SI’s Stewart Mandel talks about Golden’s plan

Sports Illustrated’s Stewart Mandel recently spent some time in Coral Gables and penned a solid piece regarding Al Golden and his quest to bring the Miami Hurricanes back to ‘former glory’. For those who missed it, it’s worth the read. For those too busy (re: lazy) to check it out, here are some bulletpoints:

– Golden wants his Canes to be known as “South Florida’s team”, which is brilliant as far as branding goes. From day one, Miami’s new head coach has driven the point home that the Hurricanes legacy, the ‘Decade of Dominance’ and the brand built by playing for ten championships and winning five over such a short span- all need to be reincorporated into his old school, new-look Canes. Golden even found a way to take a dig that other school up north while explaining things:

“I know this — we have a better chance of filling our stadium than Gainesville has of putting an international city right outside its city limits,” said Golden. “The expectations here are high, but if you’re a coach, you want to be associated with a program that believes in winning national championships. That’s what fuels us as a staff right now — the yearning, coming to work every day knowing there’s something absent.”

– By being “South Florida’s team”, Golden is looking to tap into the Canes of the future – mentioning the kids that are currently in junior high. He wants those future players thinking ‘Miami’ at an early and impressionable age, which is really a no-brainer.

When you think back to that top-recruiting class of 2008, guys like Marcus Forston, Sean Spence and Jacory Harris were all in fifth grade when the Canes last won a title. When signing with Miami, Forston referred to those legendary Canes as ‘gladiators’ and said they were his heroes.

Winning ballgames and competing for championships is obviously the best way to get the attention and focus of that younger generation, but it’s not the only way. Golden is going grassroots and is taking a smart and organic approach to building his program’s brand.

– Golden made a tongue in cheek reference to Miami going a decade without a title, stating that, “It seems like a drought around here [Coral Gables]” but was quick to point out the lack of recent championships at other big time programs:

“Miami played for a national championship in 2002. There are some teams that are traditional powers that haven’t won national championships in 25 or 30 years, and some have only won one in the same period that Miami played for 10 and won five. So let’s keep it in perspective.”

– Mandel wisely pointed out that ‘perspective’ is hard to come by in Miami; “a city that can barely maintain interest in the star-studded Heat”. He also quipped that South Beach is a more attractive destination than Sun Life Stadium and stated that Golden will have to sell the Miami program much like he sold Temple to folks in a big city like Philadelphia.

– Mandel called the Larry Coker hire a way of maintaining ‘stability’ and pointed out that the Coker era “descended into an ugly state of mediocrity and player misdeeds”. Very refreshing to hear national writers calling it as it was these days, instead of the “but he played for back-to-back titles and started his career 24-0” type statements in defense of Coker when fans began losing faith a few within a year or so of the Fiesta Bowl loss to Ohio State.

– Randy Shannon was given credit for cleaning up Miami’s “tarnished off-field image” but was unable to get the Canes over the hump, going for “good” to “great”. There was no mention of Shannon as a recruiter, CEO or developer of talent.

– Mandel praised Golden’s persona and cited his mentors – Joe Paterno, Tom O’Brien, George Welsh and Al Groh. He stated that Golden can switch from ‘buddy-buddy jokester’ to ‘tough-guy taskmaster’ in the blink of an eye. Mandel also said Golden seemed like ‘a less abrasive Urban Meyer’ and went as far as to compare him to some of UM’s own forefathers, which former Canes linebacker and current linebacker coach Micheal Barrow agreed:

“I was fortunate to be here one year under Jimmy [Johnson],” said Barrow. “Coach Golden, he reminds me of what I was brought up on. He’s old school. His demeanor, his style, the things he’s implemented here really fit what we did in the past here in terms of the work ethic.”

– It was also noted that seniors are buying into the new regime; which isn’t always the case when there’s a coaching change and an attachment to the guy who recruited them. Miami’s top-of-the-depth-chart quarterback agreed.

“Chemistry is at an all time high,” said Harris. “We’re behind Coach Golden, we’re supporting him 110 percent. We just want to come together and be great.”

– Fans are reminded that the top-ranked class of 2008 is 23-15 the past three seasons, with three straight bowl losses. Miami also lost four of its final six last season.

– Mandel mentioned that ‘initial enthusiasm generated by Shannon faded’, which hurt recruiting. Two years after that ’08 class, Shannon failed so sign a class which cracked the top thirty and included only five players from Dade and Broward counties. Yet another reason Golden has put the full court press on restoring severed local ties and is working tirelessly to mend fences Miami high school coaching staffs.

– Golden is worried about depth at cornerback, defensive tackle and linebacker, though he raves about the talent at running back, tight end and offense line. Mandel points out that Golden prefers a run-first offense and that finding a starting quarterback has been the focus this off-season.

– Mandel pointed out that the Miami program needs “a fresh dose of confidence”, which he calls “mystifying” considering the Canes brash ways in the 80s and 90s. Barrow stated that the romanticism of former NFL Canes returning for off-season workouts has lost some luster.

“I don’t know when it started, but somehow, someway, over time, the thing that made us special was kind of lost,” said Barrow. “I believe with my heart that with Golden, we can find that missing ingredient and get it going.”

– Mandel took a deserved dig at the fan base, stating that 30,000 seats were empty for the South Florida game – but mentioned that Golden is squeezing in speaking gigs and community appearances, while embracing the world of social networking — all things that Shannon failed to do during his tenure.

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