EARLY DEEP-DIVE INTO THE MANNY DIAZ ERA & MEANING OF ‘THE NEW MIAMI’


The Miami Hurricanes survived a home showdown against the Central Michigan Chippewas last weekend—the entire premise of that sentence so deflating, this piece was pushed off until the climate cooled and a bye week could serve as a welcomed distraction.

In the wake of a win that had the feel and energy of a loss, there was no rush to deep-dive or breakdown the where, how or why of the lethargic debacle. Central Michigan brought the fight, Miami played down to the level of the competition and a sloppy, poorly-executed dogfight ensued. End of story.

Despite holding on for a 17-12 victory, game four of the Manny Diaz error was a stumble—both on the field, as well as the court of public opinion.

Close road setbacks against Florida and North Carolina were somewhat sellable; Miami showed fight in both, rallied late for the lead and played tough—a few mental team mistakes or breakdowns in a young secondary proving to be difference-makers in two losses by a combined seven points. From there, a 63-0 home rout of Bethune-Cookman felt like a perfect tune-up with ACC play a few weeks out—leaving no reason to believe Miami would struggle with Central Michigan, yet that’s precisely what happened.

There are two approaches one can take when digesting and processing this current State of Miami.

The more common method is to continue flying off the handle, bitching about 15 years of irrelevance, ranting that fans “deserve better”, that the “standard of excellence” isn’t being met and to fantasize about Miami hiring top-flight athletic directors and coaching staffs—bailing out on this new regime a third of the way through season one—while living in complete denial regarding to the desirability of these admin-related gigs at The U and blindly ignoring the state of the program Diaz and crew inherited.

Those who stand in that overreactive camp may as well bail out of this piece now and take their show to the nearest message board to scream into the ether. No time here to cater to the over-emotional, knee-jerk crowd that is going to bitch-moan-and-complain game-by-game, or even drive-by-drive. Been doing this too long to try and sell the unsellable.

These pieces are written for those who at least attempt to rise above the bullshit and are working to take a logical, realistic approach to what is, versus what one personally thinks a rebuild should look like—mostly-rooted in simply being tired of the Canes’ irrelevance and nostalgic for a better era of UM football.

CAN’T AUTHENTICALLY DISCUSS PRESENT WITHOUT OWNING RECENT PAST

Back to beating a dead horse—as so many still refuse to look at Miami’s overall body of work the past 15 years; screaming about some mythical ‘standard’ that hasn’t been the case since Butch Davis built a contender from the ground-on-up in the late nineties and Larry Coker pissed it away, unable to recruit and run a program at the high-level of his predecessor; Coker 35-3 with Davis’ talent his first three seasons and 25-12 his final three.

A few low-lights regarding the past decade-and-a-half of Miami Hurricanes football worth re-mentioning:

— 1-of-15 in Coastal Division titles and zero ACC Championships since leaving the BIG EAST after the 2003 season.

— An impossible-to-fathom 99-71 record dating back to Coker’s final season at UM in 2006.

— A three-year NCAA investigation that crushed the overall brand, crippled recruiting and made the head coaching gig a less-than-desirable option—in the midst of a five-year drought where UM was already a watered-down version of what it had been at the turn of the century. 

— Five different head coaches in 14 seasons and massive turnover regarding assistants during that span—resulting in zero growth or consistency.

Most-recently, a 7-6 run that saw Mark Richt stepping down after three years–the worst offensive production Miami football has seen since probation in the mid-nineties and a 35-3 post-season loss to Wisconsin that demoralized a program that felt it’d finally taken a step forward after a 10-3 run in 2017.

Knowing all of this to be true, how and why did so many supporters misconstrue any The New Miami talk as if it were some instant-fix—opposed to the long term-attitude adjustment, aggressive mindset, culture change and long-term end-goal product Diaz and staff intended it as?

Diaz got the job because Richt wasn’t getting it done and chose early retirement over the difficult task of rebuilding the Canes; the gig tougher than originally anticipated for the burned-out, long-time Georgia head coach.

Richt only landed the gig late 2015 because Al Golden was still a hot, off-brand mess year five—on the wrong end of a 58-0 mid-season, home ass kicking courtesy of Clemson and hitting his ceiling.

Golden was only hired because Randy Shannon stumbled to 7-6 year four and showed no signs of improvement—the former linebacker-turned-defensive-coordinator getting hand the keys only after Coker’s eventual skid, unable to maintain what Davis had painfully created—and in an era where former defensive coordinator and then-Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano turned down a return to Coral Gables.

Back in the day, coaching turnover was the exact opposite—four Miami top guys consecutively poached by the NFL (or USFL). The getting was so good in Coral Gables, big pro money was thrown at Howard Schnellenberger, Jimmy Johnson, Dennis Erickson and eventually Davis—to make the leap; three of four leaving The U in pristine shape for the next-man-up.

All that to say, “the day” is long gone and Miami is consistently dealing with more common coaching changes—constantly hitting reset like so many other programs because things have gone awry with the current guy, the plug is pulled, a new regime begins and things either eventually turn, or it’s rinse, wash, repeat over and over again.

The Canes have been stuck in this negative loop hire after hire; hitting ‘reset’ every couple of years—a move that kills all and any consistency, forces culture rebirths and clean slates on the reg.

The Chippewas played the Canes tough and with :39 remaining, actually had the ball with a chance to pull off an upset.

IT’S ALL ABOUT … A LACK OF CONSISTENCY; FIVE HEAD COACHES SINCE 2006

It’s become an all-too-familiar place; that three-year window where patience is tested waiting on the newest head coaching hire to put his fingerprints on the program; breaking bad habits with current players and attempting to implement an attitude change with the new recruits—while expecting everyone to jell as soon as possible to quiet the outside noise, distractions and critique.

Diaz is the latest to get the keys to the king down—expressing a #TNM approach as end-goal from the get-go.

“We didn’t build this for August 24th—the idea here is to build monsters that last,” Diaz shared days after the season-opening loss to Florida.

Translation; we’re going to get after things as best we can with what we have—but we can’t clean up a 15-year mess over spring and summer, so be patient, buckle in and and set realistic expectations for 2019—a season that will be full of ups and downs.

“But come on, bro—is it asking too much to think this team has the talent to handle Central Michigan, bro???”

No, but it also shouldn’t be some next-level surprise when these “lesser” teams find a way to show up week-in and week-out, creating chaos for bigger programs—yet it’s been Doomsday for too many “supporters” based on the Canes not blowing out the Chippewas.

A dozen years ago when Appalachian State upended Michigan at home, it was an anomaly—but it’s since become more commonplace.

One month into this season Georgia State upset Tennessee in Knoxville, The Citadel took out Georgia Tech in Atlanta, Missouri was upended at Wyoming, while Florida State and Michigan needed overtime to survive Louisiana-Monroe and Army, respectively—while Iowa State needed three overtimes to avoid home humiliation against Northern Iowa.

Pitt upset Central Florida last Saturday and needed an early fourth quarter touchdown to avoid being upset by Delaware a week later. TCU crushed Kansas this weekend—the Jayhawks still riding high from a road dismantling of Boston College weeks back—yet the Horned Frogs dropped a recent home game to SMU; a Mustangs program that went 5-7 last year and is still best known for barely surviving the Death Penalty decades back.

The era of good programs sleepwalking through showdowns against feisty, upset-minded smaller schools—long gone. Power 5 schools best at least bring their C-game, lest them find themselves in trouble. Miami brought it’s D-game against Central Michigan and almost paid a steep price; something Diaz acknowledged post-game when calling out the season’s most-lethargic practice three days before the Chippewas rolled into HardRock Stadium and almost did the unthinkable.

Incredibly enough, even in the wake of almost losing, the Hurricanes limp-dicked their way through last Sunday’s practice session—which again put the first-year head coach in a position to go foot-up-the-ass with his players; proof of a broken culture and a fragility that has plagued this Hurricanes program for years on end.

When things have gotten bad during this down cycle, Miami has self-imploded—the wheels quickly falling off. Take any sub-par season over the past 15 years; decent starts to a season that fast turn dismal, multiple-game losing streaks that are a ripple effect of dropping a winnable game the Hurricanes can’t bounce back from. Coker, Shannon, Golden and Richt all have their fair share of those moments during their respective runs.

Even in 2017, when Miami eked out some close calls and puffed out chests at 10-0—the wheels were off after falling on the road to a four-win Pittsburgh team; the Canes lethargic in the ACC Championship against Clemson and showing zero resiliency in the Orange Bowl against Wisconsin, blowing an early 14-3 lead and falling 34-24.

The Miami Hurricanes are 8-11 since a regular season-ending road loss at Pittsburgh in late 2017.

NEW “STANDARD” HAS BEEN UNRAVELING, OPPOSED TO PAST ERAS OF DOMINANCE

Last September the Canes were tagged by LSU in the opener and smacked up a few scrubs to get to 5-1—before a four-game losing streak that began at Virginia days after a thrilling comeback to beat Florida State. Richt had another four-game losing streak his first season at Miami; the Canes unable to emotionally get over a late 20-19 home loss to the Seminoles, with a chance to take down the arch-rival for the first time in seven tries.

Golden had his 7-0 start in 2013 before finishing 9-4; including a post-season no-show against Louisville. Shannon had his 9-4 run in 2009—3-1 out the gate with wins over Florida State, Georgia Tech and Oklahoma, with a 31-7 loss at Virginia Tech worked in as undying proof the Canes were definitely not “back”. Toss in an overtime loss to unranked Clemson at home and another epic fail in Chapel Hill, Miami rolled into bowl season 9-3 and looked one-dimensional in a Champs Sports Bowl loss to Wisconsin.

Fans want to scream about some dated “standard” at Miami; welcome to the new-new—an era where the Canes show no resiliency or an ability to respond to any level of adversity; proving their nothing more than a mid-tier ACC bunch that only occasionally shows any sign of life.

Knowing this to be true, is it really a shock Central Michigan gave Miami fits for games into the Diaz era—a team that’s lost 11 of its past 19 games going into last Saturday? Is anyone truly surprised that practice was lethargic a few days after rolling Bethune-Cookman; heads and egos a bit inflated and feeling like things were back on track for beating up a nobody Wildcats squad?

Instead of being alarmed by things that are a direct result of what’s been the new norm that the past four head coaches have been unable to solve—shift the focus to how the fifth head coaching option since the Davis era is meeting the challenge head-on, while addressing and breaking down what is, the why and how it will get fixed, one painful moment at a time.

“We started non-competitive—which means we still choose to be competitive and when not to be competitive. And when I say ‘we’, it’s not every player. It’s not every player on one side of the ball, or the other—but there’s too many guys that run it for everybody,” Diaz explained hours after last Sunday’s effort-less practice—channeling an eighties-era, Johnson-like psychology-related, macro-approach to the problem, as well.

“When you talk about changing a culture, you don’t just put posters on the wall and it just happens. This is something that is years in the making and it’s never easy. Human inertia is to be average and mediocre. That current and that gravitational pull sucks you down every day—and so it just doesn’t happen where all of a sudden everyone is like, ‘I’m going to come in here and bring my best every day.’ That is quite literally why they call us ‘Coach’—to make sure that it happens.”

As to how and why this has happened at Miami; a program rich in culture and history over the past half century—the first-year head coach had more to say.

“New guys come in and they absorb the culture from the older guys in the locker room. That’s all the stories we heard here, the names that are hanging on the ceiling here—they all passed it down. At some point there’s a disconnect and when there’s a disconnect, it has to be rebuilt. It just doesn’t happen.”

Again, not “tweaked” or “finely-tuned”—but rebuilt; as in from scratch. Little pockets of talent at certain positions doesn’t make a championship team—years of building and buying in to a culture; those first wave of guys getting close, but not getting there—paving the way for the next wave of greats who learned and will benefit from those who were that initial class to kick off that rebuild.

Butch Davis felt the heat from 1995 through his year six, after an early 2000 road loss where No. 4 Miami fell at No. 15 Washington. 

WHERE ARE THOSE FOUNDATION-BUILDING, BORN LEADER-TYPE PLAYERS?

This isn’t foreign ground for Miami as the Hurricanes went through a similar process two decades back, albeit under different circumstances—post-probation and gutted scholarship-wise when Davis laid his foundation with those hard-nosed recruiting classes in 1996 and 1997 that set the stage for the dominance that would occur between 2000 and 2003.

A long-gone nineties era where the best local talent wanted to stay home to be a part of something special and took pride in being “the class” that turned things around; guys like Ed Reed eating shit as a r-freshman in Tallahassee in 1997, on the wrong end of that 47-0 ass kicking—saying years later that he didn’t come to Miami to be a part of that.

Four years down the road; #20 standing in that same locker room at Doak Campbell, screaming at his teammates about being hurt, not winning by enough and hell-bent on a mission to bring home a national title as a senior; returning for that one final go-around because he wanted to get the University of Miami it’s fifth ring.

Fast-forward to present day and a front-runner era of college football, where the best of South Florida’s best are worried about the now and personal gain; taking their talents to Tuscaloosa or Athens, knowing that over three to four years they’ll play for a few national championship and maybe win one, or two.

This is precisely why such a big part of Diaz’s culture change involves a different approach to recruiting and a more brass-tacks approach when it comes to recurring Miami-style guys who want to be Hurricanes and know what it means to not only play for The U—but to be part of that special first wave of greats that puts UM back on the trajectory it belongs.

If one can truly wrap their head around things from this vantage point, what was really expected out of of the 2019 season—and why were so many screaming, “12-0!”, predicting a rout of Florida, offended that Virginia was picked to win the Coastal Division and missing the entire point regarding The New Miami as a long-term goal, versus some off-season makeover? 7-6 last season and a history of wilting over the past decade-plus at any signs of adversity—as well as not knowing how to handle any prosperity?

The muscle memory in regards to mediocrity and setbacks; it runs deep and will take time to flush out with this current group—which will inevitably lead to some level of discord as the next wave of Diaz-recruited players rolls in with the attitude this new coaching staff it working to implement.

Miami’s loss to Boston College in 1984 was part of a three-game skid that left Jimmy Johnson 8-5 his first year as head coach.

LONE 2019 GOAL WAS TO FIELD A COMPETITIVE SQUAD LIKE ‘THE U’ OF OLD

Those who’ve accepted what is—the current state of the program, a decade-and-a-half of mediocrity and an understanding that each new regime change is two steps forward, one step back—are equally as disgusted with a 2-2 start and close call against the likes of Central Michigan; but simply don’t have the visceral reaction as their expectations for this season were rooted in logic and the laying of a new foundation.

Seeing a more competitive team that looked like the Miami Hurricanes of old, while competing for a Coastal Division crown and getting better as the year went on—that was the ultimate goal. Yes, it sucked royally to have Florida backed into a corner, only to make a handful more mistakes than “the Gator”— allowing them to escape, 24-20.

No, there are no moral victories, but there was enough good to take from that road loss in Diaz’s first showing—especially when considering the alternative would’ve probably looked more like Miami’s last showing on a football field; that lifeless, lethargic shellacking Wisconsin laid on the Canes in Brooklyn.

Two weeks later in Chapel Hill, the Canes were tagged early—shell-shocked by the packed house and rowdy crowd, despite knowing what was coming—but dug in and fought back; something that hasn’t been the case over the years. Miami took the lead late, appeared to have pulled off the comeback—only to see a secondary (missing last year’s veteran leadership) get burned again, as it was by the Gators, en route to another fourth quarter heartbreak.

It was an 0-2 start; but not the types of lifeless losses the Canes have been racking up since things went to shit a dozen years ago.

Miami took care of Bethune-Cookman and things seemed to be turning, despite the 1-2 record—until heads got big, effort got small and a coaching staff had to take things back to square one, yet again, working to teach kids how to deal with adversity, prosperity and everything in between—things that are second nature to contenders and championship-level programs full of players who can self-police.

As this season rolls on over the next two months, may common sense and logic kick into high gear for what will be an up and down ride. For those who struggle to get to that sensible place and need a little push—lean on some recent history lessons and situations some other first-year guys have been in, before getting things on a better path.

Everyone knows Miami’s head coaching family tree by now and some early struggles of first-year guys; Johnson’s run in 1984 with the defending national champs—dropping his final three in epic-fail fashion; a blown 31-0 halftime lead to Maryland, ‘Hail Flutie’ against Boston College the following game and a Fiesta Bowl loss to UCLA to finish 8-5—as well as fans still wanting to run Davis every season through year six, after an early-season road loss to Washington—only to clamor for his return consistently over the next two decades.

Step outside Canes’ culture for a moment and look up some stats and history on some of the best coaches the game currently has to offer.

Alabama was upset by Louisiana-Monroe year one for Nick Saban—ULM erecting this I-20 billboard for Tide fans en route to the Independence Bowl.

FIRST-YEAR COACHES OFT STRUGGLE TO CHANGE CULTURES & REBUILD

Nick Saban went 7-6 out the gate at Alabama, as the Crimson Tide were nowhere near the program he’s since built them into–dealing with the type of issues plaguing Miami over the past 15 years. Alabama was a dismal 46-40 between 2000 and 2006, under three different head coaches before Saban showed up—successful at LSU years earlier, but having failed in his short stint with the Miami Dolphins.

For all those sweating a close call against Central Michigan; Alabama lost to Louisiana-Monroe at home in 2007 under St. Nick.

Dabo Swinney is another current top guy that needed upwards of a decade to turn Clemson into a contender. After years of being barely-above-average under Tommy Bowden, Swinney took over for Bowden mid-season 2oo8 and managed to win the Atlantic his first full season, but backslid to 6-7 in 2010—including a home blowout against rival South Carolina.

Two years later—year three-and-a-half—an ACC Championship lost some luster after West Virginia throttled Swinney’s Tigers in the Orange Bowl, 70-33.

Should one really want do dive down the rabbit hole, dig up some old fan-driven sites and message boards from early in the careers of the two most-recent, multi-national championship winners and see how badly some wanted to drive both Saban and Swinney out of town—one written off as a has-been, the other as a never-was—yet in due time, both ultimately got the job done and are currently revered by their respective programs and fan bases.

Time—as much as Miami fans are sick of waiting, it remains the operative word as the aforementioned fifth coaching change since 2006 is the equivalent of hitting ‘reset’ on a video game, or wiping the whiteboard clean.

All one can ask for in this journey; a head coach that’s attacking the issues they come up in real time, while doing everything he can to speed up the process with what he has—and working tirelessly to get this thing to where he wants.

Chris Bello has been covering University of Miami athletics since the mid-nineties. Getting his start with CanesTime, he eventually launched allCanesBlog—which led to a featured columnist stint with BleacherReport. He’s since rolled out the unfiltered, ItsAUThing.com where he’ll use his spare time to put decades of U-related knowledge to use for those who care to read. When he’s not writing about ‘The U’, Bello earns a living helping icon Bill Murray build a lifestyle apparel brand. Hit him on Twitter for all things U-related @ItsAUThingBLOG.

MANNY DIAZ SHOW : BREAKDOWN OF MIAMI VERSUS FLORIDA


While it’s easy to get frustrated with the advent of social media or college football message boards and all the harm that wave of technology has brought to the sport—there are some modern-day benefits as well; starting with videos like these.

Where fans used to be limited to morning-after newspaper quotes from a post-game presser, or at best—critics giving their Monday morning take on the big game, via sports talk radio—we’re now in an era where videos of a head coach breaking down film and offering up and in-depth study of a game is easily accessible for those who want it.

The embedded clip below is a 21-minute deep-dive between Miami head coach Manny Diaz and long time voices of the Hurricanes; Don Bailey Jr. and Joe Zagacki. Where the latter two can go full-blown homerism, these in-depth segments aren’t capable of being fluff pieces—as it’s an assessment of the X’s and O’s; what went right, what went wrong—and why.

Understandably people are still frustrated by the loss to Florida; though many are (obviously) dragging over a decade’s worth of anger-over-irrelevancy into their inability to process the loss.

This video won’t suddenly make a loss to the Gators somehow feel good—but Diaz’s assessment of things should at least bring some comfort at the Canes’ newest leader seems very clear-cut on what was, what should be and what it will take to get things corrected.

First 13 minutes is a recap of the Miami / Florida match-up—while the final eight minutes of the segment features Diaz and Bailey Jr. breaking down film and individual plays / drive from the game.

Honestly, if you don’t have time for the whole thing, at least make time to watch from the 13:00 mark on. Fans love harping on social media about losses being unacceptable and what not, without a fair assessment of what played out, as well as a slowed down look at every aspect of the play—the good, the bad and the ugly.

PENALTIES & MISTAKES DOOM MIAMI HURRICANES IN QUEST TO UPSET RIVAL FLORIDA GATORS


Months back has someone offered up a scenario that unranked Miami would find themselves down four, ball in hand mid-field with just over four minutes to go against No.8 Florida—one of any three quarterbacks without a turnover in their first start, while the Canes’ defense forced four turnovers—most would’ve considered it a dream scenario; especially considering the state of ‘The U’ the last the University of Miami played a football game.

Incredibly that was the exact situation Saturday night in the season-opener against Florida, but Miami couldn’t close—out-slopping the Gators, who scored late and held off the Canes for a 24-20 win—complete with five lead changes.

We mentioned last week around these parts that most opening games between quality teams tend to be lost, or given away more than one team stepping up and truly winning it—which was precisely the case here. Miami was 2-of-13 on third down conversions, Florida was 2-0f-10. The Gators turned it over four times, while the Canes’ lone turnover ultimately turned out to be the biggest of the game—both timing- and field position-wise.

Miami’s young offensive line struggled mightily, giving up an ungodly number of sacks—10—while roughly the entire team missed the “play smart” message delivered by Jimmy Johnson weeks back when he dropped by campus; UM with an obnoxious amount of penalties—14-for-118 yards.

UF wasn’t much better, getting clipped nine times for 100 yards—which should’ve been even more egregious considering the non-holding call on the Gators’ first touchdown and a missed false start on their final score. Big XII officials completely whiffed in their season debut; ESPN commentator Chris Fowler uttering the world “controversial” a few things throughout the course the evening—though Miami finished off the officials’ hack-job by shooting itself in the foot more than once; saving the worst for late.

Having hung in there the majority of the evening; weathering the storm and holding Florida off—clinging to a 13-10 lead late in the third quarter—the guy who was supposed to be Miami’s difference-maker made the biggest blunder on the night.

THE BREAKDOWN & THE ONE THAT ULTIMATELY GOT AWAY

Fielding a punt around the Canes’ 11-yard-line, Jeff Thomas couldn’t bring it in. The Gators recovered and three plays later, took the lead on their second cheap touchdown of the night—the first, a 66-yard dump-off to Kadarius Toney where UM cornerback Trajan Bandy was literally held twice on the play, yet no call.

To Miami’s credit, it immediately answered the score after Thomas’ fumble with an electric, 50-yard scamper by the resilient DeeJay Dallas, snatching back the lead, 20-17. The defense got back out their and did their part, as well—forcing the night’s third turnover when Amari Carter intercepted Felepie Franks, returning it 22 yards to the UF 25-yard line.

The Canes attempted to answer the Gators’ opening-drive fake punt with a fake field goal on 4th-and-1—Bubba Baxa scampering four yards—which a(nother) holding call negated. Miami got new life by way of an unnecessary roughness call on 4th-and-7, but in the name of all things bad juju, Baxa whiffed on the 27-yard chip shot and Florida paid no price for their mistakes.

To the credit of Dan Mullen, and the demise of a Miami defender out of position—safety Gurvan Hall—Franks dropped a dime to receiver Josh Hammond, who took if 65 yards before being brought down. Three plays later Franks punched in what would prove to be the game-winning score.

With half a quarter remaining, Miami still got two cracks at a comeback—but couldn’t capitalize. Thomas attempted to redeem himself with a 32-yard return that gave the Canes some of the best field position they’d seen all night—while Jarren Williams went back to early targets wideout K.J. Osborn and tight end Brevin Jordan, who hauled in a 25-yard reception just before halftime to give Miami it’s first lead since the opening drive.

Facing a 1st-and-10 from the Gators’ 31-yard line, some poorly-timed trickery with quarterback Tate Martell in the game, resulting in a loss of one—followed by an incomplete pass by Williams that set up a dreaded third-and-long that only gained two yards.

With faith in Baxa out the window—and little belief Miami would see the ball again—Manny Diaz opted against a 47-yard field goal attempt and saw Williams sacked on fourth down.

Inexplicably—Franks attempted to throw on fir first down with 4:20 remaining—and was picked off by Romeo Finley, who returned the errant pass to Florida’s 25-yard line, but staying with the disastrous theme of the night, Miami found a way to lose 30 yards in a matter of tick of the clock.

A double-bird salute from safety Al Blades Jr. cost the Canes the first 15 and an illegal block on first down locked on another—moving Miami all the way back to it’s own 45.

From there, the rest was a messy blur for both sides. Over the final 10 plays, Williams was sacked three times and fumbled twice (both recovered by Miami), while Florida committed two pass interference plays—one on 4th-and-34, another on 3rd-and-12—that gave the Canes new life.

A 12-yard reception by Mike Harley got Miami as close as the 24-yard line with under a minute remaining—where a game-winning field goal would’ve been an option had Baxa not missed earlier, or Diaz chosen to go for three instead of keeping the ball in his quarterback’s hands on fourth-and-long—but that was all she wrote after a sack and two incomplete passes that turned the ball over and downs.

While it’d be easy to point to a defining play here or there in a four-point loss—fact remains there were too many, each of which that could’ve been a difference-maker. Miami simply didn’t play the smart, disciplined, clean game it needed to take down the No. 8-ranked squad in a season-opener.

Yes, Florida looked like hot-garbage at times, as well—but the Gators could better-afford to not play their best as the more-experienced bunch year two under a coach who got them to 10 wins last year. Miami—in it’s first game under Diaz, with a brand new offensive staff and a r-freshman quarterback making his first start—couldn’t; those couple of extra mistakes proving to be the distance in jubilation and an upset, versus loss and heartbreak.

Despite doing some things right—resilient play, overcoming adversity, not quitting—too many pivotal moments went the wrong way. Still, the Canes were ultimately in it until the end despite that, and never stopped swinging.

“We talked about all off-season about developing a backbone, being able to withstand a punch … and then that happened the second half when we fumbled the punt and they score on the short field and a couple times where it’s like, well, I don’t know,” Diaz explained post game.

“Maybe it’s not your night and you can kind of let go of the rope and I thought our guys looked those situations in the eye, fought through them, and ultimately gave ourselves a chance to win the game with 10 seconds left in the game throwing the ball in their end zone.”

“Like I said, that’s what a big time program should do. You don’t pat yourself on the back for not quitting but it is something. And that was a big point of our off-season.”

As expected, the reactions to the game and loss are split—some imploring logic and liking much of what they saw; penalties and mistakes withholding—while others are letting emotion get the best of them; taking out 15 years of frustration on one game.

SEGMENT OF UM FAN BASE CONFIRMS THEY’LL NEVER ‘GET IT’

Message boards are generally the underbelly of the sports world; fans with quirky handles spewing anonymous venom and in this case, many seeming like they actually want Miami to fail, simply so they can be correct in their attacks. One game in, Diaz is already seeing the honeymoon end (with this portion of the fan base), after eight months of solid off-season moves.

Game One, with a brand new offensive staff, a brand new quarterback, three freshman on the offensive line—not to mention a 7-6 program that ended with a 35-3 bowl game thud last December—and some of the attacks were written like it’s year three and things should be humming smoothly.

Canes fans generally get a bad rap. Most of it isn’t fair, but when you see some of these bullshit comments and a complete inability to acknowledge that this Miami squad—mistakes aside—looked light year’s better than the lifeless bunch that took on Wisconsin at the end of 2018; it’s impossible to not acknowledge some moronic behavior. A sampling from one critic on Saturday night:

“This sloppy performance had beautiful hunts of Al Golden team with some notes of the late great Randal Shannon.

I’m calling you out Manny Diaz. You’re on notice. Until proven otherwise, you’re just a Cuban Randy Shannon without the forehead dent or top-ranked class in the country.

Let’s see if the sequel is better than the original, which flopped after being propped up and hyped for the same reasons. Can he win the Coastal or is he another Temple coach—all hat and not cattle.” 

Those who disagree are considered to be a “jabroni”, while this critic also suggested a Penalty Dunce Cap for Diaz—going along with all of UM’s other sideline jewelry: “This way every time your undisciplined team commits a penalty you can pose for the camera, dog.”

Sadly, if you’ve followed this program for decades—you absolutely know “that guy” and could’ve set your watch by comments like this, no matter if Miami scrapped and lose to Florida by four, or no-showed and got rolled by four touchdowns—as the imbeciles have zero ability to discern between the two.

Fact remains, there’s a portion of UM’s fan base that believes the magic captured between 1983 and 2002 (sans that mid-nineties probation hiccup) should be replicated without a hitch; by a private school that really had no business crashing the party in the first place.

CANES FOOTBALL WILL REMAIN A MODERN-DAY UNDERDOG

Where football reigns supreme throughout state schools in the SEC, Big XII and Big Ten—coaches treated and paid like gods, while fans flock to stadiums on Saturday afternoons just as religiously as they attend church come Sunday—that will never be the case with the ‘The U’.

Miami spent 15 years—from the 2001 national title season, until two months before Al Golden was fired, late 2015—with Donna Shalala as university president; a woman who loved the medical program with passion, but didn’t give a rat’s ass about athletics.

The result, a few low-rent hires that kept the Canes wandering around purgatory for a combined nine years as both Golden, and Randy Shannon before him could barely tread water—let alone rebuild what Butch Davis created half a decade prior to Shannon replacing placeholder Larry Coker

It’s no coincidence that four months after Shalala’s departure, UM athletic director Blake James and the Board of Trustess green-lit the hiring of Mark Richt—made possible by Shalala’s replacement, Dr. Julio Frenk, operating in a hands-off manner in regards to athletics.

Despite the bigger paycheck, Richt didn’t prove to be a home-run hire on the field—but bringing in a seasoned veteran who ran a storied SEC program for 15 years certainly helped behind the scenes, as the former Georgia Bulldogs leader rolled up his sleeves and worked to bring his alma mater into the modern era, facilities- and infrastructure-wise.

Still, the hiring of Richt broke a long-time Miami pattern of rolling the dice on low-cost up-and-comers, over stroking a fat check for a proven entity.

The moment the University of Miami grew a pair and hired a coach with Richt’s resume—December 2015—is the moment this program finally proved it actually gives two shits about rebuilding it’s proud football legacy. Everything that happened the 14 years prior on Shalala’s watch; smoke and mirrors and going through the motions.

Fans can piss and moan about how unacceptable it is that UM’s been irrelevant for almost two decades, but it doesn’t change the fact that Miami is still less than four years into truly building a modern-era football program.

The hiring of Diaz is merely Phase Two and a continuation of the groundwork Richt laid. Blowing everything up and starting from scratch for the fourth time in 13 years would’ve been disastrous—as well as it would’ve been unnecessary as the defense has been successful since Diaz revamped it in 2016, meaning only the offense needed to be retooled.

ATTITUDE & OVERALL ENERGY; BIGGEST OFF-SEASON CHANGES

Miami dug in for the fight on Saturday night against Florida—which wouldn’t have been the case had Richt not stepped down, bringing Diaz back home from his 18-day stint in Philly; allowing him and a brand new offensive staff to spend eight months changing the culture, while flushing out old bad habits and reversing negative muscle memory.

If last year’s Canes had an ounce of the fight shown last Saturday night—a that 7-5 regular season would’ve been 10-2 and Coastal Division champs; as those limp-dicked losses to Virginia, Georgia Tech and Duke simply wouldn’t have happened.

No, none of that makes a loss to Florida feel any better—but take solace in the fact Miami players and coaches are pissed off, too. Lest not forget, they’re the ones who actually put in the work all off-season—on the field and in the weight room—not on message boards or social media.

“I thought our guys played with a lot of courage. I think they played with a lot of effort,” said a frustrated Diaz in his post-game presser.

“But it doesn’t matter because we lost the game. We did not come here to play with courage and effort. We came here to win the game and it’s not okay at the University of Miami ever to lose to the University of Florida. Everybody in that locker room feels the pain of that right now.”

Some will chalk it up as coach speak or just words, while those who believe in the current transformation will take solace that this group will get back to work over the coming weeks, eliminating mistakes and chasing down a Coastal Division title—which is the ultimate goal of The New Miami here in 2019.

Chris Bello has been covering University of Miami athletics since the mid-nineties. Getting his start with CanesTime, he eventually launched allCanesBlog—which led to a featured columnist stint with BleacherReport. He’s since rolled out the unfiltered, ItsAUThing.com where he’ll use his spare time to put decades of U-related knowledge to use for those who care to read. When he’s not writing about ‘The U’, Bello earns a living helping icon Bill Murray build a lifestyle apparel brand. Hit him on Twitter for all things U-related @ItsAUThingBLOG.

Plant some seeds, watch ’em grow…

I hope the cynical, opinionated, know-it-all portion of the Miami Football fan base is paying attention to what we’re seeing out of The U’s baseball team – as well as what was just displayed on the hardwood this post season.

Success doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a calculated process. Hell, it’s scientific. Plant some seeds, give them time to grow, nurture and in due time, prepare for the harvest.

Right now, it’s ‘grow’ time for Miami Football.

A year from now it’s back to ‘go’ time.

Randy Shannon is entering year two on the job. Year one – a disaster. Make no bones about it. Little positive comes out of 5-7 losing six of seven down the stretch.

Outside a Thursday night beat down of Texas A&M and a win at Florida State, the 2007 highlights included some off-season firings, a few new hirings and the dismissal of some players this coaching staff felt were dead weight.

Amazing what you can get done when your season ends late November instead of early January.

Miami’s final spring game took place just over a week ago and a few things were apparent. (1) The Canes have some playmakers and (2) most of said playmakers are underclassmen or true freshman.

Youth is king in Coral Gables and with youth you have to expect some inexperience.

I believe wholeheartedly that Miami is on the mend and will be a top the hill again. It’s not if, it’s when. I echo the sentiments of defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator, Clint Hurtt in a recent Sports Illustrated article:

“In my heart of hearts I believe we’re back on the path to being what we were again.”

Amen, Clint.

Miami will reap what it soughs and the past few seasons, the Canes haven’t been soughing much worth writing home about.

Andy Staples hammers this point in this recent and rare SI gem on The U. Former coach Larry Coker went after the nation’s top talent instead of finding success in his own back yard. Simply put, Coker didn’t put the focus on the Tri-City area – Dade, Broward and Palm Beach – the way Shannon and staff are.

As Staples points out, some of the highly touted talent between 2003-2006 was big time on paper – but many kids failed to live up to the hype/their rankings due to playing against inferior competition in high school. The lack of production and lack of development during the tenure in Coral Gables, combined with a change in mentality helped produce the Canes recent decline.

You don’t need to over-recruit the rest of the nation when you’re this close to so much South Florida talent – quite possibly the hottest hot bed of high school football stars in the nation.

Any Texas or California doubters, look no further than Class 6A champs and national champions, Miami Northwestern. Same to be said for St. Thomas Aquinas of Ft. Lauderdale – the 5A state champs – and Miami’s Booker T. Washington, who took home the 4A title.

After Northwestern showed Southlake (Texas) Carroll who was boss back in September, there’s little doubt that the rest of Florida’s best wouldn’t take it to their 5A and 4A counterparts nationwide. The Miami kids ‘outtalented’ the Texas kids the same way great Hurricanes teams have over the years. Stronger, faster and better. Men amongst boys.

Shannon and staff target local ballers because they are damn well sure what kind of talent these highly touted players face daily in practice as well as Friday night, under the lights. That’s why eleven of the aforementioned state and national champs are suiting up for The U this fall and ready to make an immediate impact.

Not only do the local high schools again have strong ties with Canes coaches – something that fell off during Coker’s tenure where he didn’t even employ a recruiting coordinator – but these local Miami-bound Bulls and Tornadoes were barely teenagers when the Canes made their last run.

“The Canes were gladiators that never could get beat,” said freshman Miami defensive tackle and former Northwestern Bulls star Marcus Forston. “They always found a way to win. When I was growing up, those were my heroes, my role models.”

How many incoming freshman across the nation had that same love and adoration for the Canes? Some, but nothing like the impact it had on the locals. When asked about the first time Forston runs through the smoke on game day as a Cane? “I might cry,” he said.

Kids like Forston are the foundation for this rebuilding project. Local kids that could’ve played anywhere, but wanted to be a part of the Canes resurgence.

All the ‘feel good’ stories aside, Miami remains a work in progress. As impressive as these newbies are, fans have to remember that underclassmen are going to make rookie mistakes.

Ed Reed and Mike Rumph were both a huge part of Miami’s title run in 2001, but peel it back a few years and you’d be hard pressed to forget both sophomores blowing their coverage in a 27-23 loss to No. 2 Penn State in 1999.

Nursing a 23-20 lead with 1:52 left to play, Chafie Fields streaked past Rumph and Reed, scoring the game winner on a 79-yard strike from Kevin Thompson. Years later, both Cane defenders would cite that as a career-defining moment and a learning experience, en route to a national championship and first round NFL Draft picks.

A similar tale regarding recent first rounder, Brandon Meriweather.

Trucked by running back Quincy Wilson on a nationally televised nailbiter against West Virginia, the sophomore safety endured the embarrassment of that highlight for the rest of 2003. A year later, a stronger, more experienced Meriweather was on the delivering end of a bigger blow when he sent a woozy Louisville tight end to the sidelines after breaking up a pass during Miami’s thrilling 41-38 comeback win.

Even Mr. 38-2 Ken Dorsey proved mortal as a true freshman. Hurled into action at No. 2 Virginia Tech when Kenny Kelly went down, a wide eyed Dorsey’s head was swimming during a 6-of-17 performance for 45 yards and an interception during that 43-10 loss.

Fans expecting Robert Marve or Jacory Harris to walk on water from day one and overcome all obstacles simply because of their high school accolades – look no further than the early history of the great Canes listed above. There will be mistakes when you’re thrown into the fire and expected to perform early. There are gonna be some growing pains.

That said, if Miami Faithful remain patient, there will be also be reason to celebrate down the road. This thing is being rebuilt carefully from the ground on up. Patience must remain a virtue a while longer.

The seeds have been planted and the nurturing is underway. Anyone that’s followed spring ball can attest to that. Shannon and staff threw the depth charts out the window a la Jimmy Johnson. No more seniority and other Coker-esque tactics are being employed. The best players will see the field.

In an effort to promote camaraderie, locker room assignments are being reshuffled every few weeks. As Staples’ article mentioned, defensive backs will get used to sitting next to receivers, quarterbacks will suit up next to defensive lineman and scholarship players will be hanging out with the walk ons.

“You can sit by a guy for four years, and that’s the only guy you’re going to talk to,” said Shannon. “Now, you mix them around the locker room, so you get to talk to four or five guys every so often. By the time your senior season is over, there are about 70 guys that you’ve had two to three months to spend every day with.”

On paper it doesn’t sound like much, but the mental aspect of the coaching game is as important as Xs and Os come Saturday. To the average fan, who cares about locker room assignments? In the coaches eyes, this promotes a “personal connection” to each teammate – making them more accountable to each other and less likely to want to let those guys down.

A far cry from the rumored issues a worn out defense felt these past few seasons regarding a lethargic and non-productive offense.

All these little moments, adjustments and fine-tuning are how you build a champion. Great teams don’t just “happen”. They’re built from the ground up and only after you’re a top the mountain can you look back and add up all these experiences, realizing the profound impact the had on a championship team.

Miami Basketball is coming off a 23-11 season, a No. 7 seeding in the NCAA tourney and a mid-season upset of No. 4 Duke. A year ago, 12-20 and no post season.

Miami Baseball goes 37-24 last season and has a streak of 13 consecutive NCAA Regional titles snapped. A year later, the Canes are No. 1 in the nation for the first time since 2004, are riding a 13-game win streak and sit pretty at 27-2 halfway through the season.

A year ago, this fan base wouldn’t have given you a nickel for either squad. Critical of coaches and players involved with both squads, only the long-sighted fan base realized it was a rebuilding process and that both teams were a few players away from getting things back where they belong.

I hope the short-sighted contingent takes the lead of the long-sighted folks. Miami Football has officially turned the corner and the resurgence is on – but the ship won’t be righted overnight. This is a process. Shannon and staff need to nurture these young, talented kids and grow some champions.

Jimmy Johnson Helps Miami Hurricanes Search

With all the negative press about the Miami coaching vacancy, it’s nice to see someone in the mainstream sticking up for the program.

Jimmy Johnson went on record recently as saying he’s been in touch with Miami pres Donna Shalala and that he’d do anything in his power to help The U in their search for a new head coach. Johnson almost seems out to “prove” that the Miami gig hasn’t lost any appeal and wants to remind the college football community that the Canes won’t have to do much to get back in the title hunt.

“They’re very close,” said Johnson. “With all the adversity and distractions, they could have very easily won three or four more games, which would have been a decent season. Without question, this is a great job. UM will always attract talent, and the administration and president Shalala are fully committed to getting back on the right track. There are good, young players there. Someone will come in and make an immediate impact.'”

Thanks for the ringing endorsement, J.J. No one knows this situation better than you. The Miami program made Johnson a household name. Before that, he was just a guy from Oklahoma State who was taking a cush job many wanted to see handed over to former assistant, Tom Olivodatti.

Johnson left Miami a champion and went on to win two Super Bowl rings with the Dallas Cowboys a few years later.

He and Shalala have spoken twice recently and his message is simple; he wants to help in any way, shape or form. J.J. has oft expressed his love for the University of Miami and still gets choked up when talking about what a special time that was in his life and career.

Johnson has no desire to coach again, but stated he does have contacts and would like to help. It’s now on Miami’s top brass to decide if they want Johnson’s input, or not.