Spring ball is still weeks out and the new year is barely underway, but Al Golden is going on record regarding where the Miami Hurricanes stand entering 2012.
The Miami Herald and The Palm Beach Post both ran stories in the past day where Golden discussed the team’s youth, where things stand on the recruiting front and his shock regarding early departures to the NFL.
– In reference to Lamar Miller, Marcus Forston, Brandon Washington, Tommy Streeter and Olivier Vernon leaving early: “I was surprised,” said Golden.
“Any young man that leaves our program and wants to pursue an NFL career, we’ll support him. But I was surprised at how quickly the decisions were made and that many of them signed [with agents] prior to getting any feedback from the NFL [Draft] Advisory Committee, which I had never seen before in my 17 years of coaching.”
The “17 years of coaching” part sounds like a little jab on Golden’s part. An exclamation point or accent regarding how off-base the early departures of some players were.
– Which leads to another fact about 2012; this will be a young team. Golden expects fifty of eight-two kids on this year’s squad to be in their first or second seasons. With graduation and early departures, the Canes will lose thirty-five players from last year’s squad.
Miami expects to sign approximately thirty players on February 1st with at least seven new players enrolling for the spring semester that begins on Monday, allowing them to participate in spring practice (kicking off March 3rd).
– Cornerback remains a must-fix position on the current roster. Golden states that Miami “terribly” needs corners and let it be known that UM isn’t finished recruiting new players for the secondary.
– Coach Golden will go against the old MO of trying to leave a few scholarship spots open for late additions, instead wanting to finish off this class, riding the current momentum Miami has had recruiting as of late.
“I would strike while we’re hot,” said Golden. “We’re on a roll now. We’re doing very well.”
– For any who think quarterback Stephen Morris has a leg up on transfer Ryan Williams or incoming freshmen Preston Dewey and Gray Crow, think again. Golden refers to Morris’ past efforts as serving as an “apprentice” and while he says there’s an advantage, made it clear that this job – and all positions – are wide open.
“It’s always going to be open with me,” said Golden. “It’s always going to be earn-it-on-the-field. End of story.”
– As for who will lead these new offensive players, Golden seems certain that offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch will return to The U, even though his name has been mentioned for some NFL coordinator openings.
“I’m confident he will be back with us,” said Golden, in reference to Fisch.
– This year’s spring game will take place April 14th at Sun Life Stadium and will be open to the public. The other scrimmages will be held in Fort Myers (March 30th) and somewhere in Dade County, with a site and date yet to be determined.
Coach golden keeps taking care of business and I love it. There’s a professionalism that just didn’t exist with the last coaches. There is also a determination to succeed. It seems al golden will do absolutely everything in his power to succeed and failure is not an option for him. Can’t help but respect a man like that.
I like Golden’s comments regarding recruiting and early departures. That said, it will be a big blow if UM loses yet another OC. What will that make – nearly one new OC every year for the last ten years? UM can’t develop offensive/quarterback consistency without some stability at the OC position. That concerns me more than recruiting almost.
… agreed that’d be an issue, but worth worrying about if / when it happens.
Personally, don’t believe it makes any sense for Jedd Fisch to bail now. He just arrived at Miami with the intent of building a resume and one 6-6 season didn’t necessarily do that.
I could see him gone in a year or two, maybe three, but would be shocked if he wasn’t in Coral Gables for the 2012 season.
Why leave Seattle and the NFL for a beat-down Miami and the collegiate ranks, only to roll back to the NFL and a coordinator position a year later? Doesn’t add up.
It’s clear that Golden isn’t happy with the kind of players that he inherited but he is being a professional about it and that I have to respect immensely. The early departures of ANYONE outside of Lamar Miller was ridiculous and show the kind of attitude that was in place previously. Hearkens back to spring training when the players proclaimed they never worked so hard. That’s not to knock those guys at all because I never would, but I was just as shocked as Golden was. More to the point though is that he is building this program much like he did at Temple only with better caliber players. Program is in GREAT hands. This class will surprise some people and pull off 7 or 8 wins and start to be the foundation for an even better class next year. Hard work is back. Getting big and strong as well as fast is back. No title next year or the year after that but title hopes will loom soon enough. The ACC is terrible and that’s in Miami’s favor for now because it’s anybody’s to win with our only competition being FSU and I thank Golden gives us the best chance of taking advantage of that opportunity. Stay faithful Hurricanes fans (my Niners are in the NFC championship game after years of obscurity, all because of the right coach and talent FINALLY coming together).
Perhaps losing 35 is a blessing in disguise. It frees up some scholarships and gives the team a higher percentage of Golden recruits….which should, in turn, hasten the team’s turnaround process. There is so much potential at QB with Crow, Dewey, and Williams. I am really looking forward to next season. Golden is definitely pointing this team in the right direction.
Tracy Howard!!!
I agree completely with your assessment that Al isn’t too happy with the ‘character’ he inherited… It definitely goes to show where the players’ priorities were.
In large part, I will place the blame on RS…. the ‘sell’ Randy put on these guys was “come to the U and you will go the NFL” versus the appropriate sell of “come to the U and win a national championship”. Although I have no real proof of this, it is highly evident given some of the behavior both on and off the field this year. Leaving early after one good season? Meeting with Agents during the season? Kicked off the team and leaving the team bc of playing time? … it was silly really.
I remember Charlie Weiss having the same problem at ND and UF starting to have this issue. Once you start selling the NFL to recruits, you belittle the hard work it takes be successful in the collegiate level that will actually earn NFL opportunities, instead replacing it with entitlement.. “Dang coach, you said I would go pro, didn’t know I had to go to class, run and lift my ass off, and improve me skills”…