The Miami Hurricanes are less than a month from kicking off their 2015 football season and this just in; absolutely no one has a clue what to expect from the program this year.
How that plays out is anyone’s guess; but it’s hard to recall a preseason where national options were so varied.
Days back CBS Sports released it’s way-too-early post-season predictions for this fall. While the Canes have often earned nods for mid-tier bowl as of late—which has proven correct—of the 74 programs CBS has bowling; The U isn’t in the mix.
Translation; the University of Miami’s football program will win less than six games this season.
Just as soon as orange and green enthusiasts let that sink in, comments from national columnist Phil Steele surface where he predicts that Al Golden will be off the hot seat after this season; not because he’s been fired, but because the Canes have turned it around.
Steele recently stated to WQAM’s Marc Hochman and Zach Krantz that Miami is his “number one most-improved team in the country this year”; going all-in on the maligned coach—which is more than Las Vegas has done, setting the over/under on wins at 5.5 this season.
“Anything less than a big year—a nine or 10 win season for me—and I think [Al Golden] won’t be the head coach,” Steele said on air. “I think the potential is there to get it done. I’ve placed him firmly on the hot-seat list and I expect him to be off the hot-seat list at the end of the year.”
A prediction of five to ten wins this season? Sounds all over the map like that old Smirnoff Ice ad about Sergio from Rio; the heavy-set thin guy darkish-lightish hair. Which is it? Will this team turn a most-improved corner this season and compete for an ACC title—or will the backsliding make last year’s four-game losing streak look like a walk in the park?
With predictions all over the map, it’s pretty clear that no one really knows what to expect. On one hand, year five—almost a two full years after the NCAA investigation ended the recruiting ship appears righted—seems ripe for a giant step forward.
Miami finally has that franchise-type quarterback it’s longed for, the depth is returning, the defense has some experience and some coaching upgrades—Kevin Beard and Randy Melvin—seems to be having a positive ripple effect on all aspects of the program.
Not to trivialize the Hurricanes’ late-season unraveling last fall, or to echo Golden’s sentiments about being one play away from winning every game (or something to that effect)—but on some levels Miami seems like it simply needs some fine-tuning, smarts and general toughness; compared to a complete overhaul.
In the same breath, it’s hard to argue the notion that the Canes dip below last year’s six-win total based on the amount of talent sent to the NFL this year.
Can Miami truly be better without the likes of Duke Johnson, Phillip Dorsett, Clive Walford and Denzel Perryman? Can it really avoid the setbacks that come with losing three key veteran offensive linemen in Ereck Flowers, Jon Feliciano and Shane McDermott?
Perryman was often a one-man wrecking crew on defense, while that line paved the way for Brad Kaaya to succeed as an inexperienced freshman last year. As for those skills players; not hard to recall moments where a Johnson, Dorsett or Walford found a way to create a spark, or to take over.
However it plays, Golden is sticking to his guns. The fifth-year head coach either knows something the outsiders are missing; with his team ready to deliver this fall. Or the opposite will prove correct; the former Temple leader remaining in over his head at a monster program like “The U”; simply hoping that his process and style take hold this fall—the gamble of all gambles.
The upside in all this; theory is about to out the window in just over a month. While Bethune-Cookman and Florida Atlantic should be pushovers; Miami gets it’s crack at Nebraska on September 19th at Sun Life Stadium, while October has the Canes at Florida State and Duke, while hosting Virginia Tech and Clemson.
Come November, somebody will be right—Steele, Vegas bookies or Golden.
After a decade of irrelevance, here’s hoping it’s the guy on the hot seat.