It really doesn’t deserve any conversation, attention or merit, but sometimes you just can’t help yourself and feel the need to say something in response to a one-sided rant.
Seems anytime something shakes down with the Miami Hurricanes, Florida State columnist Bud Elliott can’t get to the scene fast enough. An opinionated, albeit usually on-top-of-his-game Seminole enthusiast who often seems to derive more pleasure from his rivals’ failures than his own program’s success.
Then again, when you’re a preseason top five, lose four games, settle for a Champs berth instead of an Orange, and trail both Miami and Florida in national championships, maybe the only logical move is to work over others before the realities of your overrated program drive you as mad as an monotonous Saturday night war chant en route to a thirteen-point offensive outpouring against milquetoast Virginia.
Elliott, always attempting to be edgy and hoping to deliver a brash take, has since chimed in on the five UM starters who declared early for the upcoming NFL Draft.
Of course once you filter through his self-applied backslapping and grandiose “I told you sos”, it’s another standard fluff piece from another jaded Nole enthusiast who only wants to tell the side of the story that supports his viewpoint.
B-to-the-E doesn’t want to get deep, peeling this thing back and discussing where things are at and where they’re headed. Instead, he prefers to talk about mistakes the old regime made, giving no credit to the strides this new staff has made the past twelve months and the fact that the culture is – and will continue – changing at UM.
Elliott goes on to talk about Miami losing twenty scholarship seniors, along with these not-so-fab-five early departees and calls for as bad as 3-9 in 2012 and as ‘good’ as 7-5, should the Canes get some lucky breaks along the way.
Thanks, Budstradamus. A true master of the obvious.
It’s hardly a news flash that the Miami program is struggling, so to pile on or simply state the known is elementary. There’s a rhyme and reason to Miami’s struggles, as well as a science to getting it right and a recipe and formula where Al Golden can succeed as past Miami coaches have.
If you want to “go there”, then let’s go there and really put it all under a microscope. But before getting to the now, you must first identify the early chinks in the armor and where this derailed.
The issues started rearing their ugly head as early as 2003, when the Hurricanes offense lost a step after the departure of Ken Dorsey, Willis McGahee and Andre Johnson. The quarterback keys were handed to Brock Berlin, a Florida transfer who wasn’t an ideal fit, but had enough to work with and delivered an 11-2 season.
The following year, 9-3 as the defense lost some key pieces – especially at linebacker. To date Miami hasn’t matched the production that Jon Vilma and D.J. Williams brought to the table. Same for safety Sean Taylor and defensive tackle Vince Wilfork, who were also gone when 2004 rolled around.
After years of struggling and cleaning up another guy’s mess, Butch Davis built as well-oiled machine in Miami as college football has ever seen. Unfortunately the keys were tossed to the undeserving, unqualified Larry Coker, who couldn’t handled that mint-conditioned masterpiece. Forget standard and basic maintenance, Coker drove that Ferrari F430 into the dirt, treating it like a weekend beater.
Miami had enough gas in the tank talent-wise to coast its way to another 9-3 season in 2005, but by 2006, years of bad recruiting and poor development of players undid everything Davis worked so hard to build between 1998 and 2000, years three through six of his head coaching tenure at UM.
Coker lost control, was ousted and due to poor timing, a state of panic and a lack of outside interest, Miami’s top brass turned to long-time assistant and forever-Cane, Randy Shannon. It wasn’t the ideal move, but after Greg Schiano bowed out of the running, there was truly no other up-and-coming coach who was up for the challenge.
UM fired Coker the Friday after Thanksgiving and a miracle win over Boston College (the Canes, obviously dug deep on Senior Day, paying tribute to recently slain teammate Bryan Pata, honored that night) and hired Shannon on December 8th, 2006, who took over a 7-6 squad – with Miami at it’s lowest non-probation point since the great Howard Schnellenberger went 5-6 in his inaugural campaign back in 1979.
Shannon stumbled out the gate, going 5-7 in 2007. Months later, a top-ranked recruiting class was inked, albeit skepticism from many as so much talent was pooled from one program, Miami Northwestern. That 2008 class, seniors this year, also failed to address many position issues that plagued the Canes – most-notably, quarterback.
Shannon brought in Jacory Harris, but also lesser talent like Taylor Cook (two stars) and Cannon Smith, a JUCO transfer what never really fit the mold. Combined with the already-on-the-roster, troubled Robert Marve, UM had depth – in theory – but tons of unproven athletes and for a program that was once Quarterback U, it’s truly been barren in the pre-Dorsey era.
Within the year, Marve, Cook and Smith transferred, leaving Harris as the true lone, unchallenged, option and for a program that always thrived on competition and someone younger and hungrier breathing down your neck, Harris never developed that true sense or urgency or desire that fueled past Miami greats.
Heated competition has always been the lifeblood of Miami Hurricanes football. For the millions who watched ESPN’s 30 For 30 piece on “The U”, you heard past greats explaining how practice was tougher than Saturday games and how battles at Greentree separated the good from the great.
Shannon may have had orange and green pumping through his veins the better part of his adult life, but somehow this aspect of the Miami brand was lost on the first-time head coach. Rumors of playing favorites began to swirl and kids who didn’t fall in with Shannon’s like of thinking were quickly put in the doghouse, causing some to transfer (Arthur Brown) while others checked out mentally (Sam Shields).
Building a cohesive, team-first unit under Shannon proved impossible, with more attention paid to building ‘character’, albeit with a hard-ass, blanket management style instead of working with individuals and tailoring the coaching and teaching to the unique personalities on his squad,
2008 got off to a slow start, with an early loss at Florida, a win at Texas A&M and then back-to-back heartbreakers against North Carolina and Florida State. Winnable games where the Canes folded in the final moments. From there a five-game win streak, including a Harris-fueled comeback at Virginia and defensive struggle en route to a win over Virginia Tech. Miami’s defense was dismantled a week later by Georgia Tech’s triple option, lost the season final at NC State and couldn’t hang with Cal in a west coast bowl game.
Any momentum at 7-3 was lost in a flash as 7-6 became the reality – which was the biggest dark cloud of the Shannon era; an inability to bounce back or to rebound after a loss. Whenever Shannon’s Canes were tagged between the eyes, they seemed to cower, retreat or flat out quit. As a head coach, Shannon simply didn’t know how to rally his troops. Ever.
Shannon’s Canes had moments of promise and good play, topping out in early 2009 when beating Florida State, Georgia Tech and Oklahoma over a twenty-seven day span. The heralded class of 2008 looked strong in their sophomore campaign and for the first half of the season, Harris looked like the quarterback of the future.
From there, 4-3 down the stretch due to interceptions and sloppy play, capped by a soft performance and a bowl game loss to Wisconsin – two programs seemingly at the same place at the same time – which proved to be a huge difference-maker as the Badgers reached the BCS and Rose Bowl a year later, as Miami toiled in mediocrity, going 7-6 and falling to Notre Dame in the lowly Sun Bowl.
Shannon was fired after losing three of his final five, turning 5-2 into a 7-5 regular season. Golden was hired within weeks, took in the Canes / Irish showdown from the press box, talked about how the culture would change and was hard at work after returning from El Paso.
Pundits like Elliott will take Miami’s 2011 season at face value, using it as a tool to spin the Hurricanes decline for other outsiders who don’t follow this program closely and haven’t seen ‘The U’ rise from the ashes in the past.
In the modern era of college football, not even the most overzealous Hurricanes enthusiast is calling for four national championships over a nine-year span, a 34-game win streak, back-to-back title game appearances or four straight BCS games.
The day of the dynasty is long gone and with things as they currently stand, full of parity and monstrous athletic budgets, expectations have to be reevaluated and kept in check.
Whereas Miami, or even Florida State, once held a “national champions or bust” mentality annually, in this day and age it’s about conference dominance, remaining competitive, BCS berths and merely being ‘in the hunt’ as the season progresses.
One thing Elliott, and other anti-Miami folk, leave out of the argument is UM’s true x-factor; Coach Golden.
Any simpleton can poke fun at years of recruiting classes that didn’t pan out or early departures that impact the immediate state of Miami football. That’s stating the obvious and again, that’s what happens after almost a decade of mistakes, mediocrity, poor coaching and bad personnel decisions.
UM didn’t fall apart overnight and it certainly won’t be rebuilt in a season or two. Miami saw that in the nineties where it took Davis six years to re-right the ship – amidst a lack of fan support and planes dragging banners calling for his firing.
The degree to which things are rebuilt remains to be seen. This isn’t 1996 and Davis’ second year in an era where the college football landscape was three or four powerhouses and everyone else. Year two for Golden is 2012 and college football is a completely different beast.
Things have definitely changed tremendously, but there is still a blueprint that works when attempting to resurrect a unique Miami program – one that still has a strong brand – which is a big reason rivals like Elliott work so hard to cast stones. Their goal is to kill the UM mystique once and for all.
If the Canes were as inconsequential as Elliott and others infer, why spend so much time writing about the program down at the bottom of the Sunshine State? South Florida and Central Florida certainly don’t garner this kind of attention or obsession.
Elliott takes a dig at Miami’s fifteen scholarship seniors (note: watch for an ‘updated column’ now that Adewale Ojomo wasn’t granted a sixth year of eligibility, dropping it to fourteen and causing little Bud to squeal with glee), which again only underscores why the wheels came off as they did.
But what about the nineteen kids Golden brought in last February? After inheriting a program with six verbal commitments, losing two upon Shannon’s departure, Golden hit the road, closed hard and showed potential, swaying upwards of eight kids who were committed elsewhere. Golden earned the recommitment of Anthony Chickillo and Denzel Perryman, both who had a huge impact this season as true freshman. Same with wideout Phillip Dorsett.
Golden also found California JUCO transfer Dalton Botts, who he swayed away from LSU and who Elliott added to his make-fun-of list of outbound seniors, despite the fact that Botts had a very solid junior campaign punting for Miami.
Elliot’s last-ditch effort to create a smoke screen came in implying that Miami is “getting their breaks beat off on the recruiting trail”, despite twenty-eight verbal commitments in mid-December. For the ‘star whores’ out there, the Canes have seven four-star athletes and twenty-one three-stars. Needs are being met in the form of quarterbacks, linebackers, offensive linemen and running backs, too.
Four-star running back Randy ‘Duke’ Johnson is arguably one of the best athletes in the state, a lifelong Cane and the type of kid who can change the culture of a program. Johnson is coming off of a 375-yard performance in the semifinals and five touchdowns in the championship game.
Miami is also in the running for some big names down the stretch and the type of kids who shunned the Canes over the past few seasons, Local talent like four-star cornerback Deon Bush and four-star Pennsylvania running back Greg Garmon have UM in their top three, while the Canes remain in the running for five-star corner Tracy Howard and five-star defensive tackle Eddie Goldman. Golden and staff are also working on Florida State commit, four-star safety P.J. Williams, who visited Coral Gables a few weeks back.
Come February we’ll see who’s getting their brakes beat off and who cleaned up. Until the, it’s all opinion and theory.
With the five early departers and the non-return of Ojomo, that’s six more scholarships that Golden and staff can hand out and with any potential sanctions looking from what Elliot refers to as, “the worst cheating scandal in about a quarter century” (still trying to make sense of that gem), that’s six more three- to four-year players Golden can add for depth sake.
Better a half dozen hungry freshmen ready to learn a new system than broken down upperclassmen who didn’t fully buy in and are choosing the riches of mid-round NFL Draft money over team camaraderie and college ball. Should Miami face any lost scholarships in the coming years, these six departures could greatly help offset the loss felt by the punishment. Especially if Golden lands more Chickillo- or Perryman-type, instant-impact kids.
Miami is an easy target for the outsider right now, as it has been the past half decade. UM fans can’t fault someone like Elliott for his laser focus on past failures and how they’re impacting today and tomorrow, but it’s no mystery why he ignores the long-term and where things can go under Golden, should he prove to be the guy Miami – and other major programs like UCLA and Penn State – believe him to be.
Months back, when doing a Q&A with columnist Rich Halten of ChantRant.com and GarnetandGreat.com, we found a FSU enthusiast open enough to admit what some logical Noles feel about Golden’s potential impact at Miami.
“It’s hard for FSU fans to not have respect for Golden,” said Halten. “Most of us grudgingly saw that Miami made a shrewd hire after Coker and Shannon, as well as a good value for the school’s athletic budget.
Golden appears to have many of the strengths that made Urban Meyer successful, but with none of the hang-ups.”
And there you have it. So simple, even a logical Nole can see.
Golden isn’t the second coming of anything, but he’s definitely something — a factor in this game and a missing piece that caused Miami to turn into a disaster that was 35-29 in the five seasons before he took over. Golden critics will play the, “he never beat a MAC team with a winning record” card, but fail to leave out more important details, starting with what he took over and what he walked away from.
Not too many coaches would’ve touched Temple with a ten-foot pole. A Big East reject that was 3-31 before his arrival and on the brink of shutting the program’s doors for good, Golden went all-in and started the clean-up process.
Over the past few years over a half dozen Owls reached the NFL. Kids that were recruited to a doormat of a program in Philadelphia, grew as players and men, bought into their coach and in turn reached a level few ever expected them to reach.
Golden start 1-11 and within years went 9-4 and 8-4 his final two seasons. He reached a bowl game during the nine-win season and deserved one his final year. His squad took Penn State to the wire once, led late against UCLA in a bowl game and knocked off eventual Big East champion UConn in Golden’s fourth and final season, which might not sound like much to the Miami or Florida State fan, but for those who followed Temple all their lives, Golden did the unthinkable with his turnaround.
Golden handed the keys to for Florida coordinator Steve Addazio after leaving for Miami, who just put together a 9-4 season with Golden’s kids while this weekend’s New Mexico Bowl win over Wyoming marked the program’s first bowl win since 1979 and fourth bowl in school history.
Golden built as big of a winner as was going to be built in Temple and he’ll build a winner at Miami. That doesn’t mean a repeat of what Hurricane fans saw Davis assemble over a decade ago, but a squad that can compete for ACC Championships annually while earning national attention and staying in the title hunt? Absolutely.
We’d all love to see four straight BCS games, back-to-back title games, another 34-game win streak and 19 first rounders over a four-year span, but that’s simply not reality. Not in 2011, not with all this money and parity in the game and not without selling out completely, turning your university into a football factory like an Alabama or LSU.
This upcoming season will be another step in “the process”, though, and that’s what will keep folks like Bud pecking away, building a case that Miami is done if positive results aren’t immediate.
Out with the old and in with the new. UM may take another step back before making that large leap forward, but with the proper pieces in place, ‘The U’ will rise again.
Give Golden and this staff – Miami’s best in well over a decade – some time and watch where this thing can go. – C.B.
The FSU trick states that “An average or bad team can go 7-5. Bounces matter. But it’s unlikely.” I would add that an overhypes team can go 8-4, much like they did. If he was to keep cound, he should keep a running cound of the number of arrests his team is piling up as we speak. I find it funny that he would even follow what’s going on at another team since he claims to be an FSU fan. Maybe he was denied admission into UM and is bitter. It’s still funny that they feel the need to throw rocks when they really weren’t much better at all than we were, but had top 5 expectations (which, for the life of me, I still don’t understand who believed a perennial 8-4/7-5 team will all of a sudden become top 5). The comments of the fans ion the column are so dillusional, it’s funny. I was going to post something on there, but why? They obviously have some deep fear what’s coming. I don’t blame them.
Ahhh, FSU fans chiming in on the Hurricanes season while failing to reazlize that the Canes weren’t suppose to be that good anyway.
But FSU? Ohhh, FSU. FSU was ranked in the top 5. FSU had a QB that was on the Heisman watch list. FSU was a National Title contender!! FSU crapped all over themselves and their face is as dark a color as their jerseys because they fell so flat on their face that it turned garnett.
See, this game of CFB leaves alot of grey area. You can’t argue the “we made the playoffs/tournament”…CFB gets the better bowl game arguement. Which in turn is funny since it’s all bout $$$ and bigger fan bases rather than who really deserves to go. So in turn you get the “We made a better bowl” rather than the fact that FSU didn’t even make it to the ACC title game because they pissed all overthemselves because they weren’t “back” as many fans, like BE, thought they were because they were handed a overranking.
Losing 4 games in back to back seasons is great, Bud!! Keep up the good work!! Nice to see “You’re back”.
Well put.
There’s no denying that Miami is in a rut, but 6-6 on the heels of 7-6, eight players sent to the NFL, a scandal, suspensions, injuries, depth woes, et al — the Canes weren’t supposed to be good this year. Meanwhile, Florida State was said to be “back”, was considered an ACC favorite, a title game dark horse and was a top five team. Instead, four losses – including Wake Forest and Virginia, which aren’t necessarily Oklahoma or Clemson … and after seeing what Oklahoma State did to Oklahoma, makes it even less of a ‘moral victory’ for hanging tough with the Sooners.
I think the 2011 season was a wash. He worked with what he had, but probably knew it was going to be a down year. You simply cannot undo 4 or 5 years of bad habits and a losing mentality in 1 year. For those that cite Brade Hoke at Michigan, not fair of a comparison. Better all around players, Denard Robinson and Denard Robinson. If Miami had a QB on his calibur that would have resulted in 2 to 3 more wins. Don’t believe me, look at Denard at the Michigan vs ND game.
Coach Golden’s actual rebuilding year is 2012 after the new class come in and learn the processes and culture. By 2014 I believe Miami will be in ACCCG contention and a top 10 program.
In terms of the flawed and highly questionable star system, what more do you need to know other than the fact that Duke Johnson is not a 5 star according to all recruiting sites.
Come on man. I live on the Left coast and have bleed orange and green since 1986, when I was 11 years old, and became a Canes fan. So, I don’t know who “bud” is, but he sound’s like the usual slow witted Noles fan. That being said, it sounds like he bated you into this rant I just read from you. Defending the U’s actions all the way back to 2003, Why? Because I love to read your articles and going to your store (every I’m in town for a game) I don’t understand why this was needed. You can’t defend yourself to a crazy person, he’ll never understand. Rise above, take the high road. You never know how things will turn out and next year could be special. Being a Canes fan has always entailed dealing with early departure, but I believe in Al and the process. Stay faithful and stay up beat, Al signify s the first really good thing to happen the Canes since getting Butch Davis as a coach and recruiter, and look at the players he helped bring here as well as a much deserved 5th ring in 2001, even with leaving after 2000. Keep your head up bro, and remember noles fans are just like your title….Delusionole!
Nobody baited anybody. Bud Elliott is a Seminoles enthusiast who does his best to cover his program well. That said, there’s been a lot of piling on Miami lately and if you’re going to point out deficiencies and short-term issues, you can’t just blow off the bigger picture and not acknowledge the new coach, new approach, etc.
The reason Miami is in such a hole is because of Larry Coker and Randy Shannon and even though he’s only been on board one year, any unbiased party can tell you Al Golden is a better head coach than both men combined and will make the program better in time.
How good remains to be seen, but the hiring of Golden was a huge upgrade for Miami and gives UM the best coach it’s seen since the Butch Davis era. Elliot ignores all of that, instead choosing to harp on what the past regime did and the price Miami is still paying for poor coaching, recruiting and development of players.
Hey dude, slow down. I did complement you on your writing and your store. No need to give me a lesson in Hurricanes football either. I CLEARLY gave no credit to LC or RS. I gave the credit to Butch. All you did was restate the things I had already said. AND the only negative thing that I wrote about your article was that I didn’t see the need for you to go back over our entire history from 2003 forward….come man this is a Canes site for Canes fans, we know how we got here bro.
Tons of love from A Canes die hard from!!!!
I stand by the []_[]
All good, man. Just trying to give some background on why it was finally time to address Elliott’s take.
The point in going back in history was to show the erosion from within and to really lay out how a now 41-35 run (since 2005 Peach Bowl) became a reality.
A well-versed Canes fan obviously doesn’t need to relive all that, but when this piece gets pasted on Florida State message boards or outsiders read it, the walk down Miami Misery Lane seemed to make sense and have context.
Much respect. Where on the left coast are you? – C
Thanx bro!
I grew up in Oregon, and the Ducks are my second favorite team. I currently live in Arizona. So far I have made it to 13 games starting with the 2000 lose to Washington in Husky stadium and the last which was at Columbus in 2010. Both very tough lose’s. I love your writing and the store so much, give it up for Ponce De Loen ave. I’m very excited to continue reading your break down of Death to the BCS.
Go Canes!!!
I like Al Golden!!!
Great article, but I think you cripple the piece towards the end. Your statement, ” That doesn’t mean a repeat of what Hurricane fans saw Davis assemble over a decade ago, but a squad that can compete for ACC Championships annually while earning national attention? Absolutely”, seems to imply that it be unthinkable Miami reaches that level of success in the current landscape.
This is where I disagree. If Al Golden can use UM’s brand equity effectively, especially on S. FLA kids i.e.: Duke Johnson, I believe Davis-Esq results can be expected. Brand recognition seems to carry a significant amount of weight with the online generation that is today’s recruits. Its gotten to the point where kids are choosing (and rejecting) schools because of uniforms (Ive heard several stories of Oregon recruits choosing because the jerseys got so much exposure on ESPN).
This is the culture, and I truly believe that UM has the assets to play that game better than anyone (NFL stars, NFL stars on social media, city of Miami, and the list goes on). Which is why I have to disagree with an optimal expectation of anything less than Butch. I am not an unrealistic fan, I know this isn’t going to happen over night, and in fact may NEVER happen, but I do believe the potential is there and Al Golden has the ability to maximize it.
Otherwise, great article and keep up the good work guys.
J.A. – The point was that across the board I don’t think we’re going to see another MiamI (2000-2003) or USC (2003-2005) type dynasty again. The game has changed and there’s too much parity.
That doesn’t mean that as fans we can’t hope for better, but the old 80s adage that “we play for championships or bust” – that’s long gone. These days you play for relevancy, conference supremacy and if lucky, you hope for a title shot.
Davis-esque recruits, for sure. I believe Golden can deliver.
19 first round draft pics in a four-year span? That’s some once-in-a-lifetime stuff right there, man. That can’t be the benchmark.
When we were booming most of the powerhouse programs we see today were down. Bama wasn’t anything to fear, Oklahoma was building a head of steam, Florida State was on a decline and Florida was holding fast.
The “brand” aspect can only take you so far.
You have homegrown MONSTERS here that want absolutely NOTHING to do with this program because the last time it did ANYTHING of relevance MOST of these kids were in elementary school. Even more so when you have to contend with the likes of the $EC.
Awesome piece.
As a life-long Nole who follows his team pretty religiously, I can tell you that not all Florida State fans agree with Bud Elliott, whether talking about UM in this case or when he writes about FSU. He goes over the top on many occasions and has turned off many Nole alum with his outlook and approach.
I side with Rich H. and agree that Golden was a good hire for UM. Time will have to tell if it proves to be a great hire, but it definitely was an instant upgrade from Larry C. or Randy S. and any Nole that doesn’t admit that has an obvious agenda.
It will take Al some time to fix many many years or wrong, but in three or four years, MIami should again be a pretty solid contender. I think FSU has at least another year of a head start on UM, but by about 2013 or so, things should level out a bit.
Jimbo definitely had an advantage over Randy, but Golden will definitely give him his money’s worth on the recruiting trail. Time for FSU’s assistants to game up.
Don’t take Bud’s critiquing to heart. He writes stuff like this all the time as he wants a reaction and to get his site more hits. I understand why All Canes took the time to write this lengthy piece, but arguing with Bud is a waste of time. Let him do his thing and you guys keep doing yours. Florida State has nothing to brag about after this disappointing season that will end 9-4 or 8-5. I was thinking Orange Bowl and am definitely frustrated with the Chumps. This should’ve been a better year and Jimbo needs to improve next season or fans are going to rightfully start making some noise.
There is absolutely no analysis in this article. The “Bud” writer at least had some analysis when he wrote his articles about UM’s decline. He may have gone too far on some of his opinions, but there was still something for him to hang his opinion on.
This is just whiny.
Thanks, “random” Nole.
Did Bud ever say Golden couldn’t coach? It looks like all he said was that Miami is getting dominated in recruiting, which is true.
FSU – The point is that Elliot beats the same tired drum about Miami’s past failed recruiting classes and often avoids the topic of Al Golden and Miami’s future with him at the helm. This last article was one of many where I’ve seen Bud write a big “I told you so” type piece in regards to Randy Shannon’s recruits not panning out — which is something Miami fans know all too well.
As for getting “dominated” in recruiting, Golden is doing just fine for his first year and with no bowl game and time to close, he could haul in a very solid class when it’s all said and done.
That said, there’s more than appeasing the ‘star whores’. Great, Rivals has Florida and Florida State in the top five. How’d all those top-ranked classes pan out for UF last year en route to 6-6? How’s Jimbo’s 2010 class help in your 8-4 run?
Golden is building depth, looking to fill needs and we’ll see in February what kind of class is landed.
The reason why he has to pat himself on the back is b/c so many in the Cane fanbase took his analysis as mere homerism and tried to discredit everything he said about the program as a whole. You claim that this was something Miami fans knew all to well, have you met your fanbase lately? He was being realistic, but received a scarlet letter for it. I frequent the site for honest analysis on most things Florida football involved. That site is honest about sites looking for scrips, Aubrey Hill, coaching hires, recruiting rumors, Bobby Bowden latter years, etc etc. They are critical of themselves, so it makes sense when they are super hard on rivals. It comes with the territory. They owned up to it when we were dominating them, and now they are trumpeting the whole State Champs moniker. It just comes with the territory. It reason Gators and Canes alike post REGULARLY on the site.
Dominated by who? Fact is over the past few years Florida has been ranked top 5 in recruiting and miraculously they always seem to be on top even when their former coach urban Meyer admitted the to muschamp that the team was a complete mess. FSU has had a top 5 recruiting class resulting in 4 losses. Virginia tech and Clemson didn’t rate as yet both were in the ACCCG. Virgina who was no where near the top ten somehow was one game away from the ACCCG. Boise state was a field goal away from a NC game. Where were all those schools ranked? Even LSU wasn’t ranked as high as FSU and yet who is ranked #1? You can recruit stars all year long and get a bunch of 5 stars at all positions of the field. But if they are busy getting arrested, feeling entitled, don’t want to work hard cause they believe they are Gods gift to whatever team they are on, then how much is that 5 star really worth. If it were all about stars then the national champ would be Texas every single season. Teams like houston, TCU, Boise, etc would have no shot. My prediction is jimbo will be on the hot seat after next year and muschamp the year after if not outright fired. I would take al golden over jimbo or muschamp any day and I respect jimbo. Look for this “underwhelming” class of the U to be the foundation of back to prominence.
As for the guy that said Miami was dominating when all the traditional powerhouse programs were down. Really? Oklahoma, Alabama, Ohio state, Michigan, Nebraska, FSU, Notre dame all won and or even beat Miami for their national championships. That’s a pretty impressive list of traditional power schools that won the NC between 1985 to 2002 during Miami’s dominance (other than their probation years).
Let’s have this convo in 2 years and I have 100% confidence Miami will be in the best position out of FSU or UF.
I was actually referring to the earlier part of the 2000’s, our last little run.
Oklahoma had won a national title and was building steam, Alabama was absolute garbage in the early and mid 2000’s, Notre Dame hasn’t been shit since Lou Holtz, FSU lost it’s OC and was beginning it’s downward spiral in the early 2000’s, Ohio State had just hired Tressel and was slowly coming together.. Nebraska was starting a downward trend — we just accelerated it for them in 2001.. Michigan was respectable, but nothing like it was way back when.
As for anything before that, I honestly don’t care, because a majority of the kids that play on this very squad don’t remember or know a damn thing about those teams.
I stand corrected. I do see most of the traditional powers coming back though, Nebraska, Michigan. Bama and Ohio State have already been there. So I think we are seeing a resurgence of the old powers and Miami will be on that list in the next 2 to 3 years.
Question
How does Miami beat FSU, then get left out of the title game?
Next year, go undefeated and win a national championship
Next, go undefeated yet again, only to lose to OSU, on a bogus call.
Miami should of had tons of talented athletes beating down the door to play for them.
-Alabama, LSU, Florida, and even the Buckeyes have talented athletes ready to play for them.
Larry Coker did Miami a dis-service and didn’t pull in the “cream of the crop” recruits.
What high school kid wouldn’t dream of playing at The U, and with hard work, having a shot at the NFL? The athletes should of been pouring in.
By the way, Virginia Tech doesn’t always have top 10 recruiting classes, yet they usually field a good squad. I think coaching up a two or three star athlete, is a great way to start, which Tech seems to do frequently.
Ah. The Noles think they’re the bomb and UM is finished. In time the Noles will have so much egg on their faces you can make the world’s largest omelet. On a side note, those Nole chicks in the photo are pretty hot so I guess the Noles have some value.
Bud Elliot is a tool. For him to write what he wrote….after the season is over….and after the season they had (OVEEERRRRRRAAATEEEDDDD) he is a fool. I’m glad he feels the need to spend as much time as he does worrying about what The U is doing and/or going through. Truth is….we are in a much better posistion then last year. Goldens second class is coming in…..the “Motherload” from what I hear. Our best player on defense…..replaced by Perryman….so….I know we will have at least one “jackhammer” making tackles. Lamar Miller going…..great….we have one of the best coming in to take over in Duke Johnson. Mr. Forston leaving for the NFL…..WOW….don’t remember him playing much….remember that youtube vid where he was apologizing to his teammates for “slacking”….nuff said. Vernon…..good player…..didn’t dominate this year….he will be replaced…..Washington….I’m sorry….great player….but….penalty machine. Bottom line….we will be better next year….and BUD ELLIOT knows it….he cringes at the fact of what is coming down the road for them….A GREAT HURRICANE football team. God bless to the Seminole nation….you gonna need it.