CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Devin Hester's decision was difficult. Miami coach Larry Coker felt the same way about his.
Hester, Miami's standout kick returner, will skip his senior season and enter the NFL draft. He revealed the plan Monday, hours after Coker fired four of his assistants following consecutive three-loss seasons.
Hester becomes the 11th Miami player to forgo his final season of eligibility for the draft in the last five seasons; seven of the previous Hurricanes who left early were first-round picks. He hasn't signed with an agent but said his decision is final.
"I know I'm a football player," Hester said. "No matter what opinion people have, that's fine with me. I'm just willing to go in right away and get with a team and help any way I can. I'm a player that's willing to do anything."
Hester's decision wasn't unexpected, but Coker's moves two days after the ninth-ranked Hurricanes lost 40-3 to No. 10 LSU in the Peach Bowl stunned most people around the program. Miami's head coach fired offensive line coach Art Kehoe, offensive coordinator Dan Werner, linebackers coach Vernon Hargreaves and running backs coach Don Soldinger.
Combined, the four fired coaches were involved with Miami football for 59 seasons.
"For me, it's definitely personally a very tough decision," Coker said. "But it's a decision I think had to be made. . . . We have high standards here, high standards are set and I think we have to work hard to live up to those standards."
Miami was 9-3 this season, and is 53-9 over Coker's first five seasons as head coach. But six of the losses came in the last two years, including the humbling Peach Bowl loss, the Hurricanes' worst defeat since 1998.
And Miami is almost certain to finish outside the AP Top 10 for the second straight season; that hasn't happened since before Coker took over in 2001.
"I'm very surprised. These coaches know how to win," offensive lineman Tyler McMeans, whose Miami career ended with the Peach Bowl loss, told the AP. "They've all been a part of great programs at Miami. There's going to be big changes for this program now, obviously."
Coker said Hester told him of his decision to leave Sunday night.
"We believe Devin would be better served by staying in school and finishing his degree and becoming more proficient as a football player," Coker said. "But we respect his decision."
Over his Miami career, Hester — who played cornerback, running back and wide receiver in addition to returning kickoffs and punts — averaged 17.7 yards every time he touched the football. On 117 interception returns, kick returns, catches and carries, he totaled 2,070 yards.
In recent weeks, Coker has said he would use Hester in a role like the one Southern California has in utilizing Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush. Lately, Coker even drew parallels between Hester and Bush.
Now, the parallel is that both seem likely to skip their senior years.
"I want to thank the coaches," Hester said. "They always were there for us and they always will. . . . Whatever their plans are for the future, I wish the best for them."
While Hester's future is in the pros, the former Miami assistants were pondering what their next moves are. Soldinger said Coker didn't give him an explanation for the move.
"If he can find somebody better, more power to him," said Soldinger, 61, who was at Miami from 1984-88 and again from 1995 through Monday. "Maybe he'll find younger. He won't find anybody better."
Werner's playcalling has been the subject of scrutiny for months in Miami. The Hurricanes entered the bowl season with the 60th-ranked offense in Division I-A in terms of yards per game. Last season, Miami ranked 66th in that department.
Coker said he was unhappy that Miami playmakers like wideout Sinorice Moss and tight end Greg Olsen, in his estimation, didn't get enough touches this season.
"I understand the profession," Werner said in a statement distributed by the school. "When the offense is not productive, it falls on my shoulders. I'm not happy with the decision, but I have to move on."
Kehoe was at the school since 1979, and coached on each of Miami's five national championship teams.
"I've got all the emotions raging inside of me right now," Kehoe said. "You've just got to quell yourself and just try to do something better for yourself and your family. . . . Last time I checked, we won more, we played in more big games, we'd done more in college football than anyone in the whole game."