UF's Strong, UM's Shannon longtime friends

Florida defensive coordinator Charlie Strong and Miami coach Randy Shannon have been friends long enough to know how competitive they are.

When Miami plays Florida at The Swamp on Saturday night, any handshakes or pleasantries before the game will be brief.

"You're friends before the game," Strong said. "But when that game starts, you just take that friendship, set it aside for a few hours and then at the end of the day you're back to where you were."

Strong and Shannon formed a bond as young, black assistant coaches in the early 1990s. Shannon was a graduate assistant at Miami when Strong coached defensive ends at Florida.

"Charlie and I go back a long way," Shannon said. "He's a tremendous coach, a tremendous person. He's had some opportunities along the way, and I'm really surprised because I expected that he would end up a head coach before I did."

Shannon was promoted from defensive coordinator to head coach at Miami after Larry Coker was fired following the 2006 season.

"In the coaching profession, we've always known each other," Strong said. "We've become great friends. He's done a great job at Miami, and we've talked, plus we're both in the state so the relationship has developed."

Strong actually was Florida's interim head coach the last time the Gators and Hurricanes played. With Strong replacing the recently fired Ron Zook, Florida lost 27-10 to Miami in the 2004 Peach Bowl. But Strong has yet to land a head coaching job despite recent interviews for vacancies at Minnesota and Cincinnati.

"He's done a tremendous job wherever he's been," Shannon said. "He deserves a chance."

Strong denied a rumor that Shannon approached him to become defensive coordinator at Miami shortly after he was hired. At the time, Strong was co-defensive coordinator at Florida with Greg Mattison. Strong is now back as the lone coordinator after Mattison left last spring for an assistant job with the NFL's Baltimore Ravens.

"It's just so hard because I've been here for so many years," Strong said. "It would be hard for me to leave here and go to Miami. I just couldn't do that.

"I think he knew my relationship here, and just my loyalty here. He didn't even really approach me with that. I think it was all over the Web sites or whatever, but it never happened, it never came down to a conversation."