“Before he played his final high school game at Melbourne Central Catholic, Colin McCarthy already was being compared with Dan Morgan.
University of Miami coaches believed McCarthy not only had the potential to be just as good as the All-American, who won the Butkus, Nagurski and Bednarik awards, they also wanted McCarthy to wear Morgan’s No. 44 jersey.
Five years later, McCarthy still has never spoken to Morgan, shaken his hand or come close to living up to those rather large expectations.”
Excuse me? All that talk about this “U Family” and band of brothers, yet two linebackers from similar backgrounds, wearing the same number have never crossed paths?
Even worse, the fact that linebacker – especially the mike – has been a troubled spot at ‘The U’ for years.
Morgan has been out of the NFL the majority of the time McCarthy has been on UM’s campus and has spent this past several months taking to the airwaves, airing his grievances with Randy Shannon and the state of the football program.
Morgan has spent a lot of time on WQAM this football season, most recently with Joe Rose, Michael Irvin and weeks back had a highly publicized spat with voice of the Canes, Don Bailey Jr.
Let it be said that the 2000 Butkus Award winner is an all time Miami great and one of the better middle linebackers to ever suit up for this program. That not opinion, it’s fact.
Morgan obviously has passion for his former program, making it harder to fathom why he’d choose to be part of the problem instead of the solution.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion on Shannon and this squad, but when you’re an all world middle linebacker and your predecessor a few years removed is struggling to hold down the position, why are you wasting time on air talking smack instead of heading out to Greentree to give some pointers?
Hell, at minimum shoot McCarthy a phone call or email. Do something. Reach out. The new No. 44’s natural position isn’t in the middle, but he moved there soon before the season opened in an effort to help his team and he’s struggling.
The kid needs a lifeline more than the program needs a tongue lashing.
McCarthy played the game of his short mike career last week at Georgia Tech and another monster effort is needed against Virginia Tech. Morgan’s Canes struggled against the Hokies in the probation era, but Dan The Man finally got a much-needed win in 2000.
Let’s hope McCarthy goes out with a similar bang in his last showdown with VT … and that Morgan actually reaches out to the kid before it’s too late.
comments
The constant re-litigating of the winning-cures-all-while-losing-exposes-warts sentiment rolls on as Miami faithful continue flailing in…
Josh Pate gets it... and I'm not just saying that because he dedicated an entire…
Tyler Van Dyke may very well have thrown his last meaningful pass for the Miami…
We can debate the merits of winning-curing-all and losses-killing-perspective at another time. For now, focus…
Winning might not cure everything, but it certainly can shift a narrative overnight—immediately lightening…
The only remedy for a gut-wrenching loss to Georgia Tech would've been the Miami Hurricanes…
View Comments
I really don't know what's more shocking, the fact that Dan Morgan has gone on the radio to trash this program as he has or the fact he hasn't reached out to Colin McCarthy in four years.
This is a guy who I always considered a throwback type player and all time UM great and these two acts have now greatly changed my opinion of him.
Start giving back some of your time, Dan. The next generation of Canes needs you more than QAM does.
Agreed, I love Dan Morgan, definitely one of the best defenders in college football history, but lest we forget, Morgan also played most of his career on the outside as well. He didn't move to the middle until his Senior season, so it seems the two are similar in that regard. Maybe it all goes back to when Leon Searcy chimed in about there being a 'disconnect' between current and former Canes. Whatever it is, I hope it gets fixed promptly.
^^^ very true. I dont like that Sid guy on QAM but Dan just lets him trash Randy like that. And he chimes in too. Saying things like that. Whatever man.
Gore and Rolle are the true canes coming back inspiring current players. all these trash talkers better not jump back on our bus when we get our engine fixed.
Unless I am listening to a Hurricanes game, I have quit listening to WQAM. I don't mind a little discourse and the football program has problems that need to be addressed. However, Sid's constant trashing of Randy and the program is not something that I look for on the radio station that is the "flagship" for the U. Then you have the opposite side of the spectrum with DBJ's overly sticky sweet glossing over of major problems. The fact that a former player like Dan Morgan jumped on that band wagon with Sid and decided to add fuel to the fire is more than a little puzzling to me. He could very easily help the program and be part of a solution, continuing the tradition of the U. I guess trash talking on the radio gets better ratings. Many alums, including myself donate time and money back to the U. If it is true that he has not reached out to offer any type of guidance, etc. then he is truly a selfish individual.
I fully agree with the article, my thoughts exactly when I read Navarro's column. On a different note I do not follow basketball recruiting at all, but why are two kids from South Florida being recruited by national powers and I did not see Miami in the list of their finalist? As weak as our South Florida basketball might be WE must lock the few gems that we produce or at least be in the final two!
Let's not jum on Morgan here. We don't know the facts. Maybe he doesn't feel welcome. After all, he said he attempted to call Randy SHannon and he never returned his phone call after two weeks. After letting it be known publically that RS hasn't returned his phone call RS finally called him back. I agree Morgan should have reached out, and still should, but we don't know the whole story. Personally, I agree with most everything Morgan has been saying about the situation but that's no excuse to not try and reach out to help. But for all we know RS may have said thanks but no thanks.
OnTheRecord - Where there's a will, there's a way.
It's not about Morgan and Shannon, it's about Morgan and McCarthy and it's about Miami Football.
If he wanted to, Dan could have a relationship with Colin despite his dynamic with Randy. Sort of comes off as a cop out, saying that since Randy might not have embraced him, it's impacted things.
I agree there's always more to the story, but I can't imagine much that will justify four years of Dan Morgan and Colin McCarthy not crossing paths.
Well there you have 'it':
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/umiami/2010/11/morgan-unless-um-wins-acc-2010-a-failure.html