Posted by Will Brinson

Any time an NFL coaching gig becomes vacant, Jon Gruden's name gets tossed around as a potential replacement. But there's some spicy news simmering in South Beach right now -- the Miami Hurricanes are reportedly prepared to throw a lot of cheddar in Gruden's direction to make him their next head coach, following the dismissal of Randy Shannon on Saturday.

This report is stemming from a number of folks: CaneSport.com (Miami's Rivals site) cites sources who indicate Miami is prepared to make Gruden the highest-paid coach in Hurricane history, by giving him a $3 million per year offer, and the site likens Gruden in Miami to Pete Carroll at USC (minus, presumably, the bad stuff at the end of his tenure).

Lake Lewis, a former ESPN Radio host and now at SportsJourney.com, cites a "credible source" that says "the next coach at University of Miami is [Jon] Gruden. About 3 Million a year!"

Remember that this is all speculation at this point -- and, perhaps most importantly, only speculation of a potential offer to Gruden.

Obviously he has plenty of time to think about the offer (if it happens), because it's highly unlikely that he'd jump off the ESPN bandwagon before the end of the NFL season.

It would also be pretty surprising if Gruden decided to completely forego checking out what NFL jobs might be available following the end of the year. However, if he felt like a lockout might prohibit him from getting a gig right away, then Miami certainly offers a viable possibility for future coaching employment on a high-profile level.

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