The rumors are spreading: Florida State offensive coordinator James Coley could be Miami's next offensive coordinator.

Settle down Canes fans. This Coley story is just rumor-driven for now.

Nothing we've heard out of UM today or even FSU suggests Coley is in the running. We're not even sure he's been interviewed or spoken to UM coach Al Golden yet. But be patient. It's not out of the realm of possibility he could be.

A source close to Coley told me this morning the 39-year old Miami High graduate and former offensive coordinator under Mario Cristobal at FIU in 2007 is definitely interested in getting into a position where he could call plays and make a name for himself. Right now at Florida State, head coach Jimbo Fisher calls play. Coley prepares the game plan all week and then on game days assists Fisher from the press box.

Although Coley is a Florida State grad, a return home to South Florida for obvious reasons would be appealing.

"I grew up on Northwest 4th Street and 18th Avenue, about two blocks from the Orange Bowl," Coley told our Susan Miller Degnan in the days leading up to this year's Orange Bowl. "The Orange Bowl was ‑‑ as kids in that community, that was our playground. Hide and seek and running onto the field and throwing the football, getting chased by the security guards, getting out of there, and parking cars. You might have parked at my house if you went to one of the games."

Coley has always had strong recruiting ties to South Florida throughout his career.

At Miami High from 1998-2000 he coached Roscoe Parrish and Andre Johnson. He then served as the offensive coordinator at Miami Norland when Dwyane Bowe and the Vikings won a state title in 2002. He was then a grad assistant at LSU under Nick Saban for two years before moving onto the Dolphins with him for two more years. At FIU, in Cristobal's first season as coach in 2007, the Golden Panthers finished just 1-11. It was Coley's only season as offensive coordinator (FIU was coming off an 0-12 season and terrible). Coley then moved onto FSU where he's worked as the tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator and now the offensive coordinator.

By taking Coley away from FSU it would also further help Miami's recruiting efforts and hurt the Seminoles, who lost a number of assistants. Is that a reason to hire an offensive coordinator away? No. But it's another reason to give Coley consideration.

Stay tuned to see if this develops into something legit.