Friday morning update: As expected, Cam Wake is out for the season with a torn Achilles'. Derrick Shelby will replace him as the starting defensive end, with Terrence Fede and Chris McCain backing up Shelby and Olivier Vernon. McCain said he was moved from defensive end to linebacker three weeks ago.

FRIDAY BUZZ COLUMN

Former UM athletic director Sam Jankovich, who made great hires in Jimmy Johnson and Dennis Erickson and presided over a UM program that won seven national titles during his eight years (including three in football), has some sensible thoughts on how UM should approach this coaching search.

Here would be Jankovich’s advice to UM athletic director Blake James, who has done excellent work with facilities and fundraising and now faces his first big coaching hire.

He said it would be a mistake to limit the search to people with UM ties (“you should not close the door on others and get yourself emotionally involved”), said the failed Al Golden experiment should not rule out quality mid-major coaches, and said UM needs to reach out to candidates that some people might believe aren’t available.

“Before I hired Jimmy Johnson from Oklahoma State, everyone said no way in the world Jimmy would leave there,” Jankovich said. “Before I hired Dennis Erickson [from Washington State], everyone said Erickson would never go. Now, there are six or eight that might be gettable.

“Take Sonny Dykes at California. Cal has some real drawbacks – very tough program and the surroundings of it. [Mississippi State’s] Dan Mullen -- would you rather be there in [Starkville] or at Miami? I’m not convinced James Franklin wouldn’t get tired of the shadow of Joe Paterno at Penn State. I’m not convinced Bob Stoops wants to end his career at Oklahoma. I would reach out to anyone” who’s appealing but not perceived to be looking for a job.

Along those lines, some UM people believe Texas’ Charlie Strong, Georgia’s Mark Richt and Arizona’s Rich Rodriguez might emerge as candidates and that Sttrong and Rodriguez in particular would listen, despite the predictable denials from any employed coach.

Among mid-major coaches, Jankovich said: “You have to look at the guy at Memphis [Justin Fuente] and Houston [Tom Herman]. Even though I’m not an Urban Meyer fan, he has done a great job.” Herman previously was Meyer’s offensive coordinator at Ohio State.

Jankovich said UM “shouldn’t have to panic; you don’t want to get emotionally involved and say we have to hire Butch Davis or Greg Schiano because everyone is screaming.”

He does like some of the candidates with UM ties, including Alabama offensive line coach Mario Cristobal, because “if you are around Nick Saban, you are going to learn to be a great coach. You look at Jim McElwain [at Florida] as an example.”

Though Jankovich doesn’t believe it’s essential to hire a coach with UM ties, he said it is important to have multiple assistant coaches with Hurricanes connections who really “know what made this program tick and what made it compete on a national level.”

Jankovich said strong candidates would become even more attractive if they could bring a quality staff. He said James doesn’t need to hire a search firm (James hasn’t said if he will) because “that’s what you’re getting paid for.”

He doesn’t believe salary will be an issue. “Anytime you’re around $2.5 million, you can get up to $3 million,” he said. UM might approach $4 million for the right person if that's necessary.

“Of all the jobs that will open up --- I don’t know if USC will --- the best job out is this one [because] you can compete for the national championship,” Jankovich said. “What happened to Al is beyond me, but that team never improved. I don’t know if he was too loyal to his staff but you want to make sure the new coach can surround himself with really great people.”

CHATTER

### James holds former UM offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski in high regard, according to someone close to James, and it won’t be surprising if Chudzinski --- now the Indianapolis Colts’ associate head coach --- emerges as a serious candidate.

Chudzinski has been a head coach only once, for Cleveland. He was fired after finishing 4-12 in 2013. But he has been an offensive coordinator with UM and the Carolina Panthers and he’s well respected.

Among high-level Board of Trustee members, there is support internally for Chudzinski, Schiano and Carolina Panthers offensive coordinator and former Alabama coach Mike Shula. But this is James’ decision.

Cristobal is a polarizing candidate among some Trustees – his ability to recruit South Florida is attractive but there’s concern about how his tenure ended at FIU (3-9, and 27-47 overall).

Several Trustees said they would be surprised if Davis got the job, but UM will not automatically rule him out. Davis continued his media tour today, telling 790 The Ticket in a live interview that he would "very much" like the job.

### Whereas Dan Campbell changed a lot after replacing Joe Philbin, UM players Chris Herndon, Kc McDermott and Rayshawn Jenkins said interim coach Larry Scott hasn’t changed a single tangible thing from the way Golden operated.

The only difference, Jenkins said, is “we have more energy. He’s always telling people to run instead of walk.” Said Herndon: Scott “is a comedian. He connects with us, makes us laugh.”

### One UM official said there was nobody on the defensive staff qualified to replace Mark D’Onofrio as coordinator over the final five games, and D’Onofrio said he’s not surprised that he remains employed here after Golden’s firing.

### Got to love the no-filter candor from Chris Bosh. So is facing Cleveland on Friday still a big deal? “Hell yes, it’s a big deal! It’s on ESPN, isn’t it?... We want to get to the point where people have to measure themselves against us [not Cleveland].”

And after Justise Winslow’s outstanding opener, Bosh said Thursday what a lot of Heat people are feeling: “I’m glad everybody [nine teams] passed up on him…. He's a physical beast.”

Goran Dragic said teammates screamed, “Welcome to the league, Rook!” after Winslow’s electric dunk.

Incidentally, the Duke family is so close that coach Mike Krzyzewski texted Winslow before Wednesday’s game, and every Duke assistant coach texted him after.

### Winslow might get some time on LeBron James on Friday. Bosh's advice? "Stay between him and the basket."

Winslow won't ask for the assignment: "I'm prepared to guard all of their perimeter players, including him."

### Dragic said Erik Spoelstra told him he will “play the first six, seven minutes,” then go to the bench, then return with the second unit --- smart because he has great chemistry with Gerald Green (they played in Phoenix together).

“I know where Gerald is going to be,” Dragic said. “[And] Josh McRoberts helps a lot [on that group]. He makes the game easier for us.”

DOLPHINS REACTION

A reality check for the Dolphins tonight, who were pounded 36-7 in New England and lost Cam Wake to an Achilles' injury (Armando Salguero says he's out for the season), Ju'Wuan James to a toe injury (he was wearing a boot afterward) and DeVante Parker to another foot injury (Parker says it's not serious).

Ryan Tannehill threw for a hollow 300 yards (28 for 44) but had two picks, no touchdowns and a 64.6 passer rating. In his defense, there were several dropped passes.

Dan Campbell, afterward:

"We didn't play good enough. I told them I don't believe one bit that's really who we are. I told them I don't want them to forget that feeling. I hope it eats away at them like it eats away at me, so they don't have the feeling ever again. You can't make mistakes against that defense."

On a running game that produced only 15 yards on 13 carries: "I'm going to be watching the film and find out exactly what happened. We got beat in some one-on-one situations. We had a couple runs that weren't real good. On the sideline watching, that's what I saw."

On losing Wake, who was on crutches after the game: "If you lost a guy like Cam, it would hurt. Not only is he a leader, he's a very productive player."

On offensive penalties: "Those are killers. First drive out of the gate, we get a false start and holding penalty. Now you get into second, third and long against them, you can't allow that to happen."

For our scoop on Dan Jennings' dismissal (updated with quotes from Marlins executives tonight), please see the last post.... Twitter: @flasportsbuzz