Longtime Miami defensive coordinator Randy Shannon will replace the fired Larry Coker as coach of the Hurricanes, The Miami Herald reported on its Web site Thursday.

The newspaper, citing an unidentified source, said Shannon accepted the job Thursday and that his hiring would be officially announced by the university today.

Shannon and Miami athletic director Paul Dee did not return calls from The Associated Press on Thursday, and university officials said they were aware of no pending announcements.

Last week, Dee said the university had “serious interest” in Shannon, even though the school was also speaking with Rutgers coach Greg Schiano – a former Miami assistant – and Texas Tech’s Mike Leach about replacing Coker, who was fired after the Hurricanes went 6-6 in the regular season.

Rodriguez to Alabama?

Alabama was still without a football coach Thursday night, though Crimson Tide officials were gearing up efforts to fill the vacancy.

Alabama reportedly offered West Virginia’s Rich Rodriguez the job. There was no agreement in place, but the two sides were still talking, a person with knowledge of the search told The Associated Press on Thursday night. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because no official decision had been made.

Alabama spokesman Doug Walker said the university did not have an announcement scheduled.

The Birmingham News reported on its Web site late Thursday that Rodriguez was offered more than $2 million a year with incentives and would have one of the highest-paid coaching staffs in the Southeastern Conference.

N.C. State taps O’Brien

North Carolina State didn’t need to go far to find a new football coach. In fact, the school didn’t even have to leave its own division in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

N.C. State is set to hire Boston College’s Tom O’Brien and is working out final details of a contract, a university official said Thursday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because a contract has not been approved by the school’s board of trustees, whose personnel committee has scheduled a teleconference for today.

Once a deal is complete and O’Brien changes addresses, it will add spice to a division rivalry that began when Boston College became the ACC’s 12th member before the 2005 season. This year, N.C. State beat Boston College, 17-15.