Back To The ‘Talent’ Versus ‘Team’ Debate

Stumbled across a thread on a UM message board days back, one that attempted to debunk the “we have no talent” argument. As the Hurricanes’ struggle continue year after year, as expected it causes dissension among fans as everyone has their own theory as to what’s wrong, how it got there, how bad it really is and what it will take to get back.

This particular member of the “we have enough talent to win” crowd chose to play the NFL Draft card, rattling off the most draft picks and first rounders between 2000 and 2010.

In both cases, Miami dominated.

Regarding first round picks over that eleven-year span , Miami was first (26), followed by Southern Cal and Ohio State (both with 17), and then Florida State (15) and Texas (14).

Ohio State had the most overall picks (82) with Miami and Southern Cal right behind (each with 81). Then it was Georgia (74), with Florida State and Georgia tied for fifth (both with 66).

Regarding the stats themselves, it goes without saying that the overall number is skewed and that anyone with some common sense knows that the majority of those numbers were beefed up during the first half of the decade.

Between 2000 and 2004, a five-year span, Miami had twenty-first rounders and forty overall pics.

From 2005 to 2010, a six-year span, a mere six first rounders (none since 2008) and twenty-seven overall picks. (In 2009, the Canes had one lone player drafted in the sixth round.)

With all this talk about talent, NFL U, first round draft picks, swagger, attitude and what not, two words continue being left out of the mix; “team” and “depth”.

To say that Miami had enough talent to do better in the ACC over the past few years, sure, there’s some obvious truth to that.

A lack of heart, poor conditioning and sub-par head coaching certainly cost the Hurricanes some wins between the 2005 Peach Bowl (ending the Larry Coker era) and 2010 Sun Bowl (ending the Randy Shannon era), where UM posted a record of 35-29, but the right attitude, a team-first mentality and depth, for sake of overall bodies as well as promoting competition – that is why “The U” has become a second-rate program.

Position-by-position, break it down and it’s painfully obvious.

For starters, Miami hasn’t had a legit quarterback since Ken Dorsey left town and it proved to a position that neither Coker or Shannon could fill. Larry brought in Brock Berlin as a transfer, and it worked in the sense there was enough surrounding offensive talent, as well as a world-class defense, but on the recruiting front it was fail after fail.

Kids like Pat Devlin who defected late after Coker put all his recruiting eggs in that basket, or Daniel Stegall, who bailed last minute, choosing professional baseball over college football. There was also Derek Shaw, a Southern California kid who got cold feet as Signing Day got closer, deciding in the end that Coral Gables was simply too far away.

Coker did bring in five-star Kyle Wright and an unknown in Kirby Freeman, but an over-the-top game of musical chairs regarding offensive coordinators, kept either from ever developing. Wright was thought to be a sure-fire star, but after learning from Rob Chudzinski as a redshirt freshman, he then had Dan Werner, Rich Olson and quarterbacks coach Todd Berry in his head over the next few seasons.

Certainly not the way anyone drew it up. Especially Wright.

Shannon went balls out early on, signing four quarterbacks, but due to the lack of depth, there was logjam with too many underclassmen. Robert Marve and Nick Fanuzzi did a swap, as one was committed to Miami and the other Alabama, before Marve eventually wound up in Coral Gables.

The following year Shannon welcomed JUCO transfer Cannon Smith, as well as freshmen Jacory Harris and Taylor Cook, but before you blinked, two of those three transferred, as did Marve, and Miami was left with Harris, which really was the downfall of his ill fated career.

Competition has always been the name of the game in Coral Gables.

Just turn on ESPN’s 30 For 30 on “The U” and listen to those old Decade Of Dominance-era stories about the battles on Greentree being harder and more spirited than Saturday’s games. Young players came in gunning for the jobs of starters, with a true belief that they could take them, inevitably making everyone better and creating a more solid overall team.

No one was ever nipping at Harris’ heels or really giving him a springtime battle. Last year was the closest, with Stephen Morris getting some playing time under his belt in 2010 when Harris was injured, making him a somewhat viable threat to earn the starting role, but the sophomore was the lone competitor and the senior prevailed.

Still, that needs to be the case every year and with proper depth, it is. There should be a handful of quarterbacks on the roster – freshman to seniors – who all make each other better. Who all work together and are ready to go. A next-man-in mentality that only works when there are enough bodies at each position.

Such is the case across the board and that hasn’t been a reality at Miami for a good eight seasons now.

The drop-off at quarterback in the post-Dorsey era was obvious in 2003, but what about some other positions that needed more time to deplete?

Linebacker too a huge hit in 2004 when Jon Vilma and DJ Williams graduated and to date, the Canes haven’t had a solid group of linebackers since. There have been standout guys here or there, which has been the overall case at just about every position, but there haven’t been three great staring linebackers, with capable back-ups since 2003.

A three-game stretch in 2004 saw Miami’s weak linebacking corps exposed as the middle of the field was wide open. The Canes went 2-1 against the likes of Louisville, NC State and North Carolina, giving up 100 points and 1,492 yards over twelve quarters.

Upperclassmen linebackers that season? Leon Williams and Rocky McIntosh, sophomore Tavares Gooden, redshirt freshmen Jon Beason and Glenn Cook and true freshmen James Bryant, Romeo Davis and Willie Williams.

Without pointing fingers or singling guys out, you have a lone NFL star, a few guys who kicked around the league, a few guys that honestly didn’t deserve scholarships and a few high school talents who flamed out, their high school talent never transferring to the next level.

Cut and paste this same scenario and bring it the secondary, defensive line, wide receivers, running back – any way you slice or dice it, the superstars of days gone by were replaced by lesser guys, guys who never caught on, our poorly managed athletes whose physical talent and mental game never came together the way it needed to.

Yes, there’s been sporadic talent at Miami these past few years. Standout players who stepped up their game, either late in their collegiate careers, or after earning a check at the next level, but there hasn’t been enough talent and depth across the board for Miami to consistently win.

There’s a reason second-year head coach Al Golden has come in and rebuilt this thing from the ground up. A rededication to strength and conditioning, the promotion of competition in spring, with players killing themselves to earn a coveted black jersey, as well as the psychological aspect that greats like Jimmy Johnson brought to the game. Properly getting in a player’s head, motivating him and pushing his buttons the right way.

Where some recent Miami coaches has a blanket management style, treating all players the same and from there, favoring some, while throwing others in the doghouse, Golden coaches each player as an individual.

There’s a reason an Eduardo Clements, a guy who could’ve easily have fallen through the cracks, stuck around campus this off-season, rededicating himself in the weight room, and has since become an example coaches want other players to follow. There’s a reason two years in a row have seen true freshman enrolling early and hitting the ground running.

Last year it was guys like Philip Dorsett, Anthony Chickillo and Denzel Perryman who made huge strides as true freshman, which is why fans are excited to see what the class of 2012 does on the field this fall.

Guys already on campus like Ereck Flowers, Ladarius Gunter, Dwayne Hoilett and Raphael Kirby, have drawn rave reviews, while the web has been abuzz regarding guys like Deon Bush training like crazy on their own, longing to get on campus to start their tenure at “The U”.

Golden isn’t just bringing in the talent, as past coaches have — he’s bringing in the right kids. Kids that will put team first. Old school Miami-style kids who will work their asses off to get this thing right. Not guys hopping aboard a gravy train, unwilling to earn that “U” on their helmets and thinking that they are “The U” — a program built up by others, with them just riding coattails.

It takes more than talent to win and sadly, Miami has proven that the past several seasons. Talented kids on paper don’t get the job done. It’s the talented kids with the right intangibles. Kids with as much going on between the ears as they have physically.

Those type of kids are returning to Coral Gables and in turn, winning ways will return as well. Give it time.

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