trying to hunt him down.

Nix said he and Shannon split because of philosophical differences. "I wanted to be a little bit more wide open - no-huddle, spread out, go for it. And he wanted to be more two-back, conservative. It was a fine line in trying to balance the two. And not that one is better than the other, its just a different philosophy."

For most of Canes nation this may be seen as a relief -- especially after the way Miami's offense sputtered in the final two minutes of the Emerald Bowl. All season long, fans ripped into Nix for leading an offense which finished 89th in the country in total yardage despite finishing 3rd in the ACC in scoring at 24 points per game.

Monday afternoon I spoke with the father of quarterback Jacory Harris, who told me after relaying the rumors to his son that Nix was likely out that Jacory "sounded very disappointed." "He said he felt real bad for Coach Nix, but he understands this is all part of what big time football is about," Rodney Harris said. "He's always had a great relationship with Coach Nix, been to his house. He's always felt like he was a great guy."

The irony is if Nix's part of the story in relation to what he wanted with this offense is true, then Jacory Harris is not going to be happy with Nix leaving and Shannon staying. "I know the one thing Jacory would like to see with whoever the new coordinator is, is someone who will open up the offense a bit more. Jacory likes to open it up, throw the football. He wants to attack."

> Today's news is likely just the beginning of the changes. Several sources I spoke with this afternoon told me more changes are expected with other assistant coaches in the near future.

> I also consider today's Nix announcement the last straw for quarterback Robert Marve, who has been considering transferring for weeks. Nix and Marve were obviously close.