The dust has finally settled on the 2010 season – a year where the Miami Hurricanes backslid, underachieved, lacked heart, showed no leadership and remained consistently inconsistent.
Coaches were fired, almost as many games were lost as were won and with Signing Day a month away, new head coach Al Golden has his work cut out for him as it appears another rebuilding project is underway in Coral Gables, despite the remaining talent.
It was difficult to see the forest for the trees this past season – and not just as fans. When pre-season rankings were released last fall, the media didn’t know what to expect out of Miami, either. The Sporting News ranked the Canes fourth in their Top 25 with UM winning the ACC and headed to the Orange Bowl, while ESPN’s Desmond Howard picked Miami to fall against Alabama in the national championship game.
On the other end of the spectrum, some outlets had the Canes finishing in the middle of the ACC, as low as fourth in the Atlantic Division and hovering somewhere around No. 15 nationally entering September.
Based on a 9-4 run in 2009, there was some optimism a year later, but with Randy Shannon leading the charge, unproven and still seeking both a signature win and conference title game berth, there was equally as much pessimism. In the end, the skeptics proved right.
Even with Shannon’s departure, the season ended with one final thud when Notre Dame worked over Miami to the tune of 33-17, leading 27-0 at one point.
No disrespect to offensive line and temporary head coach Jeff Stoutland, but his one-game stint running the show was a huge failure as the Canes rolled into El Paso flat and unprepared.
Both recently fired coordinators called an abysmal game, with a month to prepare – Mark Whipple abandoning the run yet again, using his backs 13 times in the first half en route to 53 yards. (At one point Whipple called five straight runs. So much for balance.) While defensively, John Lovett and his crew were burned badly and often.
Brandon Harris was abused by wideout Malcolm Floyd, either over-pursing plays or eating turf. Even scarier, rumors that Harris is most likely going pro – where he’ll face guys like Floyd on a weekly basis, as opposed to coming back one more year to learn under a staff who will actually help and not hinder his growth.
The defensive line got zero pressure on pencil-neck freshman quarterback Tommy Rees in his fourth career start, linebackers played reactive and out of position (leaving the middle of the field unguarded) and the secondary again whiffed on several occasions. Yet another lackluster performance from the side of the ball that used to set the tone at Miami.
After spending the past months getting amped up for the Golden Era, more false promises were spouted by then-current coaches and players. Fans were promised that the Canes would be ready, that inspired ball would be played and not only was the bowl game dedicated to their former head coach, this would also be a sixty-minute audition as players looked to impress the new guy.
Instead, the same ol’ song and dance. Jacory Harris proved he’s still an interception machine, showing zero poise and making one bad decision after another. A stable of running backs again remained on the shelf, while Coach Whipple forced the pass with his erratic quarterback. Stephen Morris again shone, though too little and too late as three early Harris-fueled turnovers and spotty defense had Miami in a 27-point hole late second quarter.
As fate would have it, I’m writing this piece while ESPN is reliving the greatest Orange Bowl moments in history, building hype for tonight’s Stanford / Virginia Tech match up on the Canes’ home turf. Memories of an embarrassing Sun Bowl being typed on a computer screen while the TV a few feet away shows Kenny Calhoun’s fingertips batting away the two-point conversion attempt, keeping Miami ahead of top-ranked, greatest-team-ever Nebraska in the 1984 Orange Bowl Classic.
Calhoun’s outstretched hand and Miami’s play seventeen years ago – they both embody the missing ingredient for today’s Canes; heart. Where is the desire? When is enough finally enough? The former coaching staff certainly didn’t do their kids any favors, but when does a leader emerge? When is losing games of this caliber no longer acceptable to the kids on the field?
Ryan Hill played his last game as a Cane in El Paso and had a few parting comments before stepping away from the podium one last time when asked about Miami’s new leader and the future of the program.
“I think [he’ll turn it around], but it will definitely take some time. I don’t know how much time,” said No. 13. “But I think the first thing he has to do is weed out the guys who he doesn’t think will be beneficial to the program. We have a lot of guys that have to do a lot of maturing, that act like little boys. There are points like this in November, late in the season that it hurts you. We have a lot of growing to do in this program.”
A lot of growing to do as a program four years into the Shannon regime. Amazing that a year ago college football pundits talked about Miami and Wisconsin in the Champs Sports Bowl, talking about both squad improving in 2010 and crashing the BCS party. The Badgers did their part, winning the Big Ten and earning a Rose Bowl berth, while the Canes couldn’t sniff a conference title game in the lowly ACC.
How could Shannon and staff fail so miserable in both player development, as well as motivating kids and pushing the right buttons? Why was there so much staff turnover (five different coordinators?) the past several years?
The same way Larry Coker was enamored with five-star athletes (instead of players who fit the program), Shannon relied too heavily on local high school stars who failed to pan out. Look back at that heralded class of 2008, fielding eleven players from Northwestern and Booker T. Washington – many of which haven’t panned out, while others are yet to make their mark, as time is running out.
22 of those 32 commitments were from the state of Florida, which in itself isn’t an issue, but with so much talent nationwide and all the recent underachieving, a good thing Golden is thinking nationally instead of locally.
Brennan Carroll was recently hired to coach up tight end and to take over the title of recruiting coordinator, which made the loss of wide receivers coach Aubrey Hill to Florida an easier blow to absorb.
Hill headed up recruiting the past few years, but his efforts coaching receivers was nothing to write home about. Travis Benjamin, LaRon Byrd and Aldarius Johnson seem to have taken a step back, while Davon Johnson, Tommy Streeter, Kendal Thompkins are yet to break through after a few years in the system.
Coach Lovett knew his fate was sealed when Mark D’Onofrio was hired as defensive coordinator weeks back. Same with defensive line coach Rick Petri, when Jethro Franklin was added to the staff and Wesley McGriff, when Paul Williams was hired to take over defensive backs.
Terry Richardson was named the new running backs coach this morning, putting Mike Cassano out of a job and Coach Whipple looks like he’ll be replaced by Arizona wide receivers coach and former Rutgers offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach, John McNulty – who wasn’t interested in the position years back when Shannon offered.
Golden is filling out a staff of guys in his mold. Fiery up and comer types, ready to run through a wall for him and with something to prove, as opposed to retreads, perennial journeymen and a mismatched group.
As ugly as 7-6 proved to be, an even harder pill to swallow is the overall step back year four for Shannon, as well as the fact Miami played soft. To Hill’s point, his teammates lack grit, maturity and passion – which is something Golden and staff will either correct, or the culprits who Hill referenced will be fazed out of this program. There’s no room for lethargy with an energetic staff ready to take that giant leap forward.
Fictional hero and ‘Fight Club’ protagonist Tyler Durden said, “it’s only after we’ve lost everything that we’re free to do anything” – which seems fitting regarding the current State of Miami. Games lost, coaches lost and over time, not-tough-enough players will be lost.
Beyond that, the culture of losing, a lack of importance placed on winning games and a lethargic attitude regarding pushing, motivating and developing players needs to be lost, and will.
great article. hope the U can turn it around. there is plenty of talent here and I believe we can win the ACC next season with a good, balanced Offense and a tough, disciplined defense. go canes!
Great post except for 1 thing… If BHarris decides to leave to the NFL or stay here, he will benefit from better coaching. Everybody has a bad day and he hasnt had many.
I'd like everyone to note the brash contrast of the staff being assembled in Coral Gables and that of Gainesville – quite interesting.
Starting at the top with the HC, the Gators got a big name in Muschamp while the Canes settled for Golden; Golden obviously has more head coaching experience but Foley delivered on his promise to land a big name while Hocutt did not.
Muschamp somehow managed to pull uber offensive mind and quarterback guru Charlie Weis from the NFL to run his offense, a coach that will bring recruits based on his resume alone. He might not have been great at Notre Dame, but his work with the Pats, Tom Brady, and now the Chiefs leaves no doubt he will bring a great offense to Gainesville. 350 miles south, Golden brings in relative unknown John McNulty (potentially). A guy with limited experience running an offense and working with QB's.
As far as the DC spot goes, one can understand Golden bringing his homie from Philly with him to take over in Miami. But, after pursuing Alabama's defensive wizard Kirby Smart, Muschamp brought in NFLer Dan Quinn to run the D. I'd give this one a push right now, but Muschamp's ambition in stealing Alabama's man is admirable.
It seems as though the Gators are really swinging for the fences here and, on the surface, are connecting every time. While Miami continuously pursues and hires relative no-names. I hope in the near future we can look back at the "Tale of Two Staffs" and admire Golden's wisdom and foresight. But for the time being, it appears the Canes are falling short in yet another category in the college football world.
It really is a good article allcanes and I know I ripped your last one and I stand and believe my side of the argument. I could agree more with ryan hill this team needs a lot of players to grow up and become tougher mentally as well as physically including my pick to be our qb j12. I wanna see him have to come back season of all time because I love the underdog and with this fan base for the most part he is. He should feed off that. Use it as motivation and he has already said he needs to get bigger and smarter and mentally tougher so hopefully he does.
But I'm not here to plug jacory I'm here to talk about the future. I like our additions so far based on what they have said. I've read about addition on the coaching staff and believe these guys want to get the program back to the top of the college world. Not that the others didn't but some I think were here to boost there status as a pro coach (whipple). The old staff was too soft and the new sounds like its hard assed like the days of old. I think that's exactly what this team needs cause it will force these kids to grow up instead of looking for the easy way out.
We should be excited but not overly excited about next season. Expect a middle of the road record and be happy with it. Be blown away excited with a great record and unhappy with anything below this years record. This team is talented but when you bring in a new staff it can take a couple years to get the kids to buy in.
Idaho cane
Go Canes
Here's to Golden restoring our beloved program to its much deserved past glory
Miami needs to recruit men. Why did most of the Canes have cold weather gear on and Notre Dame players didn't? Sometimes football is played in cold weather. Man up.
Chris great piece. This article along with Manny Navaro's from the Miami Herald the other day hit the nail on the head. Simply no heart and no Will and desire to win from these kids. I remember when the season ended I used to be depressed. Because I wanted them to keep playing. Now I am glad when the season ends. I can't take this losing! Have times changed! We will win again someday but it's going to be a long time.
Allcanes one question.
Anything being said down there about getting out of sun lifeless stadium and miami getting a new stadium and home and stop playing somewhere that losing is the norm where there is no fear from the other team about playing there?
Golden definitely has his work cut out for him. The Shannon era teams lacked fire and swagger that Miami teams seem to have always been known for. Golden will fix that imo. Hopefully Miami can swoop in and steal a couple of recruits in this all important period before signing day. Its time to give up on Jacory Harris as a starting QB(playing Captain Obvious here) and get back to pounding the ball on offense.
i think this is a crucial juncture for the U. it's almost been a decade since we been out of national picture and it has been half a decade of mediocre football. we finished with identical record to FIU and were the only team in FL to lose the bowl game. if golden can't do it, i feel like we are gonna be the next notre dame and go into a long dormancy.
2 years ago Omar Kelly had an interview on 560WQAM where he called out Randy for his inability too develop players. Many scoffed at him then but I am glad that finally the world can see that Omar was speaking the truth. To be honest, subtracting Randy, Whipple and Lovett from the scene alone adds at least 3 wins to our record. We won games this year despite coaches getting in the way. We have the talent all these kids needed was a CEO whose dream/plan they could buy into. After a while kids tune out a coach who prepares them inaccurately and that's what happened this year. I recall the saying, "a team eventually takes on the personality of its coach" well its obvious this team took on the confused and inconsistent personality of coach Shannon. I believe strongly that the Golden Era will be successful and I do because of the kind of staff he has been able to put together. You can tell he understands the challenge this job poses. Unlike Shannon who couldn't sell potential assitants on coming to Miami, Golden has sold this incoming staff on not just the program but also the vision he has for the program. Go ask Dan Sileo and he will rave about how much Golden has reached out too former players in the short time he has been here. Compare that to Shannon's inexcplicable shunning of Former players and u can see that Golden is off to a sucessful start. Go CANES
We need some guys in here that are mentally tough, difference makers on the field, are leaders and refuse to lose. It seems like we have some soft players who roll over when they're challenged. That has to end. The new coaches have to get the best out of these guys and actual develop them. We shouldn't have guys doing the same things in Year 3,4,5 as they did in Year 1. I look forward to see Golden salvaging the 2011 class as best he can, getting players at much needed positions from anywhere in the country he has to. Change is needed.
Columbus Cane
Like I've said before, there is nowhere to go except up.
At the very minimum, Al Golden is going to make the Canes competitive once again.
UF's hiring of Charlie Weis, at first glance looks like a great hire.
As ND's head coach, after every single loss, Weis threw his team under the bus for their terrible play.
Being the smartest person in the room, it was never his fault.
Now when the Gators lose a game, whose fault will it be? The players? Other assistants? The head coach?
Watch and see, this was a bad hire.
How has Swassey retained his job? Our guys consistently fail to see gains under this guy.
Dannyboy is another delusional Gator fan; Muschamp a "bigger name"? He has no head coaching experience compare to Golden. Just because he was a coordinator at a big-name school doesn't mean he is "better" than Golden. Texas had a losing record this year. When 2013 arrives, then we'll see who's right, pal.
As for Virginia Tech, the "ACC champs", I think it is good to see how right I was; that this team has been proven to be overrated, when competing against highly ranked, non-conference opponents. After they got embarrassed by Stanford last night, VaTech got what they deserve. And when my boys ['Canes] travel to Blacksburg next season, it will be the same situation all over again. What a stupid [football] conference.
For those that didn't hear, it looks like Brandon Harris has declared for the NFL draft:
http://miami.247sports.com/Article/CB-Harris-is-Leaving-for-the-NFL-Draft-10254
Dannyboy – you make a great observation and I would love to hear the opinion of the allCanes staff. This question of who Miami lands as coaches compared to who Florida got really does raise eyebrows.
I would point out that Miami boxed itself into a corner by declaring up front that it had to have a current head coach. That may have eliminated a lot of possibilities.
But when UF picks up Weis for OC and Miami gets McNulty, at first blush it seems like UF got the better deal.
This all may be for naught, as you point out, and we could all be here a year from now singing Golden's praises and laughing at UF falling flat. Only time will tell. As fans, all we can do is hope for the best. But once again, expectations were poorly managed and, at least in the short term, it looks like UF is well ahead. This may spell more trouble on the recruiting front this year. We'll see.
Go Canes!
You know what irked me more than anything else about the game? The one thing, the simple thing that really made me bonkers? The one thing I knew spelled disaster for us from the beginning and made me sure we would lose before kickoff even happened: That effing cold weather gear. That's just bullshit. Pure and utter bullshit. Man the hell up you bunch of soft-ass bitches. It's football. Football. You want to be warm? Warm up by laying somebody out – or showing a little hustle and passion – God forbid. I can understand a jacket on the sidelines but we looked like God-damned children out there lining up against men in Notre Dame uniforms who ran us over. This weak mentality needs to end. What do we have to do? Send these kids to Army Ranger school or something? These incompetent yokels are ruining my alma mater with their stupid POS twitter and facebook accounts, their womens clothing, and their needle-dick approach to this sport. What the hell has happened to our school? Who the hell is making these decisions? Cold weather gear, give me a break. For Christ' sake. Are you kidding me? Whoever supplied them with that shit should be dragged out into the street and thrown in front of a speeding bus then trampled by heard of stampeding midgets. Cold weather gear. Soft uniforms and soft coaching and soft practices make soft players. Cold weather gear. I could puke.
Put me in a canes casket when I die from a heart attack brought on by these knuckle dragging stagnants' antics, then douse it in gasoline and light it on fire. Cold. Weather. Gear. God help us.
Daniel as a fellow daniel I agree with you on the cold weather gear. They really did look like a pop warner team that mommy bundled up to make sure they wouldn't catch a cold. With that said beautiful rant and we can see your passion I guess I'm not the only who will go a bit nutty on here.
Now I have to say I'm completely disappointed in brandon harris and his decision. He is really gonna leave miami after getting burned by a top three receiver in the nation all day in his last game. I mean he was moved off of floyd cause he owned him. Way to man up harris…….not. guess what buddy there won't even be an nfl season next year. Enjoy sittin out all year doin nothin and don't bother showing your face at the games quitter. Seriously I can't believe this this is the easy cowards way out. He had a chance to come back and be a leader and chose to be a quitter highly dissappointing. There is a school where quitters go its called florida. Now if he changes his mind tomorrow all is forgiven but right now I couldn't be more dissapointed.
Allcanes what are your thoughts on this I mean I'm sure a blog is coming but give us some hints.
As far as vt being overrated well that overrated school handed us our tails on a silver platter with a little gravy on the side. Vt didn't play well against stanford.
And one more thing if these canes don't wanna play in a cold weather bowl because they clearly can't because its tooo cold outside. Win your side of the acc and get into the championship game. That way win and you play a home game lose and its indoor game at the chick fil a bowl formly the peach bowl.
… I don't fully buy into the cold weather rant.
Over the years, many teams have come down to South Florida and sucked wind with the hot weather and humidity.
The same way they struggle in the heat (if they're used to cold), Miami notoriously struggles in cold, supposed "football weather". In the Sunshine State, 95 degrees and 98% humidity is "football weather".
While Miami needs to up their game conditioning-wise and needs to toughen up, being cold in the second most frigid Sun Bowl in history isn't anything for a Florida school to be embarrassed about.
Huddling around heaters in Orlando when playing Wisconsin is, though.
Either way, Golden will change that aspect of the culture as he will change many others.
As a faithful, longtime supporter of the Miami hurricanes football program, I have to say this has been the worst season I've witnessed since 1998, when we finished 5-6. I say that because both Coker's '06 and Shannon's '07 and '08 campaigns were due to lack of talent and depth, not a team with veteran talent that underachieved and underperformed so badly. These kids played with a lack of heart and passion, they were unprepared and unmotivated for nearly every game this season. Never have I seen players suit up for Miami and look so undeveloped from one year to the next and actually regress('09-'10). The entire coaching staff put forth a lackluster coaching effort, the only explanation as to why a star studded roster couldn't progress and continued to backpeddle throughout the season. As far as 2011, fans need to have realistic expectations and this team shouldn't create a mantra for itself until it shows focus and determination on the gridiron. Concentrate on winning games instead of restoring swagger.
Hill was NOT a good WR coach, you figure that the reciever that made the best improvement during his tenture here went outside of the program to get coached up. Petri is a good coach and a huge improvement from hurt, probably the best hire Randy had his whole time here. I hope they get a new stregnth and conditioning coach because (whatever his name is) is horrible… we look like a bunch of somolians half the time.
In that picture these kids look like the biggest bunch of WUSSES I've ever seen!