It was only a matter of time before the chatter started. The only question was ‘who’? The true freshman or the kid with the redshirt. Turns out the latter is front and center in ‘rumor central’.
A few days back message boards were on fire with talk of Robert Marve transferring. What, when, where or why this is all surfacing now, who knows? Fact remains the elephant in the room has been identified, so let’s talk frank.
Miami has a quarterback controversy and there’s something obviously going on behind the scenes. Whether that results in a transfer, time will tell – but all isn’t as cozy as previously reported.
Marve has seen the majority of the snaps this season. More reps per game, your official starter and usually the guy who closes out, as well. Jacory Harris played the role of back up and occasionally the role of hero or spoiler, depending who you ask.
Comebacks at Duke and Virginia helped earn the true freshman ‘superhero’ status, but a few sub par outings brought the masses back to reality.
Truth be told, Marve and Harris both seemed to regress a bit this year. Against Florida, Marve had moxie and the issue was a bland offensive game plan from Patrick Nix. At some point, the training wheels would come off and Marve would be unleashed on the college football world.
Not quite.
As the season wound down, Marve looked more Brock Berlin than he did Brett Favre. Clutch plays were followed by untimely interceptions. For a player who’s number one job (as described by Randy Shannon) was protecting the football and playing smart, Marve – and Harris – ended too many drives with turnovers instead of points.
With a bowl game on the brink, another recruiting class about to be inked, a potential shake up within the coaching staff and another rebuilding season on the horizon, you have to wonder how rumors of the starting quarterback departing even came to fruition. Timing-wise it doesn’t add up.
Let’s be honest, only Marve, his family and maybe a few coaches know his future plans. The scoop won’t be cracked on a message board and or by your father’s brother’s nephew’s cousin’s former roommate. Anyone telling you different is full of it. They know nothing and are playing the 50/50 odds that Marve stays or goes. It’s a coin flip. Not exactly going out on a limb.
If I’m Marve, I’m at a crossroads and would need time to mull this over. That’s the God’s honest truth. A few months back Canesport’s Jim Martz wrote a rah-rah piece aimed at Harris, who had transfer rumors swirling around him mid-season.
Martz logically argued the Quarterback U angle, as well as the old school talk of ‘paying ones dues’ and waiting on your turn to shine. It made sense, but it wasn’t realistic. Not in this day and age.
Many point to Southern Cal and their arsenal of quarterbacks. Carson Palmer to Matt Leinart to John David Booty to Mark Sanchez. Mitch Mustain waits in the wings, while Matt Cassell rode the pine his whole career, yet is starting for the New England Patriots, every Sunday this fall.
The Trojans are having a hell of a run, but that’s not the norm. There was also some separation between the prospects. Palmer started a few years and won a Heisman. Leinart had three years in the sun, winning a Heisman and 1.5 rings.
Booty played back up for three years and started his final two, before handing the reigns to Sanchez.
Regarding Marve and Harris, there’s no separation. Both freshman, each took their first collegiate snaps in 2008 and barring a redshirt for Harris, both will play their seniors seasons in 2011. Whoever earns that starting role next season, the other guy better prepare for life on the bench or as a permanent back up.
Chalk this one up to bad timing, unfortunately. Many are sick of me playing the Larry Coker card, but Miami never should’ve been in a position to have to start two freshman quarterbacks this year. There needed to be a few more on the roster between the Wright/Freeman era and where the Canes sit today.
Marc Gullion. Daniel Stegall. Pat Deviln. Derek Shaw.
Regardless how the careers of those prospects turned out, fact remains that a few of them should be on Miami’s roster today as sophomores or juniors capable of leading this team, while Marve and Harris were brought along much more slowly and fully developed, instead of being thrown into the deep end and expected to swim day one.
Miami’s recruiting failures are for the program to deal with and recover from. The lack of talent and depth at quarterback shouldn’t hurt the career or legacy of Marve or Harris. One guy will get a shot and should the other one want to go elsewhere to make his name, so be it.
In a perfect world, one gets the starting nod next spring and the other vows to push for playing time and win back the starting gig in fall. Back up your starter, know your role as a back up and be ready when you’re number is called. It’s a fan’s dream, but all things being equal, it ain’t a perfect world.
Today’s college superstars want to shine immediately. If things aren’t working out, take off now, hit the ground running at a small school next year – or sit out a year at a big school and get ready to start by 2010, two years of eligibility remaining.
How this plays out; it’s a mystery us all. All we have are our instincts and my gut tells me there’s a good chance someone transfers after the bowl game. Especially if the other guy has the supposed inside track to the starting job. Cut your losses now, bag next year and make the most of your two final playing years.
Nix also remains and X-factor in all this, as many have hinted that his relationship with Marve and possible departure could play into things. Regarding Nix’s future, again, there is no known news. More rumors, each bigger than the next.
Depending on the day, Miami could be welcoming Tulsa’s Gus Malzahn any day now… or Gary Stevens is coming out of the retirement home to start calling plays again for the first time in a decade.
Nix received a courtesy interview for Auburn’s head coaching vacancy, but that’s no different than an old school Cane getting a chance to throw his name in the hat for an opening. No chance Nix is the Tigers next head coach, but a possibility that he’ll no longer be Miami’s offensive coordinator.
Fact? Hardly. Just a hunch. If Shannon is consulting the likes of Jimmy Johnson and Bill Parcells regarding how to resurrect a program, I can’t see how either would sell the Miami skipper on keeping an OC who still hasn’t found an identity two seasons into his tenure.
Shannon’s future depends on how quickly he can turn things around. He’s playing the chess match of his life, regarding his stint as a head coach. A few more missteps and it’s checkmate.
If a hack blogger can see that, so does Shannon. Randy knows what’s on the line and he knows this offense is stuck in neutral. Something’s got to give and I believe it will… after the first of the year. If you evaluate a 5-7 season and send some heads rolling, 7-5 isn’t going to go unscathed. Not after two years of the same mistakes.
Bury your collective head in the sand, Canes fans. Between now and the bowl game, enjoy your holidays, plug your ears to the rumors and if you want to keep your sanity, stay away the message boards. You won’t remember your name or what you believe after a journey into college football’s online version of the National Enquirer.
Less than three weeks to a showdown with Cal. New Years. Some new news. Another recruiting class and fresh growth come spring.
Keep your heads up.