Miami Hurricanes : Moving Forward

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.

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