Category: The U

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

Posted on by Chris Bello


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.

MIAMI HURRICANES WITH (ANOTHER) STATEMENT OPP AT NORTH CAROLINA

Posted on by Chris Bello


The Miami Hurricanes are back in action this Saturday after an early bye; created when the season opener against the Florida Gators was moved up a week as the marquee game to kick off the 150th season of college football.

After hanging tough but falling late in an upset bid to take down then-No. 8 Florida—the extra week to reset could prove to be a blessing in disguise for Miami, who heads north to Chapel Hill to take on a division rival in North Carolina, before returning home for a couple of warm-up games against the likes of Bethune-Cookman and Central Michigan.

Quirky scheduling, to say the least—especially on the heels of an off-season that saw a head coaching change, the entire offensive side of the ball fired and a dark horse redshirt freshman locking down the quarterback position days before the showdown with the Gators.

North Carolina survived their season opener in Charlotte; rallying late to take down South Carolina—Tar Heels’ new-yet-old head coach Mack Brown besting his former assistant Will Muschamp—whose Gamecocks blew a 20-9 early fourth quarter lead and gave up 15 unanswered in the 24-20 loss.

First-year Miami head coach Manny Diaz is also another Brown pupil facing off against his former boss, while looking to have his team avoid the mistakes that broke Muschamp’s squad down the stretch; namely two interceptions with less than three minutes remaining in the ball game—as well as a missed opportunity to haul in one of their own that would’ve shut the door on a North Carolina rally.

Miami is the favorite in this weekend’s primetime showdown; though any who have followed this series since the Canes jumped to the ACC, are all-too-well aware of the struggles that have taken place Chapel Hill over the years.

ROAD GAMES AGAINST TAR HEELS; LIVING HELL FOR HURRICANES

Hard as it is to comprehend, Miami is only 3-4 at Kenan Memorial Stadium since 2004—painful and frustrating losses where the Canes literally reinvented new ways to blow games to the Tar Heels, while the wins were all extremely hard-fought efforts.

Regarding those three victories, Miami won by a combined 15 points, never won by more than six points and never scored more than 30. A quick deep dive into this division rivalry:

— In 2004, the undefeated, third-ranked Canes wound up in a battle with a 3-4 Tar Heels team that showed up ready to play. Miami would trail 21-14 at the half, would tie the game going into the fourth quarter, would again fall behind 28-21—only to once-more tie things up with just over two minutes remaining—before the defense surrendered a nine-play, 55-yard drive capped off by a game-winning field goal with four ticks left on the clock.

— 2007 and 2009 losses had similar blueprints; starting with another mentor (Butch Davis) sticking it to his pupil (Randy Shannon) and ending with Miami getting off to slow starts in both affairs—down 27-0 the first meeting and 23-7 in the latter—before mounting comebacks that ultimately came up short by way of turnovers, mistakes or the defense simply unable to hold on. The Canes lost 33-27 in 2007 and 33-24 in 2009.

— 2015 proved ugly all around as Miami limped into Kenan Memorial three weeks after Al Golden had been fired—a 58-0 home loss to Clemson year five being the final straw. Tight ends coach Larry Scott took over in an interim role. Scott’s Canes survived a lateral-fueled miracle at Duke before beating Virginia at home, but the eventual Coastal champs destroyed the Canes, 59-21 in mid-November.

— Prior to his dismissal, Golden actually picked up two wins against the Tar Heels—2011 and 2013—both close calls and in completely different fashion. His first go-around, Miami almost blew a 27-3 third quarter lead, before hanging on to survive, 30-24—adrenaline flowing as the Heels recovered a late onside kick, ball in hand in the final minute loading for the go-ahead score.

Two years later, Miami won on a Thursday night in comeback fashion; Dallas Crawford playing the role of hero when replacing an injured Duke Johnson and scoring two late touchdowns, erasing a 23-13 early fourth quarter deficit—the Canes advancing to 6-0 while the Tar Heels dropped to 1-5.

— 2017 saw another one-win North Carolina squad giving an undefeated Miami team hell; the Canes strutting in 7-0 with recent comeback wins over Florida State and Georgia Tech, while the Heels were reeling at 1-7, having been trounced by Virginia Tech the week prior, 59-7.

Miami found themselves in an unexpected dog fight; turning it over twice to North Carolina’s four mishaps—but still surrendering 428 yards to the Heels, on a day the Canes only picked up 59 rushing yards. UNC’s final turnover was the dagger; coughing up a fumble in the final minutes, allowing UM to preserve a 24-19, en route to a 10-0 season start and the program’s first Coastal Division title.

STRONG HOME SHOWING LAST FALL AGAINST REELING HEELS

Fast-forwarding to present day; both the Tar Heels and Hurricanes are in the midst of a rebirth.

Mark Richt hung it up at the end of a three-year run in Coral Gables where he couldn’t get Miami over the necessary hump, while Larry Fedora was sent packing after seven seasons where he reached the pinnacle in 2015, but went 13-23 over the next three years.

Richt’s Canes put the biggest hurting on Fedora’s Heels during a nine-loss campaign in 2018; a one-sided, defensive-driven, 47-10 blowout on a Thursday night at HardRock. Miami’s forced six turnovers and returned three for touchdowns—though team stats outside of the mishaps was fairly even; UNC with 329 total yards to UM’s 354, with both teams each rushing for 200+ yards apiece on the night.

Gone are Richt and Fedora, with Diaz and Brown representing the respective programs this season. Miami rolls in having suffered a tough loss to Florida, while North Carolina unexpectedly took down South Carolina—both sides share one commonality early on in both new coaches’ tenures; a passionate attitude and style of play instantly noticeable game one.

The conference doormat that was the Tar Heels last fall appears in overachieve-mode attitude-wise, while last year’s lackluster, underachieving Hurricanes seem ready to play up to potential; opposed to the offensively-shackled bunch they were last fall under Richt.

PRIMETIME OPP TO BACK UP SOME BIG TALK ABOUT ‘THE NEW MIAMI’

There’s been a lot of talk out of South Florida the past nine months regarding The New Miami; guys talking the talk again, while Diaz robbed the Transfer Portal and brought some immediate-impact kids in to hopefully make a difference this fall.

The former defensive coordinator knows the time is now—as well as the fact he needs to find a way to win with what he has, if the Canes are ever going to keep top talent from escaping to the likes of Tuscaloosa or Athens; wanting to play for SEC teams and automatic Playoffs contenders.

A win against Florida would’ve been a nice splash and way to kick off the era, but it didn’t come to fruition—so now it’s on to the next challenge; will Diaz have these Hurricanes ready or Chapel Hill and a place with some bad juju over the years?

Having suffered through the past decade-and-a-half of Miami football, there’s arguably been no more disappointing a character trait of those teams than the Canes not showing up prepared in the wake of a loss.

Last fall Miami rattled off five consecutive wins after falling to LSU in the opener; including 21 straight points against Florida State for a 28-27 comeback. Things were back on track, until they weren’t—an offense-less Miami falling 16-13 in a defensive struggle at Virginia the following week; but that was just the beginning of the shit-show.

The Canes had a bye week and a chance for a hard reset after that loss, but it never came. Instead, a musical chairs-like quarterback controversy ensued and Miami showed up flat to Chestnut Hill for a game Boston College owned from the get-go; methodic drives of 88 and 77 yards on their first two possessions—sitting on a 17-14 lead before shutting the Canes out in the second half in a 27-14 ball game—another outing with sub-par quarterback play for UM.

Miami returned home and fell to Duke the following weekend and came up short at Georgia Tech the week after that; four losses in a row and three failed opportunities to show up and stop the bleeding.

The sin hasn’t been in losing; it’s the way these Canes have been going down, as well as a completely inability to show up prepared and to seize a moment—which has as legit a shot to turnaround today, as any time in recent history.

OVERCONFIDENT TAR HEELS RIPE FOR A U-SIZED SMACKDOWN

All of the rough outings in Chapel Hill over the years; that isn’t baggage the 2019 Hurricanes have to carry. It’s ancient history—just as much as last year’s home rout of the Tar Heels is in the rear view. North Carolina has eked out seven wins on a football field over their past 28 games, dating back to November 2016. This is a program that has been in complete disarray, as proven by the off-season dismissal of Fedora.

Yes, those kids are buying into Brown’s return—and there was definitely a feel-good moment against South Carolina last weekend, for a program that’s worked out to purge itself of its losing ways—but don’t mistake that win as overly impressive. The average Gamecocks served that loss up on a silver platter and the Tar Heels found a way to win ugly; which gets a pass when playing such a horrible brand of football these past few seasons.

The win injected some life into UNC’s program—as well as a fan base that will pack Kenan Memorial for a sold out, primetime kickoff Saturday night—which Diaz should love in regards to The New Miami narrative. This game now has the look and feel of something bigger than it is and can be a good building block moving forward, assuming these Canes show up and take care of business.

Roll in with the same passion and energy that Miami brought to the Florida game—but eliminate the mistakes and show that work was put in these past two weeks to clean things up.

This is also a do-over for quarterback Jarren Williams and the Hurricanes’ offensive line, which gave up 10 sacks to the Gators. A safe bet the Tar Heels will dial it up and try to rattle the r-freshman, as well as exposing a young line—but North Carolina is a Top 10 team with Florida-caliber horses on their defense.

Miami’s quarterback and offensive line simply need to settle in this week, not flinch and do what they’re capable of doing, against an inferior opponent—while running DeeJay Dallas backs up his social media inspiration call-out, due to some elitist Tar Heels fan trash talk and liberal use of the “thug” moniker.

A MUST-WIN GAME EARLY SEPTEMBER? ABSOLUTELY.

All of that, “never scored more than 30 in Chapel Hill” and “never won by more than six” noise; Miami has every ability to end both of those stigmas if it proves this new attitude hype is real. North Carolina is ripe for the picking and is a perfect mark; even more ideal than originally planned, thanks to the fact they actually beat and SEC team last week and are feeling overconfident about their abilities; fans and players alike.

Conversely, a loss that drops Miami to 0-2—with one conference loss—would be an utterly disastrous start for Diaz, which he and his staff are obviously aware of. One hates to use the phrase “must-win” the first Saturday of September, but based on the issues these Hurricanes have had in-conference over the years and an inability to bounce back after losses, Diaz and crew will be in a world of hurt if the fall to a program that’s gone 5-18 over the past two years.

The Miami / Florida showdown could’ve gone either way. The Canes simply made a few more mistakes than the Gators—a few of which couldn’t have come at worse times—but they happened, an opportunity was squandered and you move on.

In reality, this 2019 season is about Miami’s new-look Hurricanes playing with the purpose and passion great teams have expressed in the past. That whole “national championship, or bust” attitude is no longer prevalent for UM in this modern era of the game—but the first step towards greatness certainly has to be a, “Coastal Division title, or bust” mentality.

The old schooler will rant about “lowered expectations” and what not, but Miami has no business uttering the phrase “national championship” until it can actually win the ACC; something that hasn’t been done in 15 tries—getting no closer than one division title (2017) since joining the conference.

The Canes also need to get back to winning the winnable games, opposed to giving them away in epic-fail fashion. Saturday’s trek to North Carolina needs to be a statement game that sets the stage for the rest of this season—while sending a message to everyone in the ACC that’s not Clemson.

Get that offense rolling, jump on the Tar Heels early, create a ruckus on defense and by the time those “four fingers” go up late in the game, put an inferior opponent away.

Chapel Hill has been hell for Miami over the years. Time to change that storyline and raise some hell in the Tar Heel State on Saturday night.

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Miami 30, North Carolina 19

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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

Posted on by Chris Bello


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

Posted on by Chris Bello


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.

‘THE NEW MIAMI’ READY FOR DEBUT; FLORIDA GATORS AWAIT

Posted on by Chris Bello

After months of anticipation, game day is finally here; college football getting the ultimate kickoff in 2019 for the sports’s 150th anniversary; Miami versus Florida—in primetime, with all eyes on this big-time showdown.

The Gators roll in No. 8 in the country, while the Hurricanes are in that all-too-familiar Others Receiving Votes category; understandable and expected on the heels of a six-loss season, a head coaching change and no proven quarterback—though it doesn’t properly speak to the overall talent level of this squad.

Most have Florida tabbed to take care of business on Saturday night—albeit in much closer fashion than the Gators’ delusional fan base and some of their players are predicting. All that to say, games aren’t played on paper, because if so, last season’s eighth-ranked preseason team—Miami—wouldn’t have gotten boat-raced by LSU in 2018’s season-opener.

PRESEASON RANKINGS BASED ON YESTERDAY’S NEWS; NOT TODAY’S

Preseason predictions are a fickle beast. For the most part, Miami earned a Top 10 ranking going into last fall due to a 10-0 start that included a primetime massacre of then-No. 3 Notre Dame. A regular season-ending loss at Pitt was swept under the rug as the Canes locked up their first Coastal Division title in 14 tries—while a loss to defending national champion Clemson in the ACC title game was expected and also forgiven.

A one-loss Wisconsin squad outlasted Miami in the Orange Bowl; which also wasn’t completely held against the Canes when going into 2018, as a 10-3 record—just as Florida posted in last year—looked good on paper and fit an on-the-rise narrative.

In reality, Miami still had some glaring weaknesses that were fast-exposed against LSU in Dallas, while the Tigers ultimately surprised with a brand new quarterback—Ohio State transfer, Joe Burrow—and a head coach few were expecting to turn a corner so quickly; Ed Orgeron, a perennial assistant who’d struggled in all previous head coaching stints, but ultimately had a break-through season.

That’s not to say Miami is—or isn’t—this year’s LSU, that Manny Diaz is destined to get everything right in his first game leading the Canes, or that r-freshman quarterback Jarren Williams can do game one what Burrow did in his first start; the Tigers’ quarterback cutting his teeth as a back-up the year prior. This is simply a reminder that when a team believes its own hype, as well as those preseason accolades bestowed upon them—things can sometimes go south quickly. Last year’s Canes are living proof and the jury’s out regarding how the Gators respond to their early positioning.

Entering Saturday’s opener, it’s hardly a shock that Florida thinks they’re hot shit—with an air of superiority like it’s 200 and not 2019; when Dan Mullen was calling plays under Urban Meyer and rolling into a new year as defending national champs, opposed to the former offensive coordinator entering year two with an inaugural season that truthfully wasn’t as strong as the 10-3 record it posted.

DEEP-DIVING THE GATORS’ 2018 CAMPAIGN & STUMBLES

Give Florida props for a convincing bowl win over Michigan; though one would be remised to not acknowledge the 62 points the Ohio State laid on the Wolverines in the regular season finale for a seventh-straight series win, which certainly took the piss out of the *other* UM and left them flat  for bowl season.

Those three losses? Falling to Kentucky at home (for the first time in 31 years), an understandable 19-point loss to rival Georgia (a title contender and pride of the SEC East) and a 21-point home loss to Missouri; a game that saw starting quarterback Feleipe Franks benched in favor of Kyle Trask— thought it was a short-lived move as the r-sophomore broke his foot in practice days later, allowing Franks to return by default for a home showdown against South Carolina.

The Gators trailed by 17 late in the third quarter before scoring 21 unanswered to avoid the upset against the Gamecocks; who finished 7-6 and fell to Virginia in the postseason, 28-0.

The point in this quick history lesson; Florida’s perceived invincibility and the supreme confidence in Franks both seem built on a similar house of cards to last year’s Miami hype. Maybe the Gators are the real-deal and will prove it Saturday night—but there’s at least room to question if this team is as good as they believe they are.

Miami’s off-season approach has been the exact opposite—and with good reason as one can’t run their mouths when on the wrong end of a 35-3 post-season ass-kicking; on that forced former head coach Mark Richt into early retirement; the keys tossed to his former defensive coordinator who was 18 days into his new stint as head coach at Temple University.

Diaz drove home the we-have-no-business-talking mantra home from early on, when he posted 7-6 signs on tackling dummies all over UM’s new indoor practice facility and encouraged his players to take out their frustration there—not on their smartphones, offering up any bulletin board material.

Hurricanes players have been suspiciously quiet and even-keeled these past few months, while the Gators are spewing noise any time a microphone is stuck in one of their smug faces.

“I don’t really see them as a challenge. I just see them as another team really, because I feel like my whole team—we face big-boy teams,” defensive end and linebacker Andrew Chatfield said about Miami months back. “They faced one SEC team and got smashed by LSU last time I checked. But whatever though, it’s just another game.”

A spirited rivalry dating back to 1938—of which the Hurricanes have taken seven of the past eight is, “just another game”. Upperclassmen should’ve thought about muzzling the r-freshman, but instead many chose to pile-on when given the opportunity.

HOW FAR APART ARE MIAMI & FLORIDA AS NEW SEASON GETS ROLLING?

Regarding Miami, there’s been understandable outside focus on the setbacks of 2018—yet a short memory regarding what this program successfully managed to do in 2017; the same way few recall that four only managed to win four games while the Canes were rolling heads en route to winning the ACC’s Coastal Division.

Simply put; the Canes are as far removed from a successful 10-win season as the Gators are dropping six of their final seven in 2017.

Also ignored; as quick as Miami ascended, it crashed down hard the following year—and as bad as Florida was two years back, it won 10 games year one with Mullen; begging the question, are these two teams really as far apart as the way the narrative is being written for 2019’s opener?

What about the monster hit the Gators have taken to an offensive line that was masterful in protecting Franks; buying him time and opening up holes for Lamical Perine and other running backs? Long gone are Martez Ivey, Jawaan Taylor, Tyler Jordan and Fred Johnson—paving the way for a lot of youth on the Gators’ line, similar to what Miami is dealing with up front. Any way you slice it, it’s a step back for Florida—while despite the young line, Miami can only improve based on the offense they fielded a year ago.

For both Miami and Florida, each taking on a team of this caliber for an opener deserves the tip of a hat—as it’s always advantageous to work out the kinks against a doormat, or two. Neither gets that luxury this season; both putting their balls and pride on the line Week 0.

Of course facing a foe like each will face this early in the schedule will also alter overall game plans; both head coaches well aware early match-ups like these are usually lost more than they’re actually won. Translation; whoever eliminates mistakes, excels in special teams and get a few fortunate bounces is usually the team that prevails in what should be a low-scoring affair with its share of three-and-outs and rusty timing.

INTANGIBLES OUTWEIGH OVERALL GAME PLANS & STRATEGIES

As far as an X’s and O’s breakdown goes for this one; throw it all out the window for this one as there are simply too many unknown in a late August match-up like this.

Yes, Florida has an advantage with Franks under center—but how will the junior quarterback respond behind his young and green offensive line in the face of UM’s pass rush? Last year #13 had the benefit of protection that he simply won’t have against a Miami fronts seven that has some talent on the defensive line, as well as some of the best linebackers in the nation in Shaq Quarterman and Mike Pinckney—heavily-relied upon seniors who only returned when Diaz was handed the keys to the kingdom.

Williams will deal with the same pressure on his end as the Canes’ line is also inexperienced—though a safe bet new offensive coordinator Dan Enos keeps the newbie reeled in a bit; whereas Franks and his blend of confidence and experience could lead to him taking more chances that might backfire. Miami, and new defensive coordinator Blake Baker, also have years’ worth of film on Franks and know his tendencies, while Williams is an unknown and expectations are low in regards to his carrying the Canes—which could be also blessing in disguise if this game somehow goes UM’s way.

Back to last year’s opener at LSU; Burrow was the biggest question mark for the Tigers—the Canes banking on the transfer turning the ball over. Instead, he had a clean outing (11-of-24 for 140 yards) and played all the part of game manager. By season’s end; Burrow was the MVP of the Fiesta Bowl in LSU’s win over Central Florida—the unknown signal caller playing a big part in a 10-3 season.

Special teams should also have a massive impact on this season opener. For Miami’s sake, it better hope kicker Bubba Baxa has shaken off any of last year’s freshman jitters that left points on the field—while the punting game immediately got an upgrade when former Australian football player Lou Hedley transferred to Coral Gables (by way of City College of San Francisco); a move that could prove MVP-worthy based on the UM’s punting woes the past few seasons.

While it’d be a disservice to LSU—and a handful of the teams that beat Miami last season—it’s impossible to not bring up how often the Canes lost field position battles due to the inept Zach Feagles, as well as his replacement Jack Spicer. Against the Tigers, Feagles first three punts were short, giving LSU the ball at mid-field—which led to 13 first half points. Toss in Baxa having a 45-yard field goal attempts blocked and quarterback Malik Rosier coughing up a painful-to-watch pick-six and it’s no mystery the Canes were in a 27-3 halftime hole they couldn’t dig out of.

Miami looked outmatched by LSU; not so much talent versus talent—but due to holes at quarterback, offensive play calling and shoddy special teams play; all of which continued into ACC play and were a common theme en route to 7-6. If nothing else, simple addition-by-subtraction will play into the Hurricanes’ favor as Richt has yielded to Diaz, Enos has installed a more up-to-date offense and Rosier made way for Williams; who realistically should’ve been given his shot last season based on upside and potential, versus Rosier’s experience and Richt going the “safe” route in a weak Coastal Division.

Aside from all those aforementioned intangibles, it can’t be ignored that literally all the pressure here is on the eighth-ranked Gators; Florida expected to take a step forward this fall, while Miami comes in a bit more stealth and undetected—on the heels of a six-loss season, a new head coach, an entirely new offensive staff and a brand new quarterback. Attention has already been paid to UM’s favorable schedule this year and many have the Canes continuing to improve as the year rolls on; earning them a division title and a crack at defending national champion Clemson in the ACC title game.

With no real pressure on Miami to perform game one—it can afford to play loose and to pleasantly surprise the nation should it pull off an upset that really isn’t all that unthinkable.

ALL THE PRESSURE ON THAT TEAM FROM UP NORTH; THE GATOR

Florida—like Miami last season—is coming off a step-forward season and is expected to go to the next level this fall; hence the overconfidence and belief pouring out of Gainesville; something the Canes are familiar with after so many false starts the past few years, which begged all the, “Is ‘The U’ back?” queries by the media and college football analysts anytime UM did something noteworthy.

There’s a different type of pressure when you’re on the mend and expected to grow year two under a new head coach—versus year one; proven by the fact there were no real expectations for Mullen in 2018 having taken over a four-win team. Anything he did was gravy, but after reaching the 10-win mark—Florida faithful have high expectations for his second act.

Conversely, everything for Miami has come up roses since the morning after losing the Pinstripe Bowl last December—starting the moment Richt abruptly retired and walked away from a multi-million dollar buyout; not wanting to hold his alma mater over a barrel. Had Richt stuck around for a fourth season, the following would most-likely be true as the Canes roll into Camping World Stadium on Saturday night:

— Diaz would be the head coach at Temple University and two former defensive assistants would be running the Canes defense this season; barring either Ephraim Banda and Jonathan Patke didn’t ultimately follow him to Philadelphia as the Owls’ new staff came together. Morale was low after that Wisconsin-sized beat-down. Instead, Banda is co-defensive coordinator and continued working with safeties, Patke handles strikers and special teams and Diaz brought in Blake Baker to run the defense, opposed to simply promoting from with in.

— Quarterman and Pinckney would’ve left for the NFL a year early and the Canes would be breaking in a young, inexperienced group of linebackers this fall—instead of that position being rock-solid and the soul of the defense. The Canes would also be without the services of speedster and special teams demon Jeff Thomas; who was dismissed by Richt, appeared Illinois-bound but earned his way back on to the team through a sit-down with Diaz.

— Richt would’ve made minimal changes to his offensive philosophy—under protest; his hand forced by UM’s administration and the Board of Trustees—which would’ve created some form of contention as coaches don’t like pencil-pushers and suits telling them how to run their program.

— Gus Felder would still be Miami’s strength and conditioning coach instead of David Feely; who’s had an immediate impact on this team since his arrival—getting this Hurricanes’ program in the best shape it’s been in for over a decade.

– The much-criticized Stacy Searels would still be coaching UM’s offensive line instead of NFL veteran Butch Barry; another immediate-impact guy who is getting underclassmen to play above their level, resulting in true freshman Zion Campbell winning the left tackle job while r-freshman John Campbell turned heads in his quest to lock down the right tackle position.

— Miami also wouldn’t have robbed the Transfer Portal blind, reeling in Tate Martell, Trevon Hill, K.J. Osborn, Chigoze Nnoruka, Bubba Bolden and few other immediate-impact kids who are going to be difference makers this season.

Even scarier, all signs were pointing towards William transferring out between the end of the regular season and the bowl game last year; leaving the Canes with with N’Kosi Perry, who would’ve gotten the job by default (over freshman Peyton Matocha)—opposed to the spirited competition on Greentree where Williams came on strong late, beating out both Martell and Perry; all three of them better for it.

— Lastly, there wouldn’t be The New Miami and this new-yet-old-school attitude that Diaz has been infusing. The new head coach kept things rolling defensively, while injecting some life and swag into his offensive players—with links to the past and a focus on competition; pushing players’ buttons in the style of greats like Jimmy Johnson—who Diaz is leaning on as a mentor and bringing around to inform his current players about the way it was done during that Decade Of Dominance.

While none of these feel-good reminders necessary mean the Hurricanes are going to upset the Gators on Saturday night—they are all worth mention as important pieces to this storyline; one that seems to have been reduced to, “7-6 last year, a new head coach and a quarterback playing his first game”. Seems everyone is overlooking Miami; which is just fine as the Canes are definitely relishing the opportunity to fly-under-the-radar for this one.

Again, on paper—Florida should prevail as they’re one year ahead in their rebuild—but dammit if it doesn’t feel like something special is brewing in Coral Gables since Diaz took the reins.

Maybe it’s all that TNM hype, this renewed energy, former players and coaches buying in—coupled with a slew of off-season victories for a program out of the spotlight for way too long—but there’s a nagging sentiment that UM is being devalued here and that the Canes are going to play off of and respond to that.

On the 27th anniversary of the devastating Hurricane Andrew—it seems like another type of storm is fittingly brewing.

Logic says Gators—but the intangibles are saying the Canes pull a fast one on an unsuspecting Florida team that isn’t giving Miami its due, and doesn’t seem as good as their current hype.

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Miami 23, Florida 20

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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.