Always seems the the case in the wake of an embarrassing loss; the knee-jerk mindset of the average fan.
Al Golden has stated it since day one. This rebuild is a “process”. He arrived with a phonebook-sized binder and sold UM’s top brass on his vision.
He sized up the program when taking over at the end of 2010. Miami was stinging from an overtime loss to South Florida and was weeks away from being embarrassed by Notre Dame in the Sun Bowl. When the season was finally in the books and the keys handed to Golden, the Canes had amassed a 35-29 record since the 2005 post-season; a 40-3 loss to LSU in the Peach Bowl.
Year one could prove to be the most difficult 6-6 season ever coached. A huge scandal dropping weeks before kickoff. Suspensions of key players lasting anywhere between one and six games. No continuity. Different line ups every game. Heartbreaking, last-second losses. Newbies thrown in the fire out the gate, expected to perform like seasoned veterans.
When it was all over, Miami would self-impose a bowl and and soon after the .500 season was in the books, a mass defection from upwards of a half dozen starters that the Canes hoped to rely on as season two of the Golden Era got underway.
Lost in the shuffle of a disappointing season – the ability to pluck any good out of all that bad. Focusing on any degree of progress proves difficult when the losses continue piling up. Only once last season did Miami win two games in a row. The other five times the Canes won games in 2011, the following week resulted in a loss and another back-to-the-drawing-board experience.
Looking To Place Blame Somewhere
After a 52-13 loss to Kansas State week two of season two, defensive coach Mark D’Onofrio is the villain as far as most fans are concerned. Even a 41-32 win at Boston College didn’t come without a price. The Canes gave up 537 total yards to the Eagles. 441 in the air and 96 on the ground. A week later the Wildcats did their damage. 52 points. 498 total yards. 210 in the air and 288 with the feet.
Eight quarters of football and UM has since surrendered 1,035 yards and 84 total points. The defense also lost safety Vaughn Telemaque for at least a week and linebacker Ramon Buchanan for the season – bot seniors, meaning even more freshmen will be relied upon.
Theories are already flying in regards to loyalty and friendship could cost Golden his job as he and D’Onofrio have been locked at the hip since their playing days at Penn State. Fourteen games in, some fans want the second-year defensive coordinator gone and are reaching for their media guides in effort to cite an example where a previous leader cut ties with a coordinator.
A week after Miami lost 66-13 to Syracuse late in the 1998 season, a make-up game was played against UCLA and the Canes upset the No. 2 Bruins, 49-45. The reward for the 8-3 regular season was a Micron PC Bowl berth against NC State and Miami won, 46-23.
Three games, 134 points given up and within days, defensive coordinator Bill Miller was fired by then-head coach Butch Davis, which has been a bit of a rallying cry this week for those in the anti-D’Onofrio camp.
Davis brought in Greg Schiano over the next two seasons, which a decade later many revere, though their long-term memories prevent them from recalling precisely how folks felt about both Davis and Schiano at the time.
The Penn State last-minute bomb. The blown 23-3 lead to lowly East Carolina. Down 28-0 at Boston College before a furious comeback. The inability to stop Marquis Tuiasosopo in the loss at Washington. Giving up 565 yards to Florida State, almost blowing a 17-0 halftime lead.
The Davis Era is revered in hindsight, with fans forgetting the degree to which they seethed during those days. Butch had his share of game day mistakes and personnel blunders. (Who can forget him arguing with Ryan Clement against Virginia Tech in 1996 – debating going for it or kicking a field goal, getting hit with a delay of game in the process, having to then attempt the field goal and missing.)
A five-year drought against both the Seminoles and Hokies. Two losses to lowly East Carolina. A few losses to Pitt. The 47-0 debacle in Tallahassee. The rout at Syracuse. It wasn’t all BCS games and first round draft picks, people.
Seems the Butch everyone chooses to remember is the post-Washington era, sparking the 34-game win streak and four straight BCS games, as well as his leaving the cupboard loaded when bailing out like a thief in the night – all of which made his first five years forgivable and forgettable.
No, no one wants to remember the fact he took over a 10-2 team that finished No. 3 in the land the year prior, or the “From National Champs to National Chumps – Thanks Butch!” banner that flew over the Orange Bowl in the late nineties. He’s simply a recruiting guru and if he were handed the keys tomorrow, he’d have UM back in the hunt by November, by God.
If anything, Davis’ era should give Miami fans hope that when a good recruiter with a game plan gets on board, with enough time he can point things in the right direction, building the necessary depth needed to compete.
Don’t Believe The Hype; Talk Is Cheap
Golden has stated that youth is no excuse and that he expects these kids to win now. He’s also stated, after seven career losses at Miami, that some guys didn’t do their job, but that the onus is on the coaches to make sure they do.
One word; coach-speak.
Golden cannot – nor should he – come out and state that Miami is going to fail this year for any reason, even as logical a they may be. What good general ever led his troops into battle, stated that they were outnumbered and were all going to be killed? Not exactly the words of great motivators.
No, Golden, and any good coach, is there to fire up his kids and to keep them believing that they can achieve anything – but as fans, logic needs to kick in and expectations need to be tempered.
In 2011, many an offense had their way with a young Miami team. Danny O’Brien passed for 348 yards in the opener at Maryland and the Terps amassed 499 yards. Collin Klein and Kansas State piled up 398 yards. Virginia Tech racked up 482 yards with Logan Thomas going 23-of-25 and throwing for 310. The following week North Carolina totaled 429 yards.
But as the season went on, some progress as the defenders started playing assignment football and tightening things up. Five of the final six games of the season had Miami’s D showing up.
Only 211 yards and seven points surrendered to Georgia Tech. 342 yards and 14 points to Duke, in a game where Miami put up 45.
The Canes held the Noles to 259 total yards, 13 first downs, 63 rushing yards and 16 offensive points and a week later played strong at South Florida, where the Bulls only tallied 249 total yards and a field goal.
The story of the season finale against Boston College was four interceptions, but even with that the Canes held the Eagles to 349 total yards and 17 offensive points and while the second half of the season wasn’t national championship-worthy, it showed marked improvement.
So why didn’t that improvement carry over? A lack of depth, an abundance of depth and a mass exodus, unfortunately.
Key Losses Proving Harder To Deal With Than Hoped For
Miami’s defensive line is getting manhandled early this season and while the losses of Luther Robinson and Curtis Porter have hurt, the early-to-the-NFL guys are what really left a mark.
Micanor Regis and Marcus Robinson graduated, which is filed under the way the game is played – but Marcus Forston and Olivier Vernon leaving early, as well as Adewale Ojomo not being granted another season due to injury – that’s five departures when it should’ve been no more than two.
The Canes are a different defense this year with Forston, Vernon and Ojomo. Period. You want to be mad at someone? Point that frustration towards guy who committed to the U Family and bailed out without doing what they were supposed to do – not a second-year assistant working tirelessly to fix a decade’s worth of problems.
The Canes also lost Sean Spence and JoJo Nicolas to graduation, which again is the name of the game, but when coupled with all the other losses, the guys who didn’t pan out or the Ray-Ray Armstrong type, guys who blew second and third chances at redemption – you have a clearer picture as to why things completely unraveled at Kansas State.
Offensively you look at the starters, the issues and the breakdowns. The loss of Allen Hurns isn’t the end of the world if Tommy Streeter is still lining up on the other side. The weight of the world isn’t on the shoulders of Duke Johnson if Lamar Miller is still out there making plays. The offensive line isn’t so dependent on a true freshman or man-child if Brandon Washington came back for one more, as he should’ve.
It was easy this off-season to play the ‘sayonara’ card with those five who bailed early and when you add Ojomo and Armstrong to the mix, that’s seven starters gone from a team that could nil afford to lose one, and it’s wreaking havoc.
There was a great post on a UM message board days back regarding the defensive struggles. A fan who actually articulated his thoughts, broke down the differences between dumping a current scheme versus adjusting to the players a coach currently has, examples of coaches who did or didn’t, as well as screen caps highlighting Miami’s defensive lowlights.
The writer points out Al Groh and two years of struggles as defensive coordinator at Georgia Tech. 6-7 year one and 8-5 last year before getting to 1-1 in 2012, including an overtime loss at Virginia Tech which the Yellow Jackets’ offense gave away in overtime.
Personnel is the name of the game and three years in, Groh is finally building the defense that works for him. He didn’t take the short cut, simply sticking to the old way and plugging guys in.
Players were forced to learn a new system, kids were recruited for that system, growing pains were taken on the chin – and in the loss column – but it was all done knowing that in time, there would be growth and the new way would be ‘the way’.
Golden and D’Onofrio are building the system they believe in. It’s their coaching philosophy, which isn’t right or wrong – it’s simply an opinion.
Revisionist History Regarding The Way Things Were Defensively
As explained in the post, Randy Shannon recruited and built this current defense, based on his philosophy.
“Shannon’s defense was built on speed. His philosophy upfront was to shoot gaps while also using hybrid strong safeties / linebackers known as “tweeners”. These players where normally too slow to play free safety, but big enough to play linebacker. Those linebackers could cover tight ends and running backs man-to-man.”
He goes on to explain how current kids would be used in Shannon’s system, versus D’Onofrio’s system and the fallout has been more revisionist history, with some clamoring for that old school defense – and even Shannon – to return to coach it.
It should be noted that Shannon’s defense was the scheme Miami ran this past half decade. The same defensive scheme that allowed LSU to roll UM, 40-3 in the Peach Bowl and same one that allowed Louisville to whoop Miami, 31-7 three games later.
It was the defense Shannon pushed Tim Walton, Bill Young and John Lovett to run when under his command the past several years and one that accounted for upwards of thirty losses between 2006 and 2010.
Shannon’s Cover 2 Man worked just fine with a monster defensive line, heady linebackers and speedy, athletic, stick-to-you-like glue safeties. As Shannon lost the marquee players, his defense too lost its luster.
The 2003 Canes’ defense was dominant-as-hell, to the point that four players went in the first twenty-one picks of the 2004 NFL Draft – safety Sean Taylor, linebackers Jon Vilma and D.J. Williams and defensive tackle Vince Wilfork.
Five games into the next season, the Canes’ defense was getting picked apart by clever offensive coordinators and over a three week span Miami gave up 38 to Louisville, 31 to NC State and 31 to North Carolina – 100 points and 1,492 yards surrendered over twelve quarters by a defense that was tops in the nation the prior year, simply due to a few key losses.
It’s not as much about scheme right now; it’s all about personnel. When Shannon had great players, his scheme looked flawless and the Hurricanes were dominant. When he had lesser players, his defense had its issues and Miami lost some games.
Look at ever UM roster the past decade and find a more depleted, depth-starved defense than Miami is currently starting. Between the early departees, players booted and handful of injuries, this is a shell of a defense and the inability to shut down a potent Kansas State offense becomes understandable when you peel things back a layer.
Miami started four seniors on defense last Saturday, two of which became starters by default after others departed.
Neither Brandon McGee or Darius Smith was a perennial starter and go-to defender the past few years. They spent the majority of their careers on the bench after losing battles spring after spring against better players.
Buchanan and Telemaque were the others; a linebacker banged up most of his career and a safety yet to live up to the hype. It should also be noted that neither will start this weekend as both are out due to injury – Buchanan for the season and Telemaque for the week – so in other words, a depth-challenged and way-too-young defense just took another hit.
Four sophomores and one freshman started last week, while the second string boasted three sophomores and three freshmen. A championship-caliber defense this is not, and it didn’t take the Kansas State debacle to show that – just a quick glance at the pre-season depth chart.
The jury remains out on Coach D’Onofrio and must for at least this season, if not longer. Calling for the man’s firing two games into season two is knee-jerk and off-base.
He may succeed or he may fail, but regardless, it takes time to implement a new scheme and if a coaching staff does choose to go with the new, instead of the quick-fix, going against their personal philosophy and conveniently sticking with the old, there are going to be tremendous growing pains and a pile of losses. It’s been proven in the past and is unfolding right now in Coral Gables.
More than time, it also takes the right players, which certainly isn’t the case with this year’s Hurricanes.
Golden and D’Onofrio need a few more recruiting classes – and saying that isn’t about backing either of them; it’s about backing this program and giving things the proper time to be corrected.
If there could be a huge defensive drop-off between 2003 and 2004 at UM, due to four lost starters, there’s going to be some serious backsliding between 2011 and 2012 after the Canes lost eight key pieces from last year’s 6-6 campaign. That’s just the truth, whether you want to swallow it, or not.
“The Process” continues. Fans can either get on board and support it, or can stick their heads in the sand for at least another year as things could get worse before they start getting better. Either case, what will be will be, despite how much you shake a fist.
For the rest of you, Keep Calm and Cane On.
Christian Bello has been covering Miami Hurricanes athletics since the mid-1990s. After spending almost a decade as a columnist for CanesTime, he launched allCanesBlog.com. – the official blog for allCanes.com : The #1 Canes Shop Since 1959. Bello has joined up with XOFan.com and will be a guest columnist at CaneInsider.com this fall. Follow him on Twitter @ChristianRBello.
It is so frustrating to see the fans already throwing the towel in. This is a very young defense and they are simply going to get killed for no other reason than lack of experience. Stick with D’Onofrio and by next year and certainly in two years I think we will see one of the top defenses in the nation. If not, then we can talk replacement. Bottom line is this team is two years away from being a true contender and it is our job as fans to support the U all the way. Miami didn’t need to reload…they had to be rebuilt and now we want to tear down the house and fire one of the contractors before the drywall is even up? I was there when we beat BC, I will be there when FSU stomps us, I will be there when we have to gut out a win at Virginia…as a Cane fan I will always be there and any true fan of the U should be as well.
Knee jerk reaction my ass. The scheme and plan that was in place needs to be changed…..This is not Temple…this is not a place where you can go 6-6 and get beat 53-13 and say be fuking patience. This is a prideful City. The Marlins ain’t ish!…but let them go to the World Series, SELLOUT! K-state and BC are not elite teams and we give a freakin Mile and 84pts. This is not a great coached team. Last yr wasn’t a great coached team. WHEN IS GOLDEN GOING TO BLAME HIMSELF…thats what other good coaches do. They won’t be putting in on the players and being..We wasn’t young last yr.
This is not Temple, MF you don’t have 4 yrs to become relevant….by that time the whole city will forget about you. This is Eastern Michigan Eskimo gay!
MF you don’t have 4 yrs to become relevant….by that time the whole city will forget about you.
(1) UM has been irrelevant for well over four years already.
(2) In Miami, you can be irrelevant for as long as it takes – you have have to start winning again at some point. The 305 will gladly jump on the Canes bandwagon whenever they start winning again. Please. Please were shaving “U SWAG” into the sides of their heads three years ago after a 7-6 team opened 2-0, with wins over Florida State and Georgia Tech.
(3) Judge this staff after they’ve had a few years to right the ship. Ranting and raving after fourteen total games is ridiculous. Program erodes from within for a decade and fans want it fixed overnight. Typical Miami.
(4) The Canes were 35-29 between 2006 and 2010 before Al Golden took over. Swallow that and marinate on it for a while.
(5) If Miami is such a ‘prideful’ city, why do people fall hook, line and sinker for the sorry-ass Dolphins every year? Garbage-ass franchise that hasn’t sniffed a championship in four decades – and one that celebrated the f**king Florida Gators on UM’s home field last year – yet fans still turn out in droves to watch those bums. Stop.
I am so glad to finally read that someone has some sense on how the U got to where we are.
From the end of the Crooker era to the meltdown of the shitnan era, the recruiting was terrible. How can we expect a swift turnaround with the talent left from that time frame.
Genron, Dude seriously, you are ridiculous. Instead of ranting, try reading. Maybe your comprehension is lacking, but almost everything you complain about is spelled out in post you are commenting on.
And please tell me, WTF is this: “WHEN IS GOLDEN GOING TO BLAME HIMSELF…thats what other good coaches do.”
As far as Golden taking responsibility:
Miami Herald transcript of Golden’s K State post game press conference : ” The bottomline is you lose in all three phases that’s the coaches fault. That’s on me.” Sounds like he’s blaming himself right there.
Bottom line, know what you are talking about before you start talking sh%t. You are the typical knee-jerk reactionary “fan”. On another note, I didn’t know they had any Eskimos in Eastern Michigan – gay or straight.
Allcanes – keep up the great work. I went to those games in the 90’s and I will be out there for every game this year, as always. GO CANES!
Raisin – Thanks for the words. Unfortunately some folks just aren’t going to get it. A guy like Genron is hardly the minority. That type of argument comes for a big portion of this fan base — people who just expect the wins to roll up because this “The U”, because of the run in the 80s/90s (and the shit-talking / swag that accompanied those wins), as well as all the greats who have played for this program.
Amazing how coaches can’t win, either. Golden says ‘no excuses’ and shoulders all the blame, yet some still can’t read between the lines — that he’s doing what coaches are supposed to do, despite being undermanned, playing with freshmen and having a huge learning curve.
You just wish that those with the doom-and-gloom or negativity would just hide for the next few years. It’s not like the realists or optimistic folks are trying to tell the negative folks to come over to this side — we’re simply asking the to be logical and to quit spewing so much venom in the process.
I really think people and fans want results now. Like commented above, this is a rebuild, not a reload. This takes time, not just a few games under new coaches watch. I want continuity with the coaches. Not someone being dumped out the door after a loss. I know a few NFL teams where a new rookie QB has had five offensive coordinators in five years. This does not help in the least.
I am from Ohio (tired of listening about the Buckeyes) and have been a Hurricanes fan since 1985. Lets give this staff some time and patience. The young players getting reps, playing so young will pay off in the end. I would love to see Al Golden’s team stick together, and move forward.
Michael – Fans absolutely want results now and based on how long this program has been down, that is MORE than understandable. Unfortunately Al Golden and staff are paying for the sins of past coaches.
The ‘rebuild’ should’ve started around 2007 and Miami should’ve started showing real progress by 2010 – the year after Shannon got his team to 9-4. If the Canes were really progressing under Randy, they go 10-3 in 2009, beating Wisconsin in the bowl game (or reach a better game as they never should’ve lost to Clemson) and take a real step towards an ACC title and BCS game in 2010.
Instead the program went 7-6, Randy was fired and a new rebuilding project was on the docket — pretty much making the previous four years painful and worthless.
Sucks like hell that results aren’t coming now … but Larry and Randy set the program back and now it’s on Al to move it forward – and he deserves enough time to get it done.
The fans who want D’Onofrio and Golden fired now are the same type of people who stand in front of a microwave oven and yell “hurry!” I’m as disgusted as any fan but realize we need to build. That said, we need to see some steady progress on D, and across the board, even if we still lose some games. Lack of reasonable and steady progress on D might be cause to go in a new direction on DC next year.
You’re not going to find many Canes fans who still support D’onofrio. Sorry, but thats just reality. Call us delusional or having too high expectations. Many are still behind Golden but have all but abandoned ship on No-D
Just wanted to take a second and say thanks for continuing to be a “realistic” voice of reason in the Cane community. I have come to believe that the hardest part of being a Canes fan is the other Canes fans.
I want this team to turn the corner as much as anyone and I believe that Golden is the man who can get that done. However the cards are just stacked against him. Any rational person would recognize everything that Coach has had working against him since he stepped foot on campus.
Now all that being said you can take it even further and try looking around the country at some other teams. Like it or not these games happen. Miami was an underdog, expected to lose. A young, inexperienced team going up against a much more experienced and established team on the road. I sure didn’t expect that implosion but I’m guessing Clemson fans didn’t expect to have 70 hung on them by West Virginia in the Orange Bowl last year, a way worse loss in my opinion. Last time I checked they didn’t fire the entire coaching staff. Or more recently, the same day the Canes were getting whooped I don’t think anyone expected #8 Arkansas to lose at home to…. Louisiana Monroe? Seriously how is that not a worse loss?
I’m not saying I’m happy about any loss, and this one was particularly embarrassing. But I still pulled on my Canes shirt and hat the next morning and went out and represented my team. Yeah I have been taking a lot of lumps from my friends who are Gator or Noles fans but I’ve also given it out to them so I’ll take it. I’ve said it on here before and I’ll say it again, you don’t get to call yourself a fan by showing up and cheering when they’re winning. You are a fan when you show up and support them on Saturday versus Bethune Cookman a week after a beat-down. It is way to soon to judge anyone on this coaching staff, especially with what they have had to work with. Show up and support your team and the coaches, show some patience and some restraint…. GO CANES!!!!
Beast, pretty sure this is your work, if not whoever wrote it, wrote a great article, one that should be required reading for all CANES fan’s. This CANE fan and Golden fan will continue to support this team and this staff. When you have upwards of 30 freshman or redshirt freshman in your two deep things like this last lost happen. Coach Golden like most of those coaches before him should be given a minimum of 4 years to get his plan implemented. I realize that my thoughts are currently in the minority amongst most CANES fans but I like the direction Coach Golden is taking this program. Other than last year, when was the last time Temple had a first round draft pick or multiple players taken in one draft? I personally can’t remember any and that alone makes me believe that Coach Golden and this staff will right this ship. GO CANES
Hemicane – I wrote it (Christian Bello). Beast handles allCanes Radio but doesn’t write much for allCanesBlog.com anymore. Any article he’s ever written here has his name in the title. I started this blog around 2005, after writing for CanesTime.com since the mid 90s, and welcomed Beast here as a guest columnist.
As for Golden, he took a garbage program at Temple and did something special there. Some point to the teams he didn’t beat and what not — but they’re missing the bigger point; that the Owls were 3-31 when he took over and were damn near ready to set the program on fire. Bowl games and 9-4 seasons up there in Philly with that program are like 12-0 in South Florida.
Golden has his work cut out for him, but he deserves time to do so (based on what he took over). Fans need to save the judgment until somewhere around 2014, frustrating as that may be to hear.
Not the Beast. Canes305 wrote it. Beast handles allCanes Radio but doesn’t write much for allCanesBlog these days.
Admin, when should the “rebuild” in baseball start. I know, we,re talking football right now. But baseball is heading down the same Coker trajectory. Should we stop the slide right now (like cokers 3rd non-recruiting year). Or should wait another year, hire the assistant who quit because he said he didn,t want to travel, and have 8 years of bad baseball.
We see what happened to football. Should we let the same thing happen to baseball. Why not learn from the “football mistakes”.
Ken – Honestly, save the baseball chatter for January. We’ve talked baseball enough this past season. You want Morris gone and have pimped your guy from Virginia. We get it. Baseball is different than football. It’s not about eighty-five players and a full-on rebuild. Canes baseball just needs some key players and recruits that don’t bail last minute for MLB. Not like UM baseball is tremendously off. Add a few solid guys into the mix and UM can right the ship. And on that note, no more baseball talk until January.
Nice article..But D corch sucks..
BTW, why didn’t the writer cite the HS coach that put up some shots of D corchs Pre-snap aligment and it was clear that BC would get many yards on that play (and they did)..For anyone to compare RS as a DC vs D’OhNOfrio is laughable to say the least..
This scheme calls for the DL to stay engaged to his OL in rushing downs, but how the hell will the players react when it is play-action or screens? ANSWER: Well, Miami is getting raped and the clown says he needs time..LOL..
yosef – As I stated at the end of the piece, too soon to tell if Mark D’Onofrio will fail or succeed at Miami. Neither would come as a shock. Either way, he has a lot of work to do on that side of the ball AND he deserves some time to implement his system and to recruit his players. That defense lost eight starters and key players from last year. Any progress made last year went down the drain when so many players were lost.
As for the Shannon / D’Onofrio “comparison”, I never made one, so don’t put those words in my mouth. The example given here is that when Randy had the horses, his defense worked. When he didn’t, the defense got chewed up big time. (Even as head coach, it was his defensive scheme that was run by Walton / Young / Lovett.)
Mad as fans are, can’t really judge D’Onofrio three games into season two, with so many holes and the huge lack of depth on that side of the ball.
I see I must chime in. Fans absolutely want to win now. What fan you know buys a ticket to see the team struggle and walks away from the game smiling. Couple that with Coach D’s remarks about only caring about what his wife and kids think him and not the UM fan base, and now you have an explosive situation. Another thing to point out is that, we can understand a rebuilding process if the kids weren’t good, but year in and year out these kids make nfl rosters and produce a la Sam Sheilds….so but talk to me about talent because the talent is there!! Coaches have to create an competitive advantage with the talent they have.
As far as comments about Shannon’s defense getting stomped by LSU’s team 40-3. I believe that season the DEFENSE carried Miami the whole season due to a subpar offense. The refs shitted on the Mia defense during the GT game which would have put us on track for a ACC Championship game and we beat all our major rivals during the season….so yeah I’ll take that defense. Also Bill Young took shannon’s defense to Ok State and the proof is in the record there. So lets not say the Miami defense LET THE FANS DOWN DURING THE SHANNON ERA.
Now back to this years team. If a fan believes that he is smarter than the coaches than you have a major problem. If a fan is at home screaming at the tv telling the db to play closer because its a 3rd and 2 and the opposing offense converts on a short pass in an area that the db should have been had he not played 10 yards off the line; thats frustrating as hell. Now let that happened throughout a whole game, or better yet a game like UNC last year and BC this year a blowout turns back into a nail biter in final minutes….smh. Futhermore, where else is this defense played. Let me watch how that team perform so I can see where this Mia team is lacking. I’D RATHER SEE A SERMON THAN TO HEAR ONE ANY DAY.
Good points about the 2005 defense helping carry that sluggish offense. Definitely don’t disagree with that, but again, further proof that with good personnel, the scheme worked. There were some good players on that team. Jon Beason. Baraka Atkins. Kareem Brown. Calais Campbell. Antonio Dixon. Tavares Gooden. Marcus Maxey. Rocky McIntosh. Brandon Meriweather. Eric Moncur. Kenny Phillips. Randy Phillips. Anthony Reddick. Glenn Sharpe, Daryl Sharpton. Leon Williams.
Honestly, that sounds like a national championship caliber defense in comparison to what Miami is fielding this year.
Still, that defense gave up 468 yards to LSU in the bowl game — 272 on the ground. The Miami offense was a joke that night (1-of-12 on third down conversions?), but the D was getting chewed up pretty good rather early when facing the first real team it’d seen all year.
(Yes, Virginia Tech was ranked #3 but Marcus Vick was entirely overrated and Miami at his lunch, which killed them.)
Was never implying or saying that the Miami defense let anyone down and if that’s what you took from this, I suggest a re-read. I made it pretty clear that the issue was the personnel. When Randy had the player, his defense absolutely worked. When he didn’t have the bodies, the defense struggled, which we saw between 2006 and 2010, when his scheme was still in place, but the losses kept piling up.
Unreasonable expectations. These angry fans seem to believe that we had a top tier program and that Golden and Co. have trashed it. Delirium? While the game has advanced the last 7-10 years, the U has repeatedly taken steps backwards. From bad recruiting classes to bad coaches, it has spiraled downward.
It will take a least a few more years to correct.
Yeah, yeah Cane fandom needs to CHILL and let the Golden One’s ‘ process ‘ evolve and what not. dUh
But to get MOLESTED on national telly and allow a BELOW-AVERAGE Boston College pass all over the field on Miami. Give me a break.
Chit, Miami is very, very, very fortunate B.C. had TWO top- notch, game changing offensive players on Injured Reserve. Otherwise, that game would’ve been a loss!
I can wait and hope the PROCES eventually allows Miami to become a Top 25 team. But to get EMBARRASSED on national telly. Well, that’s another Hurricane matter.
And dig this U’all loyal Miami fandom. With D’ Onofrio on the sidelines, Miami WILL NOT be a legitmate Top 10 team. Let alone win an OCCASIONAL A.C.C. championship. Bloody well GUARANTEE.
Simply because this is B.C.S. territory now and not the LOWLY M.A.C. or W.A.C or whatever the freak’ conference the Dynamic Duo come from. Eh.
And dig this Miami college pigskin fans. Golden’s team absolutely better defeat MIGHTY Bethune Cookman by AT LEAST 24 points +. Otherwise, Cane fans will want to CRUCIFY U know who!
However, with D’ Onofrio’s defense NOBODY knows what type of game Hurricane fandom will witness on Saturday.
Bon jour
Lets get one thing straight, most people support Golden, they just have no confidence in No’D. Everyone can bring some facts that debunk the others’. For example, we or on pace to give up more yards and points than any year Golden was at Temple, do you think Miami now is worst that Temple when Golden took over? You are right, in Golden needs time, time to recruit and to install the system. Alot of fans are very emotional and black and white in what they see and believe. We have taken 2 steps back and its hard for alot of people to understand this. I expected us to put a better showing on defense against a BC team that had so many injuries and was not very good to begin with, i expected us to show some kinda understanding that we know what K State is doing and atleast take away something from them. But we didn’t and its a reality check for alot of people who drank the Utough Golden kool aid myself included. I hope Golden succeeds, because if he doesn’t it may be 2020 before we can think of challenging again. Who knows what will be by then. But here is a reality check for you, alot of these arguments you made for Shannon after Coker that you are making for Golden now. Therefore just because we should give No’D and Golden time doesn’t mean we are gonna be winning ACC and National titles. We may recruit more selfish players like Ray Ray and others and our defensive numbers may just be that No’D is not good at coaching against teams outside of the MAC conference. Be prepared for that reality also as much as fickle fans should get the reality of the state of the program now
supacane – You don’t think your same logic for Golden applies for D’Onofrio? That D’Onofrio needs time to recruit and install the system as well?
The defensive side of the ball was shredded with those eight key losses and the offensive side of the ball needs time to jell under Morris and without Streeter and Miller.
Against Kansas State, the issue wasn’t yards given up as much as it was an offense that couldn’t move the ball and score, quickly putting a depleted, over-matched defense back on the field drive after drive.
To your point, yes, I made the same arguments for Shannon – and would for any coach attempting to take over an old regime. It takes time to rebuild.
I also said that if we didn’t see steady progress from Shannon, it was time for him to go. He went 9-4 year three and took a mini-step forward that year, coming off of 5-7 and 7-6, so he deserved support. That said, 2010 needed to be a huge year of growth — year four in his system with that 2008 class entering their junior years. MIami needed to compete for an ACC title that year and instead went 7-6, losing three straight to close out the year. (Virginia Tech, South Florida, Notre Dame). A no-brainer that he deserved to be fired after a 7-5 regular season to close out.
Golden’s first year was marred with Shapiro talk, suspensions and kicking guys off the team. (Honestly, how much could the defense have used Jamal Reid, Devont’a Davis, Kevin Nelson and Travis Williams – two defensive backs and two linebackers – on this depth-challenged team? But Golden thought they didn’t fit and sent them packing.)
D’Onofrio is working with nothing on that side of the ball. No pressure from the front seven and young (or never-was upperclassmen) corners who struggle in man-to-man. Until he has some bodies and some depth there, how can we properly judge?
In the end, his scheme may suck and he could fail miserably — but fans can’t truly make that assessment three games into season two. Not with what he’s working with. The guy is fighting with one hand tied behind his back. Maybe two.
Once again, I always enjoy reading your posts. Thanks for that history lesson, always love reading in depth facts about the U. I believe if Randy’s 2010 was better coached, better conditioned, I think they would’ve been great cuz I mean cmon, we know Laron Bryd was good his first two years and didnt do much 2010 and wouldve done something if developed properly. Hankerson balled out, Tommy Streeter could maybe have been a factor too. Imagine, 3 receivers over 6’3(bryd, hank, and streeter) and some skill. the running game was great, and the defense was ranked top 25 in a lot of categories not to mention we created lots of turnovers. But unfortunately, like you said, it was utter disappointment. I think it was coaching and conditioning. I have all the faith in golden and mark. But allow me to share our frustrations right quick…..HOW MUCH LONGER DO WE HAVE TO SUFFER?!?! Funny thing is I became a serious die hard canes in 06, so I technically have not witnessed the greatness of a good UM team, do i get extra points for becoming a fan in the bad years?
mitchymitch – A quick note, Leonard Hankerson didn’t bail out. He was a rare guy who DID come back for his senior year, and broke a ton of records when he did so. He ended up playing himself into the third round of the NFL Draft as a result, which was a big example as to why Tommy Streeter should’ve returned.
As for LaRon Byrd, good kid but he never fully did his job at Miami. He never worked to become that next level guy. Had all the tools but didn’t have “it”.
The “if” in Randy’s team being better coached in 2010 is a big, big if. There was some talent on that team, but Shannon truly had no clue. Mark Whipple was no prize as offensive coordinator, either. Had no patience with the ground game and wanted to air it out, with a quarterback that lacked a rocket arm. (Which was a big reason Whip always favored Morris over Harris – arm strength.)
Shannon put together a roster that looked decent on paper, but it was a group of poorly-conditoned kids who in the end lacked heart and character. Not a shock a promising nine-win season in 2009 went right back in the toilet a year later.
I remember the days when it seems it was me and three other guys at the Orange Bowl watching guys like Chuck Forman ,Otis Anderson , Jim Kelly and the likes play for the U. Patience is the key , Support the student athletes and the program, Coaches and their play schemes are only sucessful if executed properly by players on both sides of the line of scrimage. It was NOT Larry Cocker and his staff,, It was Ed Reed , Ken Dorsey and company who executed the playbook on the field, We had the talent and dedication. We all know what happened after that class. This year our team with so many freshman and sophomores players is going to grow and gain the experience of what it takes to get to the next level.after each game ,win or loose. Those of you that after two games are allready calling for heads to roll and are offense and defense co-ordinators geniouses need to shut the F***K
Up and have the same patience that My era had since 1967. It will happen again trust ” the process ” is going to be a long season for the U family fan base, My prescription is load up on Glenlivet and Presidente’s and take comfort that we will trip somebody down the line this year …..GO`CANES
genron you are a fucking moroon.There are 33 freshmen on this roster.Kids!They maybe talented but they are banging head with bigger stronger men.Some who will be in the nfl next year.Anytime you switch co-ordinators it sets you back as everyone has to learn terminology and schemes.We need them to grow and mature and we need.. to recruit more depth.It takes time to stock a bare cup board.Your the type that in 2 yrs will be saying you kneww all along that the team was gonna be good.
The youth excuse is getting tired. There were 57 underclassmen on the 2008 team and they didn’t look this god awful with the exception of the Georgia Tech game. And that was largely a matter of defensive scheme. And that was coming off the heels of a 5-7 year.
There were, but look as some of the names on that team. Senior class was pretty weak, but there were some big impact juniors — Dedrick Epps, Jason Fox, Chavez Grant, Ryan Hill, Javarris James, Colin McCarthy, Daryl Sharpton, Sam Shields and A.J. Trump. Sophomores included Allen Bailey, Damien Berry, Graig Cooper, Orlando Franklin, Leonard Hankerson, JoJo Nicolas and DeMarcus Van Dyke.
Look at this years underclassmen, who they’re looking up to as juniors / seniors — the best ones having bailed the program for the NFL Draft this off-season — and you see a program lacking a ton of depth, leadership and experience.
Yes, the youth tale is getting old … but it’s an explanation, not an excuse.
To your sentiment about not looking god awful outside of Georgia Tech, looked pretty shitty a week later, giving up almost 500 yards to NC State, as well as 38 points in a loss. Also gave up 440 yards and 41 points to Florida State earlier in the year and a huge defensive breakdown the week before allowed an average North Carolina team to erase a fourteen-point deficit, winning 28-24.
Miami coaches are implementing a new defensive scheme – with a depleted defense. Sorry to say that things will get worse before they get better, on that side of the ball.
That’s not saying Mark D’Onofrio is right or wrong or that he’ll fail or succeed. I’m not for the guy nor am I against him. He’s the guy with the job right now and I treat him like I’d want to be treated — I’d want my fair shot at getting things done and three games into season two, anyone calling for my head before I had time to fix things – I wouldn’t think that’s very fair.
I’ll reserve my judgment until next year and he has my support this season. Should Miami be a wreck on defense next year and should no improvement be made this year, then I’d be first in line calling for him to go — same as I was with Randy when he didn’t build on 9-4 in 2009. Supported him as he kept the program improving, but backsliding year four sealed his fate and he had to go.
you make interesting points and ones that I agree with but I do want to correct one thing, I said BALLED out as in he did nasty, not that he bailed. Just wanted to clear that up.
Well said, mitchy. I thought you wrote “bailed out” as in left early — which SO many others have the past few years!
d’onofrio is never going to work….shannon may had lesser talent his last days but still get the ignorance off your eyes ….shannon was a lot better for defense than this guy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! no one will come a calling for him to coach a defense anywhere after miami…..I SAID IT FIRST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and before miami returns to glory GOLDEN WILL BE GONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GOLDEN SHOULD HAVE LEAST BEEN WINNING TITLES WITH TEMPLE BEFORE EVEN BEING CONSIDERED FOR MIAMI….. THE FORMER PRESIDENT AND MIAMI WERE TOO CHEAP TO BRING IN A GRUDEN OR STOOPS TYPE COACH!!!!!!!!!!!!! TRUTH HURTS!!!!
OK – one more and i,ll be quiet fir a while.
We,re all talking coaches and existing players, but who,s tracking RECRUITING. Coker failed becuase he could not/would not recruit. Randy had the same issues. When you look out on the field and see two florida high school scramble-ball QB,s running the offense, you gotta know you,re in trouble.
Who,s keeping the “score” on recruiting. Who will our QB be next year, same for the other positions.
Face it, if we,re in the crapper now and we if do just average recruiting, we will stay competitively in the crapper becuase all the other guys also recruit.
We need superior recruiting. Any evidence of this yet. Now can this be measured ???
Miami just brought in a quality class with almost three dozen kids that recruiting gurus praised – especially considering sanctions looming and coming off of 6-6 as Al Golden did his work. No offense, but that IS superior recruiting. Nabbing a Tracy Howard final minute from Florida when the five-star never had the Canes on the radar? Keeping a Duke Johnson home when his mom wanted him to go to Alabama? Landing a Deon Bush during the All-American game, pledging Miami over other big programs on national television — that was a big step last year.
As for quarterback, Miami has five-star Kevin Olsen coming in next year and brought in four-star Preston Dewey this past class. Save to say that the old school, drop-back-style passer has been targeted and that Golden has two good ones lined up. That said, if sanctions are downright awful and hit before Signing Day, Miami can absolutely lose Olsen — and that blame would go on Shapirogate, not Golden, if that’s the case.
Lastly, recruiting isn’t about stars next to the name — it’s about kids that fit the culture, and Golden seems to have a beat on the kinds of guys Miami needs as he works on changing the overall culture back to where it should be.
So, I g-U-ess Kansas St. had a LET DOWN game against MIGHTY North Texas St. on Saturday nite. dUh.
Chit, I didn’t even know that JUGGERNAUT North Texas St. had a Division I pigskin team. Serious U’all Hurricane fandom. Eh.
And yes, North Texas probably has JUNIORS and SENIORS on the defensive side of the L.O.S. Still this is North Texas U. I’m bloviating boUt’. NOT any of the upper-tier B.C.S. programs in the Longhorn state.
I wonder what North Texas U’s DEFENSIVE coordinator and staff saw on film, that D’Onofrio MISTAKENLY missed.
I’m all for the Golden One. But that D’ Onofrios needs to take his PASSIVE-AGGRESIVE defense to the MAC or WAC or even Sun Belt conferences.
Bon jour
Please. Let’s not play that game.
You really think Kansas State was as jacked up for North Texas State as they were the Miami Hurricanes coming to Manhattan, Kansas?
The Canes have been on the other side of this equations countless times. Blow out a big conference opponent or pretty decent program, only to have a lesser game a week or so later.
In 2001 Miami beat Troy 38-7 and Temple 38-0. The Canes also thrashed Syracuse 59-0 and waxed Washington, 65-7.
By your rationale, Troy and Temple were JUGGERNAUTS — as opposed to the real point, that teams get jacked up for certain opponents and for a Miami to visit Nowheresville, Kansas for a football game — biggest home opponent the Wildcats had seen in years.
Canes since day1. Coker was a cheap hire mistake that should have been an obvious bust. Assistants are not in charge of recruiting, and he didn,t. Randy is hatd to figure. Many say that no one wnted the job, but my experience is that if you show the $$$$$ you can get anybody. Randy was also an assistant.
Golden has the right experience, head coach at a scholarship school. Maybe not quite as good a school – but –
If we ,re talking first, i am here to say that if we replace the current head coach in another UM sport (unnamed) with the existing assistant because he,s here and he,s cheap, then UM will be making another “Coker” mistake.
UM was brought into the ACC fot football and the other (unnamed) sport. We are not pulling out revenue sharing share with the poor performance=poor attendance. Maybe fthe ACC will replace UM with Notre Dame.
Ken – No one else wanted the job in 2006. That was well-known. Greg Schiano wouldn’t even leave lowly Rutgers for over $2M, which was offered. Could’ve made more AND come to Miami and still chose to stay put. Says a lot.
Even this time around, it came down to Marc Trestman and Randy Edsall, in the mix with Al Golden.
Look at Florida and Florida State. Big time programs and who did they hire? Jimbo Fisher was an assistant with no head coaching experience and same with Will Muschamp, who had the ‘coach-in-waiting’ title at Texas, but had zero track record. Both are from the Nick Saban coaching tree but had zero head coaching experience.
Florida has more money than God and they couldn’t lure someone in better than Muschamp?
For all our fans who clamor for Chris Petersen at Boise State, or other big-name flavors of the month, look no further than the Noles and Gators and their recent hires. Both may turn out fine, but neither was a big time name that instilled excitement in the fan base. Florida was said to have made a run at Gruden – and would’ve given him a blank check – while also putting in a call to the $5M Man, Bob Stoops, who was happy staying put at OU.
Fact is, a lot of guys are happy where they are and are only leaving for a step up — and if you’re a top 25 program, who is leaving for Miami right now? No one. No, you see a Todd Graham leaving a Pittsburgh for an Arizona State, a Kevin Sumlin leaving Houston for a Texas A&M, an uproven Lane Kiffin leaving a Tennessee to go home to USC … but outside of that, not too much job hopping for current coaches.
The guys who are available are usually out of work, fired for one reason or another — or are washed up NFL guys, a la Jim Mora Jr. at UCLA this year and oft-passed-on, one-dimensional Mike Leach, who runs a crazy offense, but hasn’t shown he can run a program or put a priority on defense.
Miami also needs to hire the ‘right’ guy — and a Bobby Petrino, or a return to a Butch Davis, doesn’t work for a program under the microscope. Both have gotten in big trouble for different reasons and UM could nil afford to deal with that kind of PR.
As for Coker, he wasn’t a “cheap hire mistake”. He was a logical choice because the program was knocking on the door of a title, and that’s a hard thing to shake up with so many upperclassmen – as well as guys like Reed and McKinnie who returned for a shot at a title.
A new hire would’ve screwed up chemistry as he’d have brought a new staff, which would’ve changed everything. Players lobbied for Larry and that was the right call for that year. Where it backfired was the fact that talent carried the program for the next three seasons, making it impossible to get rid of the ‘nice guy’, who opened his career 24-0 and went 33-3 his first three years, going to three straight BCS games.
It honestly took a 7-6 season in 2006 – complete with an on-the-field brawl, a regular season four-game losing streak and the dark cloud of the murder of a beloved player – to finally give UM a pass to cut ties with the guy.
How many times did talking heads between 2004 and 2006 defend Coker, bringing up the 24-0 start, back-to-back title games and the one bad call from two titles argument when there was discontent surrounding him?
Lastly, Miami isn’t getting booted from the ACC. Please. Big name program that adds values and academically what UM is doing helps tremendously. As for Notre Dame, did you not see they already joined the ACC this week in everything BUT football, but will play more football games against ACC foes?
Admin – very good points and i stand corrected.
We just gave up 230 yards rushing to Bethune Cookman…. Two Hundred and Thirty Yards to BETHUNE COOKMAN..!
Oh yeah and George Tech is on its way with the option, wonder how many rushing yards they’ll get on us… Go Canes..
If its broke, Fix it.. thats it…
230 yards, a short-field touchdowns and 3 points outside of that. Not exactly reason to bitch, is it?
Last year Miami gave up 422 yards and 14 points to Bethune-Cookman.
Wildcats got some yards on Saturday, but didn’t get any points … and had Stephen Morris been able to hit the broad side of a barn, Miami would’ve been better than 4-of-11 on third down conversions and wouldn’t have lost the time of possession battle 36:57 to 23:03 (the quick Duke scores didn’t help either, but we’ll take ’em.)
Georgia Tech will be hard core this weekend, but it is what it is. Just can’t let them jump out to a quick start. Get a lead, force them to play from behind and it changes the entire complexion of their offensive strategy. Honestly, this weekend is as much on the offense as it is the defense. Miami was up 21-7 at the half last year and that change the entire course of the game.