Some U Fans In Need Of A Refresher

Another loss and the boo birds are back in full force. “Let Al Golden go to Penn State. Who needs him?”

“5-5 at this point of the season? Should’ve just kept Randy Shannon!”

Miami fell 23-19 at Florida State on Saturday, again in heartbreaking fashion. Similar to losses against Kansas State, Virginia Tech and Virginia, the Canes got off to a slow start and were in another halftime hole, down 17-7.

Midway through the fourth quarter the deficit was up to 23-7 before Miami began mounting a comeback, moving the ball offensively while continuing to shut down the Florida State offense. A two-point conversion was dropped, an extra point attempt muffed and and onside kick though well executed, not recovered.

The Canes wound up falling by four, in a game where it gave up one offensive touchdown, allowed a few too many blunders and out-gained the Noles, 383 total yards to 259.

Miami also completely shut down Florida State’s ground game, holding their rival to 63 rushing yards — which seemed unfathomable after Kansas State churned out 265 on the ground and Virginia Tech rolled for 236 earlier in the year.

For the record, nobody is happy with 5-5. Not the casual fan, not the diehard, not the biggest Golden supporter and not the most delusional message board lunatic, unhappy with whoever is in charge and oft clamoring for the return of Jimmy Johnson. Losing is not something this fan base processes well.

Miami is a proud program with a tremendous legacy in the 80s, 90s and early 00s. As the losses continue to rack up, the more out there U fans are seeming to get as a whole.

Between 2000 and 2003 the Canes hit for the BCS cycle, going Sugar, Rose, Fiesta and Orange, while posting a 46-4 record.

By late October of 2011, Miami had already earned its fourth off an in-progress season.

While fans are united regarding their disdain for losing, opinions regarding the current state of the program vary, as does the ability to logically process “the process” put in place by today’s coaching staff.

A lot of fans are speaking their mind regarding “moral victories” not being the acceptable as the losses pile up, which is understandable. There’s never any true solace to be taken from failure, despite a logical and valid explanation.

That said, anyone of the mindset that Miami may as well have kept Shannon at the helm if Golden was going to lose this many games year one, that sentiment is way off.

As much as we’ve all tried to put 2007 out of our minds, let’s take a walk down nightmare lane regarding Coach Shannon’s first season in comparison to how Golden’s Canes are playing year one.

After a season-opening home win against Marshall, Miami road-tripped it to Oklahoma and was decimated, 51-13. The Sooners took a 21-10 halftime lead, but blew the doors off the second half, outscoring the Canes, 30-3. This was a precursor of things to come in the Shannon era; an inability to make halftime adjustments — which hasn’t been the case for Golden’s squad, which has shown tremendous second half fight when trailing early.

After running through Florida International, Texas A&M and Duke, Miami fell at North Carolina, trailing 27-0 at the half and coming apart due to turnovers. A week later, a 17-14 home loss to Georgia Tech, where the Canes held a 7-0 halftime lead but again were out-coached at intermission.

Yellow Jackets running back Tashard Choice finished the day with 204 yards on the ground — 151 coming in the second half as Georgia Tech coaches adjusted and wore Miami down.

Up next, a road trip to Tallahassee ended in success as Kirby Freeman threw a late miracle touchdown. The go-ahead score and late fumble recovery both occurred in the final two minutes as Miami beat an eventual 7-6 Florida State squad.

From there, a vile ending to Shannon’s inaugural season with four straight losses.

Insult to injury in a 19-16 OT loss to a bad NC State came in the form of Freeman going 1-of-14 passing on the day. A week later, the Orange Bowl finale and a 48-0 loss to Virginia, where Miami gave up 418 yards, turned it over five times and displayed absolutely zero heart.

Back-to-back road losses closed out the season — 44-14 at Virginia Tech and 28-14 at Boston College. The Canes wrapped the year 5-7 with truly zero positives until a top-ranked recruiting class was hauled in the following February; this year’s seniors, who have grossly underachieved as a whole under Shannon and staff.

Shannon’s Canes went 7-6 the following season with a few bright spots, but no noticable steps forward. After starting out 2-3, Miami tore off a five-game win streak – including a Thursday night win over Virginia Tech – only to lose the next three in embarrassing fashion.

The Canes gave up a record-high 518 yards at Georgia Tech, made NC State’s Russell Wilson look like a Heisman candidate and were out-muscled in a mid-tier bowl game by a middle-of-the-road Pac-10 team in Cal.

Year three looked to be a bright spot with early wins over Florida State, Georgia Tech and Oklahoma and with the ACC finally looking within reach, an overtime loss to Clemson and turnover-marred loss at North Carolina occurred over a four-week span and the Canes were done. Wisconsin was the bowl foe and for the second straight post-season, Shannon’s Canes looked soft, lost and out-coached.

The 2010 season proved to be the beginning of the end as Miami took a giant leap backwards, instead of building on the previous 9-4 campaign. The heralded class of 2008 were now juniors, yet were still playing like freshmen.

An early October beat down courtesy of Florida State was the final straw, with Miami falling 45-17 at home in front of a packed house, again mailing it in, giving up and showing no fight. Down 24-7 at the half, the Canes were outscored 21-10 in the final two periods, giving up an insult-to-injury ninety-yard run in the final minutes of the fourth quarter.

7-3 with three remaining, a 31-17 loss to Virginia Tech occurred. UM was(up early, tied going into the fourth and eventually ran out of steam, getting outscored 14-0 in the final fifteen minutes. Next, a 23-20 OT loss to South Florida followed by a 33-17 whooping in the Sun Bowl courtesy of Notre Dame, who led 30-3 entering the fourth.

Harris was a putrid 4-of-7 for 37 yards with three interceptions (do the math) and all but left for dead as 2011 got underway.

While Shannon squandered his Miami opportunity, Golden was building a resume in the northeast. Temple was 3-31 upon Golden’s arrival and went 1-11 year one, in 2006.

From there, 4-8 year two, 5-7 year three and by year four, a turnaround was underway. Golden’s Owls went 9-4 and reached the program’s first bowl since 1979 and third bowl in school’s history.

Temple, thrown out of the Big East in 2004 for “non-competitiveness”, was college football’s true doormat. Golden pundits will spout off an 0-15 stat regarding his run against MAC teams with a winning record, though the majority came during those first three years when Golden’s Owls went 10-26.

During that final 17-8 run, Golden’s squad improved annually. His final season Temple upset Big East champ and eventual Fiesta Bowl participant UConn, 30-16. The previous season his squad gave UCLA all it could handle in the post-season, again, his squad being Temple – a program not facing extinction for wrong doing, but for sucking and doing little right.

The Owls were ‘The Bad News Bears’ of college football, sans Lupus. A 9-4 season in Philly is as impressive as a national championship in Coral Gables.

What some Miami fans refuse to see in Golden, other programs have taken notice. UCLA came calling in late 2007, though Golden withdrew his name for consideration. Same situation in 2009 at Cincinnati when Brian Kelly left for Notre Dame. Golden was also mentioned for the Tennessee job when Lane Kiffin bolted for Southern Cal.

When Miami offered, Golden saw opportunity and came running.

A December 2010 press conference got fans riled up, as did an off-season U Tough workout, and a step forward public relations-wise as Golden tour South Florida in effort to build the brand.

On the recruiting front, Golden saved the 2011 class from being an utter disaster, as Shannon only had six verbal commitments a year ago at this time and earned rave reviews from local high school coaches who praised his mending of fences, after Shannon and staff spent four years burning bridges.

But as the losses have piled up, the support has dwindled. A fast food sports culture that demands immediate results, has fans refusing to look at anything besides the wins and losses column.

Defend the effort and you’re a bleeding heart. Quote stats and you’ll be reminded that only one stat matters at day’s end. Admit that you believe in “the process” and you may as well be knocking on someone’s door midweek, asking if they’ve heard the good news.

Thankfully those who get it keep individuals from feeling alone on an island with the belief that things have to get better before they get worse.

Someone wrote into the site earlier and gave a logical example that’s been given before, but for the sake of this piece, I’ll paraphrase.

Imagine you were hired to take over a business that’s been in the red for seven years and the shareholders expect a miraculous turnaround within year one.

Then imagine that in your effort to resurrect the fledgling company, you aren’t allowed to fire any of the employees who have been under-performing. The staff that spent the past several years failing is who you’re left with as you attempt to turn things around — all those years of an upside down culture embedded into their corporate DNA.

Of those retained, some of your best employees and salespeople would have to spend a the equivalent of a sales quarter in office on paid suspension for some type of infraction, forcing you to send you B Team into the field to generate revenue during your first few weeks on the job.

Over the next four years you’d eventually be able to release a handful of those employees while trying to lure new ones on board, while unable to lure some top prospects who remain unsure that you’ll be able to turn the company around and want to see proof before signing on.

You’re faced with the challenge of rebuilding, knowing that the employees who helped create the mess would be with you anywhere from one to four more years. Under those circumstances, where should expectations be set year one?

Furthermore, what if any milestone achieved or step forward taken was met with shareholders who constantly brought it back to the bottom line, expecting seven years of being in the red to be solved overnight?

Welcome to the job Coach Golden faces on a daily basis. True, he’s well compensated, but that doesn’t change the circumstances of what he’s taken on.

Logically this was never a one-year rebuild and anyone who expected to be a top ten team this season should have their head examined.

Look across the college football landscape. Check out some top programs and what it took to get from the bottom back to the top.

Bob Stoops left his defensive coordinator perch at the Florida to assume head coaching duties in Oklahoma in 1999. The Sooners were a 5-6 squad in 1998 and year one Stoops went 7-5 in Norman. A year later, undefeated and a national championship. Since then, no more rings, but a slew of title games and a well-oiled machine for a decade now.

Pete Carroll took over a Southern Cal program that went 5-7 in 2000. His first year out the gate, 6-6. From there the ascension began. 11-2 and in the BCS by year three and from there, a 34-0 run, three straight title games and one-and-a-half championships.

Alabama was a 6-7 squad in 2006 before luring Nick Saban away from the Miami Dolphins. Saban won a national title at LSU in 2003 and made some strides at Michigan State in the nineties. Still, the Crimson Tide was a different monster and taming the SEC would be a feat.

Year one Saban went 7-6. Year two, 12-2, winners of the SEC West and Sugar Bowl bound. Year three, undefeated and national champions.

Last year, 10-3 and this year, sitting at 9-1 and still in the title hunt. Saban has made old new again at Alabama. Well-developed talent. Fundamentals in tact. Solid defense. Punishing ground game. Effective, mistake-free passing game.

Comparing Golden to Stoops, Carroll or Saban is absolute sacrilege ten games into his career at Miami, but like all three aforementioned coaches, he shouldn’t be judged on his first year, coaching the former guy’s team.

Some folks in Norman, Los Angeles and Tuscaloosa were all ready to run their first-year guys out of town after sub par year ones. Thankfully those athletic directors and people in power know that change takes time and by trusting their hires, all were rewarded handsomely.

As a fan, there’s nothing wrong with being frustrated sitting at 5-5. That’s not Miami football and will never be acceptable.

That said, Golden took over a team 35-30 since, and including, the 2005 Peach Bowl loss to LSU, which is an average of 7-6 a year for the past five seasons.

The players on this 2011 squad are not accustomed to winning, unfortunately. For years they received sub par coaching, are under developed and are poorly conditioned. For years, halftime deficits were met with a poor game plan and second half execution, making for embarrassing losses.

When you lose that often, it’s inevitable, the culture of losing takes over. When you’re given bad advice and are receive years of unsatisfactory teaching, that is what you’re bringing to the field on game day.

Even during this down cycle, Miami sent talent to the NFL. Guys like Sam Shields were lost in the shuffle during Shannon’s reign at UM, back and forth between offense and defense, living in the doghouse and underutilized.

From there, a shot at Green Bay where he was taught properly, earned a starting job and eventually became a Super Bowl champion.

This past spring Miami had a draft-high eight players taken off a team that underachieved its way to 7-6. Talent that wasn’t developed at ‘The U’ was scouted out, coached up and is making an impact in the NFL this season.

How was a six-loss team supposed to be better when the defense lost veterans and there weren’t capable back ups or enough team depth in place to fill those holes left by Allen Bailey, Brandon Harris, Ryan Hill, Colin McCarthy and DeMarcus Van Dyke?

Hell, give Golden back a few of those corners and safeties and 5-5 is arguably 9-1 sitting here today. Harris alone, who had one remaining year of eligibility, could’ve easily meant a two- or three-game swing.

Throwing Golden and staff under the bus is a convenient scapegoat to a larger, more inconvenient reality.

Miami’s woes didn’t take place overnight and they sure as hell aren’t going to be fixed that quickly, either. Those refusing to accept that are going to go mad as “the process” continues. Acceptance, understanding and patience are the only true solution. – C.B.

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