MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Vernon Hargreaves is happy to talk to you about the schools he's coached at in the more than 35 years he's been a football coach. He'll happily chat about coaching at his alma mater UConn, or in Conference USA at East Carolina, or his most recent stop at Howard.
He knows most people will be the most curious about his time with the U, the Miami Hurricanes, when the program underwent a renaissance under Butch Davis and Larry Coker, culminating in the 2001 national title.
But while the list of accomplishments and teams Hargreaves has coached is long, including 15 bowl appearances, with six in bowls currently part of the College Football Playoff, what really makes Hargreaves light up is sharing the stories of his players.