After everything the Miami Hurricanes have experienced the past several days, this weekend’s home showdown against Wake Forest almost seems like an afterthought.
Over a six-day span Miami had a monster comeback at North Carolina, jumped to No. 7 in the first BCS rankings, was informed that the NCAA was set to deliver a ruling and, a day later, a three-year dark cloud that hovered over the program finally blew over.
Prosperity has eluded the Hurricanes for the better part of the past decade. Losses and coaching changes preceded the NCAA bombshell, and since then, Miami has simply been hanging on and holding out for better days.
After head coach Al Golden inked his second recruiting class in 2012, the nation got a taste of what was to come. “We need to stand up, we need to fight. Time to stop having an inferiority complex,” Golden said to Dave Hyde at the Sun Sentinel just after Signing Day.
“We’ve got to start thinking like we’re the University of Miami again. That’s what we’re fighting. That’s what we’re trying to get back to.”
It’s Been a While
Golden came to Miami armed with a 300-page “Deserve Victory” binder. What felt like an early motivational tool eventually became the blueprint for this current group of Hurricanes—all of whom have completely in bought to Golden’s approach.
That commitment has been the key component to this year’s unexpected turnaround.
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