Despite football almost two months in the rearview and National Signing Day well in the books, admittedly still haven’t accepted the fact the Miami Hurricanes are in the midst of baseball season, while basketball is set to wind down.
Trying to make sense of why—as basketball is making a run towards the NCAA Tournament and baseball is off to a good start and has a team capable of reaching Omaha this year.
Fact is, despite the football program going 6-7 last year and dropping its final four games, the season still feels like it graded out at an incomplete—and like the team in the moment, I simply never got past the Florida State loss.
In some alternate universe, the Canes still lead by double-digits at the half and I’m waiting for the third quarter of the program-defining game to get back underway.
Virginia. Pittsburgh. South Carolina. All like mini-bad dreams while dealing with a restless sleep. The games were a blur, but feeling of those the failures and setbacks still seems all too real.
As is the fact Miami waved goodbye to almost a dozen key players—a handful of which appear destined to become NFL stars, despite their talents being used accordingly.
The Hurricanes’ recent signing-day haul featured some quality kids and necessary depth, but in the end it still wasn’t the type of class folks expected year five under head coach Al Golden.
The guy who showed up with the 300-page blueprint regarding a rebuild and was mending fences with local high school coaches, certainly isn’t getting that message across to the county’s best talent as too many good kids continue heading north.
There’s also the coaching exodus as wide receivers coach Brennan Carroll and former linebackers coach Micheal Barrow are headed to the Seattle Seahawks, while defensive line coach Jethro Franklin was picked up by the Oakland Raiders and replaced by Melvin Gordon—rolling in from FIU and having history with Golden by way of a one-year stint at Temple.
Former receiver Kevin Beard has also been upgraded, replacing Carroll and coaching up receivers next year.
Whether Gordon and Beard are or aren’t a hit, neither was truly an exciting hire for a program that needed a super-sized shot in the arm—anything to bring some fire as things are simply flat. That’s not a dig at either guy ready to roll up his sleeves and lead; it’s simply a indictment on the overall state of things.
So yes, as a result of this football hangover that refuses to go away, other sports at “The U” have been getting the unintentional snub here and it’s not fair to the kids or coaches.
Jim Larranaga has quietly assembled a team that could make a mini-run late this year, should they clean things up and play consistent basketball down the stretch.
Some qualities wins early against Florida and Illinois were followed-up by head-scratching losses to Green Bay, Eastern Kentucky and Providence.
There was also potentially season-shifting double overtime to loss to then No. 3 Virginia, where Miami couldn’t close at home. Days later, a similar situation at Notre Dame after leading all game.
Since then, wins over North Carolina State, Syracuse, Clemson, Boston College and Virginia Tech, as well as losses to Georgia Tech, Florida State, Louisville and Wake Forest.
Louisville is on-deck this weekend, before back-to-back road games at Florida State and North Carolina. Miami will then close out the regular season at home against Pittsburgh and Virginia Tech before heading ton Greensboro, NC or the ACC tournament.
Shifting to the diamond, Jim Morris is back leading the Hurricanes’ baseball program and as has become the case, another season where Miami opened by walloping Rutgers in some tremendously lopsided games—only to fall midweek to a cross-city rival; seeming the norm the past few years.
The Hurricanes opened the season ranked ninth in the nation last weekend and is coming off an ACC regular season championship. Expectations are high for Miami this season. ACC Freshman of the Year Zack Collins returns, as does All-ACC closer Bryan Garcia and staff ace Andrew Suarez; a second-round pick of the Washington Nationals who stayed in school.
The Canes also added an impressive recruiting class in 2014 that is primed to break out this spring. Outfielder Carl Chester, pitcher Michael Mediavilla and infielder George Iskenderian also roll in with some talent and add some depth it was is certainly the twilight of Morris’ two-decade run as skipper.
Luckily for now No. 8 Miami, the recent loss to Florida Atlantic won’t loom long as a road trip to No. 6 Florida is on-deck this weekend.
The Canes last travelled to Gainesville in 2013, where they won the opener but dropped the final two games of the series. Miami took last year’s series in Coral Gables, winning the first two but falling in the finale.
All things considered, seems the best way to address one’s passion for University of Miami right now is in bite-sized increments, taking things a day at a time.
Football’s problems are certainly real, but nothing will be solved overnight and fact remains the Canes are six months away from seeing the field—so time to let that go for now, hard as that may be.
Basketball deserves some focus and attention over the final few weeks, while baseball—boasting four national titles of its own—legitimately looks primed for a bounce-back year.
It’s all about channeling the passion over the next few months.