Tag: atlantic coast conference

MIAMI HURRICANES STILL CHASING ‘SIGNATURE WIN’; FOURTH STRAIGHT LOSS TO NORTH CAROLINA

Posted on by Chris Bello


Raise your hand if you’ve heard this one before. The Miami Hurricanes lost another late-game heartbreaker to the North Carolina Tar Heels.

Despite dealing with this reality and reading a similar headline countless times since the University of Miami joined the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2004—a whopping five head coaches ago—a disgruntled fan base remains unable to wrap their collective heads around two decades of irrelevance and incompetence that have defined “The U”.

In defense of long-time supporters of this one great program—yes, a 2-3 record five games into the Mario Cristobal era absolutely stings.

No, Miami shouldn’t have lost to a glorified high school from Murfreesboro, Tennessee a few weeks back.

Yes, a home win over the Tar Heels was absolutely within reach and squandered away via a handful of boneheaded plays.

No, these coaches didn’t singularly piss away this football game—and yes, lambasting the staff weekly in knee-jerk fashion year one of their tenure is rather ridiculous considering this program has been a dumpster fire for almost two decades.

While these treks down a not-so-memorable Hurricanes Lane feel repetitive and burn like gasoline on an open wound, too many are still spitting nails while not letting the numbers, or hard-to-digest facts penetrate their thick and stubborn skulls.

For those of you still stuck in the 80’s, early 90’s or even the rebuilt early 00’s—knee-deep in what was, instead of what-is—a few greatest misses regarding the past two decades of Hurricanes football for the delinquents in the back.

Miami entered this football season 118-85 since getting crushed 40-3 by LSU in the 2005 Peach Bowl. When that number is divided by 16 seasons, the Hurricanes have averaged 7-5 every year since—while only reaching double-digit wins once since the 2003 season.

Cristobal is now UM third head coach in five seasons and sixth since Larry Coker was sent packing after going 7-6 in 2006—Miami’s worst season since 1997—Coker slowly bleeding out the powerhouse Butch Davis handed over to him in 2001.

Regarding the lack of balance and inconsistency moving the football, the Hurricanes are also on their third different offensive coordinator and system in four seasons.

Add it all up and it’s hardly a model of stability or consistency in Coral Gables since that last national championship season.

WHAT IS AND WHAT NEVER SHOULD BE

Equally as bad, a series of low-rent, poorly-vetted, cheap hires—including Randy Shannon and Al Golden back to back—pissing away nine rebuilding years at Miami. An on-fumes, big name alum was handed the keys in 2016—a clean resume with 15 close-but-no-cigar seasons at an SEC power that chewed him up and spit him out.

Mark Richt dazzled with his 10-0 start and upset of third-ranked Notre Dame in 2017, while his behind-the-scenes efforts regarding UM’s football infrastructure definitely put things in motion. But his miracle little “Cardiac Canes” run in year two was a house of cards, built on a few last-second, miracle wins that would’ve had Miami at .500 if everything that needed go right, didn’t.

The Canes were fast-exposed after a regular season-ending loss to a four-win Pittsburgh squad, a no-show in Miami’s first ACC title game appearance—a five-touchdown ass-beating handed out by Clemson—followed by a double-digit, fade-late showing against Wisconsin in the Orange Bowl.

Given a mulligan and No. 8 ranking to start the 2018 season, Richt’s Canes were wrecked by No. 25 LSU in the opener, smacked around a few nobodies over the next month and then lost four in a row—barely eking out bowl eligibility and getting a low-rent rematch against the five-loss Badgers in the Pinstripe Bowl, with an even uglier result than the NY6 showdown a year prior.

Exit Richt, enter Manny Diaz—after a rushed, lazy “search” process—which ended 21-15 and the second straight do-over after a three-year run. Diaz managed to lose to a commuter school year one, face-planting against a former UM head coach (Davis) and a rag-tag Florida International commuter college, followed by a double-digit loss at Duke and a bowl shutout at the hands of Louisiana Tech.

For those quick to dismiss the notion of “culture” issues inside UM’s walls—a reminder of a recent report from former players, that teammates would hype up minor injuries to skip practice with no fear of losing their jobs.

Story continued that Diaz was quick to let things slide—everything from minor team rules violations, to in-game penalties and missed tackles. Unless it was drug-related where the university got involved, the head coach was content sweeping the rest under the rug, in effort to be a a liked and accepted, friend-of-the-players’ coach—opposed to a feared and respected, alpha-male leader of men.

These weak and limp beta-style character traits defined the program and fueled the broken culture narrative, as the rookie head coach was under immense pressure to win and feared losing his most-talented players to the transfer portal, or NFL Draft.

Miami is less than three years removed from an FIU upset where its quarterback Jarren Williams missed curfew, but still started.

Then-starting quarterback Jarren Williams even broke curfew the night before the FIU debacle, yet was still allowed to start, as Diaz had created a consequence-free environment—one where players feared nothing and scoffed at rules, regulations or repercussions for their individual actions.

For lack of a better saying, the inmates were running the asylum as recently as this time last year—yet Miami fan’s still can’t wrap the their heads around a lethargic effort, or inability to close out football games?

All of these aforementioned events happened less than three years ago—with Diaz at the helm the next two seasons, which included last fall’s 2-4 start and an embarrassing November loss that ultimately ran him out of a job after the 2021 season—yet so many remain bewildered that five games into the Cristobal era, years of a cancerous ways are yet to be flushed from the system?

In the wake of an ugly loss to Middle Tennessee State, left guard Jalen Rivers talked about Miami overlooking their lesser opponent and admittedly coming in “unmotivated, kinda slow” before trying and failing to respond after getting “punched in the mouth”—while center Jakai Clark talked about the Canes not being “locked in” during pregame and called his team’s attitude “lethargic”.

Tyrique Stevenson—who muffed a crucial punt in a loss at Texas A&M weeks back—shared in a recent blog posting that when pressed by Cristobal about what took place against the Blue Raiders, the cornerback had no answer.

“I don’t know, coach, we just have to get back to work”—players now with their own say-nothing version of coach-speak.

CONTENDERS DELIVER, PRETENDERS QUIVER

There’s zero attempt to compare modern era Miami football to all that Nick Saban is accomplishing at Alabama; the iconic head coach racking up five national titles over the past 16 seasons in Tuscaloosa. Though there is a discussion to be had regarding player awareness, attitude, confidence and football IQ for a moment—especially in light of comments from Rivers, Clark and Stevenson.

This recent article by Michael Casagrande—beat writer for the Crimson Tide, who used to cover the Canes for the Sun-Sentinel—is built around a game-changing, heads-up moment by cornerback Terrion Arnold in Bama’s close-call against Texas A&M on Saturday afternoon.

Arnold was a 5-Star prospect out of Tallahassee—the second-best safety in the state of Florida arguably staying home had one of The Big Three been more impressive recently.

Instead, Saban reeled him in and the defensive back stepped up big in a gave-saving moment—Alabama’s back to the wall, up four with three seconds remaining and Texas A&M—ball at the two-yard line and one play from a colossal take down of No. 1 for a second straight season.

Not on Arnold’s watch. The redshirt freshman not only catching Aggies’ head coach Jimbo Fisher tipping off where the plays was headed, the safety was also in position to keep A&M receiver Evan Stewart out of the end zone, even if he had caught the well-guarded pass from Haynes King with that final attempt as time expired.

Alabama, 24, Texas A&M 20—disaster averted.

Crimson Tide safety Terrion Arnold (#3) knew where the ball was going and stopped a goal line stand as Alabama survived aTm, 24-20.

Winning has a way of curing all in sports. Alabama survived and is now 6-0 halfway through their 2022 season. Had they fallen to the Aggies, the fact they were without starting quarterback Bryce Young would’ve been the first attempt at reasoning—but the oddsmakers still saw the Crimson Tide as a 24-point favorite, to an underachieving Texas A&M team that was upset by Appalachian State in early September, and an 18-point loser at Mississippi State last weekend.

Translation, Alabama had no business being in a position where Texas A&M had the ball on the two-yard line, down four, with a shot to cap off a 69-yard game-winning drive—yet that’s precisely where they were when championship-caliber DNA kicked in and the Crimson Tide made another season-defining play.

Disaster was also averted weeks back when No. 1 Alabama trailed unranked Texas, 19-17—the Longhorns playing most of the game with a back-up up quarterback—before Young kept the drive alive with his wing and wheels, setting up a 33-yard field goal attempt with :10 remaining, escaping Austin with a one-point victory.

It’s a tried and true, age-old formula. Winners and winning programs win, while losers with losing muscle memory lose—until something eventually gives and a tide is turned.

This adage is also why Cristobal and this first-year Miami staff work tirelessly to break these Hurricanes of deep-rooted bad habits, with an emphasis on process—because once the correct process is in place and a team learns how to win, the victories follow.

TAR HEELS HAVE OWNED THE CANES FOR YEARS

Going into this latest annual match-up, North Carolina had beaten Miami three in a row—and if delving deep into the heads and subconscious of every player on that field, it was the visitors riding the win streak, with the history of winning the close ones, who believed to their core they would emerge victorious—as losing to “The U” wasn’t part of their muscle memory; most of these Tar Heels nowhere near the program the last time the Canes notched a win in this series, back in 2018.

Recent history tells the entire story and the record books will show that Miami has reinvented ways to piss games away against North Carolina.

After digging themselves a 17-3 hole in 2019, Miami went ahead late third quarter via a Will Mallory touchdown, but failed on a two-point attempt—trying to make up for a missed PAT earlier in the game.

Clinging to a five-point lead with 2:55 remaining, the Canes followed up a clutch third-down sack by allowing the Tar Heels to convert on a 4th-and-17 attempt that could’ve ended the game. Five plays later North Carolina was in the end zone and after converting their two-point attempt, took a 28-25 lead—which proved to be the final score after a Miami game-tying field goal attempt sailed wide.

A year later, with Coastal Division title hanging in the balance on Senior Day in Miami—North Carolina scored 34 unanswered in the first half, taking a 34-10 lead into intermission, before falling 62-26 and surrendering 554 rushing yards—the Tar Heels proving that at home, or on the road, they had Diaz’s and UM’s number.

Last fall, another slow start for Miami on the road—North Carolina up, 31-17 at the half—while the Canes finally pulled within four going into the fourth. UNC pushed their lead to 11 points, UM scored and converted and it was now a three-point game with just over three minute remaining.

Miami’s defense forced a three-and-out, giving the Canes’ offense and Van Dyke their moment to shine—one week after a potential game-winning field goal attempt doinked off the goal post in a home loss to Virginia.

Van Dyke—who threw for 264 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions up to that point—saw his third-down attempt from the UNC 16-yard line batted into the air and into the arms of a Tar Heels linebacker, ending UM’s final attempt to win it, which also blew a fourth down attempt at a game-tying field goal and push for overtime.

Defeat snatched from the jaws of victory in 2019 after Miami gave up a 4th-and-17 at North Carolina, the Heels prevailing, 28-25.

All of which bring us to the misery surrounding this latest missed opportunity and chapter in the rivalry’s history—the Heels now with an 11-8 record against the Canes since 2004, the win-streak now pushed to four in a row.

True to form, Miami scrapped back late, but it wasn’t enough. Down seven early in the fourth quarter, the Canes saw a 65-yard, game-tying drive come to a screeching halt when running back Jaylan Knighton converted a 4th-and-1 with a nine-yard run, only to get half-heartedly stripped as he didn’t secure the football.

What should’ve been 1st-and-10 from the UNC 17-yard line, with momentum—it was Tar Heels’ ball, followed by an 81-yard, clock-chewing drive and conservative field goal attempt, pushing their lead to 10 points with just over four minutes remaining.

Van Dyke responded with a clutch 63-yard drive and 16-yard touchdown to Colbie Young, which set up an improbable miraculous and acrobatic onside kick recovery—negated as Al Blades Jr. stepped out of bounds, without reestablishing himself before touching the ball. Still, the Miami defense forced the three-and out, took possession with 1:08 remaining and again needed a field goal to force overtime, just like their last-ditch effort in Chapel Hill last year.

The Canes made it as far as midfield, before another amateur-hour mistake—Jaleel Skinner not getting out of bounds after a six-yard reception—which set up a clock-running, frazzled 3rd-and-4 attempt. Van Dyke rushed his throw, which in a deja vu moment was again tipped and intercepted to end a football game and another three-point loss.

While Knighton’s fumble was an inopportune brain-fart at a momentum-killing time, it didn’t lose the game anymore than Van Dyke’s interception sealed Miami’s fate. Same for an early 53-yard field goal attempt from Andres Borregales sailing wide—which could’ve had a different outcome and the Canes not giving up a five-yard sack on third down.

The mistakes were occasional and spread out, starting with blown coverage on the first score of the game—Kam Kitchens not providing safety support to Stevenson, allowing J.J. Jones to break free—hit in stride by freshman quarterback Jake Mayes for the 74-yard touchdown.

No, this was another death-by-a-thousand-cuts, collective loss by a football program cloaked in failure for almost two decades; the type of game Miami has lost a variety of ways for too many years—and when that negative muscle memory kicks in, the struggle indeed becomes real.

Alabama had its back to the wall at Texas and again this weekend against Texas A&M and what happened with their championship-caliber players and plug-and-play coaching staff—as well as a fan base used to winning big? All of Bryant-Denny Stadium had their, “Chill, we’ve got this” moment and the Crimson Tide prevailed. Conversely, the Aggies again showed their true choke-job colors—snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, slipping to 3-3 in a season that started with them ranked No. 6 in the pre-season.

Winners win. Losers lose.

COMEBACKS ALWAYS BEGIN WTH SIGNATURE VICTORIES

Miami used to be Bama-like in their ways during championship-caliber ways of the 1980’s, early 1990’s and even the 2000-era rebirth—breaking back through with that late comeback against No. 1 Florida State in 2000, after five consecutive losses to the top-ranked Noles. Miami’s 17-0 halftime lead slowly evaporated, and with a minute and change remaining, the Canes—down 24-20—mounted a game-winning drive, capped off by a “wide right” field goal attempt, for the 27-24 victory.

Weeks later the Canes ended another five-game losing streak, taking out No. 2 Virginia Tech for the first time since 1994—and then closing strong with a Sugar Bowl rout of No. 7 Florida, proving Miami was the best team in the nation and should’ve had their crack at No. 1 Oklahoma for the national championship—not the Seminoles squad they beat head-to-head months prior.

A year later, the eventual national champions hit the ground running—before everything almost derailed after a four-interception outing at Boston College and late game fumble put the Eagles in position to end a 17-game win-streak, while also derailing the Canes’ title-game plans.

Ed Reed wasn’t having it. Not after suffering though 5-6 as a freshman in 1997, including that 47-0 massacre at Florida State. The senior safety had his own, “Chill, we’ve got this” moment as he tore an intercepted ball from the hands of teammate Matt Walters and scampered furiously towards game-sealing pay dirt.

Well-built, mentally-tough, physically-superior Miami football teams were hard-wired to step-up—while the brand of football on display the past almost-two decades leaves players, coaches and fans physically feeling the failure in the air and disaster on the bring the moment things start going south. The battle is literally lost before it’s even begun.

Had every Hurricanes fan been miked-up the moment Knighton coughed up that ill-timed fumble, it’d have been some version of, “Here we go again… this one’s over.”

We’ve all watched this movie on repeat for the last couple hundred games and we know how it ends.

It took Butch Davis until year six for a program-defining, “signature win”—beating FSU in 2000 after five straight losses against the Noles.

North Carolina and their spirited little four-game win-streak aside, stepping up and sealing the game late—the theme is all too common; this loser-driven, lactic acid needing to get pushed out and worked out of Miami’s aching muscles by a first-year staff. Another new crew of well-intended coaches—with zero ties to the losing ways over the past 16 seasons, or the type of failure that’s hovered over this program since the waning years of the Coker era.

Fact remains, Miami hasn’t been right since joining the ACC—the third-ranked, undefeated Canes inexplicably gifting the Tar Heels (3-4 at the time) their first-ever win over a Top 5 program back on October 30th, 2004.

North Carolina racked up 545 yards against a slipping Miami defense—279 yards on the ground, mostly from a third-string tailback—before one final defensive collapse set up a game-winning 42-yard field goal.

A week later Miami blew a 17-3 halftime lead against Clemson, shutout in the second half and falling 24-17 in overtime. By early December, a conference title was left on the table when falling to Virginia Tech, 16-10—the first ACC season for both Big East defectors.

To date, Miami is 0-for-18 regarding ACC championships—winning the Coastal one measly time (2017) and getting whooped by five touchdowns in the title game. Conversely, the Hokies won the ACC four times between 2004 and 2013 and took the division six times, before their backslide began.

Miami has been a broken, beat and scarred program since joining this “basketball conference”—unable to even get through the weaker division for a shot at glory—when originally invited to the ACC to improve it’s football pedigree; visions of the Canes and Noles teeing it up in December with big implications on the line.

All for naught.

Miami has seven more one-game seasons on deck and fans have a choice to make; either accepting what-is and buckling in for a rebuild, or living in the past—expecting Hurricanes’ ghosts to win football games, with some foolish belief that the “U” on the side of the helmets and a glorious past win football games, instead of these current players who just did three years under Diaz and staff.

The Miami Hurricanes many of you root for, talk about and believe in—that program is dead and buried, while this new version is experiencing it’s fifth rebuild in 15 years.

Tired as some of you are of “rebuilding”, time to face the hard fact that the last handful of do-overs were nothing more than homes built on bad foundations—which results in a disaster. Cracked walls, uneven floors and moisture damage causing wood rot and mold, which results in a complete tear down and rebuilding on a new foundation—which is where Cristobal and staff sit halfway through the 2022 season, whether you can accept that or not.

Winning has a way of masking inefficiencies—Alabama cheating death against Texas and Texas A&M could expose weaknesses at year’s end—while losing tends to expose all warts, while killing any ability to extract any positives or steps forward by young teams working towards getting better.

Cue the “there are no moral victories” crowd and those old schoolers talking about “lowered expectations”—as if the product on the field hasn’t hit rock bottom several times since the glory days—but there were signs of life against North Carolina last week and things for Miami to build on as the head to Virginia Tech this weekend.

There are mistakes to clean up and players must continue growing up fast and weekly, while  learning on the fly—but them’s the breaks in year one of yet another coaching regime change.

Deal with it.

Christian Bello has been covering University of Miami athletics since the mid-nineties. Getting his start with CanesTime, he eventually launched allCanesBlog—which led to a featured columnist stint with BleacherReport. He’s since rolled out the unfiltered, ItsAUThing.com where he’ll use his spare time to put decades of U-related knowledge to use for those who care to read. When he’s not writing about ‘The U’, Bello is a storyteller for some exciting brands and individuals—as well as a guitarist and songwriter for his Miami-bred band Company Jones, who just released their debut album “The Glow”. Hit him on Twitter for all things U-related @ItsAUThingBLOG.

SINK OR SWIM TIME FOR MARIO CRISTOBAL AND THE MIAMI HURRICANES

Posted on by Chris Bello

Three years ago then-Hurricanes head coach Manny Diaz stood in the bowels of Marlins Park on “a very, very dark night”.

Miami had just been upset by Florida International—a crosstown, commuter school rival—on the hallowed grounds where the beloved Orange Bowl once stood, playing host to a 58 home-game win streak that took place a lifetime ago.

“One of the lowest points ever in this proud program’s history,” Diaz told reporters, followed some coach-speak about taking responsibility and what not, before going out and losing to Duke a week later.

29 games and a coaching change since, the Hurricanes are again reeling from the type of loss that theoretically should never happen to a program of it’s nature; Miami beaten-up by Middle Tennessee State a week after coming up short in a mistake-filled, low-scoring affair at Texas A&M.

Only this time it was the $80-million dollar man on the sidelines for “The U”, with a hand-picked, highly-paid coaching staff that supposedly ensured embarrassing games of this nature would no longer be the norm in Coral Gables.

That’s not to say Mario Cristobal was ever expected to change two decades of a broken culture overnight—but this was the kind of setback that just blew ten months of hope and goodwill right out the window; the honeymoon officially over as soon as the 45-31 loss was in the books.

Rest assured Cristobal will get back to work and will die trying to resurrect his alma mater. The first-year head coach is known as one of the most-tireless workers the sport has seen in some time, though there are two battles being fought as Miami slips to 2-2 on the season, with ACC play kicking off October 8th when North Carolina heads south.

How does Cristobal work towards his long-term goal of rebuilding his version of a competitive, talent-rich powerhouse over the next half decade—while making changes on the fly?

Futhermore, how does Miami’s newest leader figure out how to get the most out of the personnel he has—not the personnel he expects to field after a few more recruiting cycles—as the head coach won’t be given a mulligan or any breathing room by an impatient fan base?

It’s been a quandary past Miami leaders have failed to solve; Cristobal the sixth new Hurricanes head coach in 17 seasons and third in the past five years—putting even more pressure on UM to start winning winnable football games immediately.

“THE U”: A DISASTROUS DECLINE FOR YEARS

Taking over a squad that went 21-15 under Diaz the past three years, as well as a 28-24 run dating back to the 10-0 start Mark Richt posted in 2017—before going 7-9 and abruptly retiring after a 2018 bowl loss—Cristobal inherited a broken program in need of a complete overhaul and a serious culture change.

Of course this isn’t what a pent-up fan base wants to hear. Not after roughly two decades of incompetence, underachieving and a slew of false starts.

Every new Miami head coach—after Larry Coker—has been saddled with the baggage of the failed regime that’s come before him; each new fresh start bring more pressure than the guy who previously walked the path, as the last four coaches have failed the Hurricanes, the program slipping further into mediocrity and irrelevance as a result.

In the wake of this embarrassing upset—where Middle Tennessee State outplayed, out-toughed and out-coached Miami—a ridiculously entitled attitude and mindset from some in the fanbase regarding “lowered expectations” and the Hurricanes having “no business” losing to a team like the Blue Raiders.

All of which begs the question, says who?

The University of Miami entered this season 118-85 since the 2005 Peach Bowl debacle against LSU. When divided by the 16 years it took to accumulate that ugly number, it averages out to 7.4 wins-per-year and 5.3 losses.

For context—and to help explain some of the long-time Canes’ fans deep-rooted entitlement—Miami amassed a 107-14 record between 1983 and 1992, where it won four national championships (1983, 1987, 1989, 1991), left three on the field (1985, 1986, 1992), got screwed out of playing for one (1988) and screwed themselves out of playing for another (1990).

The average season for Miami during that “decade of dominance”—10.7 wins-per-year and 1.4 losses.

Since joining the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2004, Miami has won the lesser Coastal Division once and is 0-for-18 in ACC titles.

In contrast, Virginia Tech—who also bailed the Big East when UM left—picked up six division titles and four conference championships its first 13 seasons in the ACC, before falling on harder times.

Miami’s 30-24 loss to FIU in 2019 was followed with losses at Duke and a bowl-shutout to Louisiana Tech.

Miami closed out the 2019 season with an inexcusable late season loss to Florida International, followed by a double-digit loss at Duke and a bowl game shut-out at the hands of Louisiana Tech.

A handful of players on this current roster were part of that dismal inaugural 6-7 season under Diaz—yet this loss to Middle Tennessee State remains such a head-scratcher?

Again, for what reason—outside of ancient history and too many with their heads in the sand—still living in long-gone glory days for a once-great program?

Fact remains, this is a below-average football program and has been for the better part of two decades. Middle Tennessee State took full advantage of that lethargic attitude and half-ass effort, in the most-recent showdown where UM just assumed it could go through the motions to beat another “lesser” team.

Sure, there was an era a lifetime ago where a dominant Hurricanes program pulverized teams like the lowly Blue Raiders. The type of nobody who lost before even getting off the bus—dead and buried behind the West End Zone by sundown.

That was then, this is now and another little brother-type program just cleaned slipping big brother’s clock.

The uniforms may look similar and the “U” on the side of that helmet evokes memories of championship ways, but the DNA is nowhere near the same and the caliber of players representing this program aren’t worthy of the accolades, belief and trust that past Miami greats fought for and earned.

In short, these current Hurricanes players haven’t done shit and deserve no benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise.

NO ROOM FOR FOOL’S GOLD DURING A REBUILD

The biggest mishap over the past 10 months is the false bravado a fan base exuded the minute a native son head coach returned home to a huge payday; a 10-year, $80-million contract and a budget for a top flight coaching staff, as well as the administrative swap out of a pretender-for-contender when Clemson’s Dan Radakovich took over as athletic director.

Cherry on top, Miami even added Alonzo Highsmith in the previously-discussed general manager-type role that almost took place under Diaz, before the insecure head coach stopped that move from taking place.

Overzealous fans took these upgrades to the bank and ran with them—ramping up the trash talk with rivals and quick to proclaim that Miami was “back”—which made for a fun offseason, followed by a harsh reality when Cristobal and the Canes rolled out the remnants from last year’s 7-5 squad.

This attitude that a staff upgrade would result in some just-add-water approach to rebuilding “The U”—nonsensical and moronic for any who have paid attention to the product on the field since Miami joined the ACC. Cristobal and staff were expected to instantly overhaul a program that brought in classes ranked 11th (2021), 17th (2020) and 27th (2019) the past three years, turning the Canes into a sleek and jelled unit four weeks into year one?

Same to be said by the fans and media making much ado about a sophomore quarterback with only nine starts under his belt.

Starved for the next great hope at a program that hasn’t lived up to its ‘Quarterback U’ moniker in two decades, the legend of Tyler Van Dyke got underway last fall after some unintentional trash talk as four-loss Miami prepped to host No. 18 North Carolina State.

The Canes hung in there for a 31-30 victory and stole another nail-biter at No. 18 Pittsburgh a week later, 38-34—the newest option under center throwing for seven touchdowns and 751 yards in back-to-back upsets of ranked teams, as the narrative began to write itself for a desperate fan base.

By season’s end, Van Dyke went 5-1 down the stretch—throwing for 300-plus yards all six games, with 20 touchdowns to three interceptions—leading to a slew of off-season articles and preseason accolades that are now looking somewhat overblown.

Van Dyke managed to shine brightly when expectations were low as he replaced an injured D’Eriq King, but after an offseason with a slew of hype—ACC’s-best accolades or chatter about future NFL Draft status—when the lights came on for game one in the Cristobal era, undefeated with a lot to prove, it’s been a deer-in-the-headlights reaction ever since.

Glaring weaknesses for the revered quarterback and warts exposed in a new offensive system, without a few next-level receivers who helped bail him out and mask flaws last fall.

Prior to this new season, NBC Sports talked up Van Dyke’s “encore performance” back in August, while ESPN wrote earlier that the Hurricanes had been “waiting two decades” for a quarterback like #9.

Lost in the storybook hype, the fact that Van Dyke had the luxury of stepping in for King when Miami sat at 1-2, throttled by Alabama and outlasted by Michigan State—the Canes losing those two games by a combined 52 points, while barely holding on at home against Appalachian State.

After a few bad-luck breaks against Virginia and North Carolina had Miami and Van Dyke both 2-4 and 0-2 in ACC play—the pressure and the wheels completely off.

The legend of Tyler Van Dyke started against North Carolina State in 2021, but is fizzling out fast in early 2022.

Expectations were low for the rest of 2021 and then-offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee had Van Dyke letting it rip in a one-dimensional offense—defined by shoddy offensive line play and virtually no running game—and for the most part, it worked as the quarterback played out of his mind and the Canes had some close-call games go in their favor.

Miami beat North Carolina State, Pittsburgh and Georgia Tech by a combined eight points, before a disastrous outing at Florida State. Bounce-back wins followed against Virginia Tech and Duke; the Canes going 7-5 on the season, which could’ve easily have been 4-8 without some unexpected, next-level quarterback play.

A similar storyline in 2020 as King hit the ground running and willed the Hurricanes to an 8-3 season that was also the product of some unorthodox quarterback play, a yeoman’s effort from the energetic signal caller and three more narrow wins.

Miami outlasted Virginia, North Carolina State and Virginia Tech by a combined nine points late in the season—before routing Duke, getting throttled at home by North Carolina (62-24) with a Coastal Division title on the line and falling in a bowl game against Oklahoma State.

Anyone who watched the Diaz era with an honest and discerning eye over those 36 games—the slow starts, sloppy play, games given away, or blowouts against any real competition Miami faced—what was honestly expected year one of the Cristobal era?

“At least doing enough to beat shitty a Conference USA team like Middle Tennessee State!!”

Fair enough, but that statement is also based on Miami as a once-successful program and not this current crop of Hurricanes players, known for playing down to competition for decades—and with the parity in today’s game, good teams simply can’t no-show or half-ass it against “lesser” competition.

WAKE-UP CALLS ARE NEEDED FOR ALL

Look no further than preseason No. 5 Notre Dame getting upended at home by Marshall, sixth-ranked Texas A&M getting stifled by Appalachian State or UTEP smacking around Boise State the first month of this season. The Hurricanes are the most-recent (and definitely not the last) victim of an entitled generation of players who show up expecting to beat formidable foes, even when they haven’t even put in the work.

Don’t believe it? Dig up a few post-game quotes from a few Miami offensive lineman in the wake of last week’s upset.

“We… I say we, everybody, because we’re all in this together. We looked at that team ‘Oh, we’re gonna win this game’,” said offensive lineman Jalen Rivers postgame. “So we came in obviously unmotivated, kinda slow and we had to ramp things back up when we got punched in the mouth.”

There was also center Jakai Clark, who stated, “We weren’t as locked in as we should have been pregame. During the week we had a good week of practice, but pregame…me personally, I feel as though we weren’t as locked in as we should have been,” while also calling his team’s attitude “lethargic”.

Without naming names, the trend also continues with current Miami player quick to post images or video clips to their social media platforms—glamorizing individual plays they made in a game the Hurricanes collectively lost as a group.

If the Getty Images coming across the feed are legit, toss ’em up on the ‘Gram with some caption about hustling, grinding and getting back to work—a faux attempt at motivation, when reality it’s an immature, self-absorbed practice common for the current generation featuring its share of attention-starved, me-first athletes.

The team losing comes secondary to individuals celebrating a captured moment where they looked good—converting it to social media currency and the endorphin rush of likes, or ass-kissing fan comments.

All that to say, social media isn’t the culprit—a pretender’s and loser’s mentality is, as well as a lack of leadership and veterans in that locker room not having the stones to call out the destructive behavior.

You’d think the level of disgust, embarrassment, frustration and anger would be palpable around Greentree since Saturday’s laughing-stock loss. Things getting thrown around, or at minimum some serious soul-searching.

The aforementioned Clark was a freshman on Miami’s 2019 team that lost to FIU—yet he’s giving quotes about players not being locked-in pre-game, rolling in unmotivated and slow—getting “punched in the mouth”? Where was any conversation from upperclassmen on this roster who took it in the shorts via the Golden Panthers three years back?

“Don’t sleep on these Blue Raiders. I’m telling you. Look at that shit that happened to us three years ago when FIU took us out. Need to keep that guard up as these cats are coming to play and believe they can win.”

Miami’s mostly non-alum fan base is doing opposing teams a solid with their no-show game-day efforts; a lot of blue seats watching MTSU.

Does anybody really believe Cristobal and staff didn’t have a collective foot up the ass of this team all week after that loss at Texas A&M? The first-year head coach talked postgame about his team coming up short, needing to improve and eliminating issues that hurt Miami in the loss.

“We’ve got to get better. Playing a tight game doesn’t automatically make you more successful next week. We’ve got to go to work. We’ve got to look in the mirror and face reality. We gave up some opportunities that you just can’t give. And we did that. That’s upsetting,” said Cristobal, postgame in College Station.

“It should burn. It needs to burn. It needs to feel really, in a way, motivational knowing we could be a good team but becoming a good team is not just going to happen. We’ve got to keep working. We’ve made some progress, but we could have coached better tonight. We could have played better tonight. We could have executed better tonight. We’ll get back and we’ll get back to work.”

The only thing that burned the following week was Miami’s secondary getting torched for passes that went 69, 71, 89 and 98 yards, respectively—three of which went for touchdowns, the other leading to one.

PLAYERS MUST BE HELD FULLY ACCOUNTABLE

How does a hot-and-cold player like D.J. Ivey look like he’s turned a corner at Texas A&M, with a pretty-good showing—only to revert back to burnt toast-mode and that same dude who got torched on a fake punt and a late touchdown in an overtime loss to a one-win Georgia Tech squad in 2019?

How does Tyrique Stevenson—who for a minute looked like he was going to declare for the NFL Draft earlier this year—write in a recent CaneSport blog post that when pressed by his head coach as to what happened the day prior, he had zero answers?

“I talked with coach Cristobal on Sunday before a team meeting, he just ran into me. He just asked me, `What happened? What do you think happened?’ I said I don’t know, you just have to get back to the drawing board and see the holes that we’re missing and we just have to start plugging them in with the right players and the right mindset. He thought I had an answer, but the answer is `I don’t know, coach, we just have to get back to work, figure out what went wrong, where the holes are and keep working and try to improve in those areas.’”

The phrasing of the head coach’s questioning is important here; “What do you think happened?”—to which Stevenson had nothing.

Don’t doubt for a minute Cristobal couldn’t have answered it for his cornerback.

A two-time national champion at Miami, recruited by Jimmy Johnson and spending four years under Dennis Erickson, on a 44-4 squad, loaded with superstars and future NFL’ers—who parlayed that experience and knowledge into a coaching career, instead of going his original route of joining the Secret Service.

Grad assistant under Butch Davis, position coach and recruiting head after following Greg Schiano to Rutgers—and then back to Miami, before getting his shot to cut his teeth for six years as a bottom-feeder program like FIU, before getting picked up groomed by Nick Saban when originally on his way back to Coral Gables under Al Golden in 2013.

Four years in Tuscaloosa and the four years as head coach at Oregon, where he went 35-12 and won the Pac-12 twice—Cristobal knows that the teacher isn’t teaching if he’s feeding the pupil the answers. It’s a learning experience for his cornerback to figure out and articulate what went south and why.

Who knows if Stevenson even picked up on any of that, or if the majority of this current roster even truly comprehends all the hell that just took place?

Plus, how do these players even get “back to work” when to a man they can’t even identify what went wrong?

First-year head coach Mario Cristobal fast in a 2-2 hole; the honeymoon over after UM was recently-upset by MTSU.

CURRENT CULTURE COULDN’T BE MORE BROKEN

Fans don’t want to buy into the whole “culture” argument—quick to cite the massive payday and coaching staff upgrade, as if it equates to a turnkey solution and immediate buy-in from the 100-plus players on this roster.

Unfortunately life doesn’t work that way—no matter how salty you are that this program sucked for the past almost-20 years.

Fat and want to lose weight? It comes off one pound at a time. Skinny and want to bulk up? Start lifting and prepare for incremental results. Want to become a guitar player? Get ready to suck for a few years and to shred your fingers in the process.

Planting a garden as it feels like the apocalypse is coming any day now? Drop those seeds, water away and wait patiently while seeds become seedlings, before they flower, fruit and ripen, giving you some tomatoes … in half a year.

Everyone knows this by now; nothing good comes easy, success takes time and hard work is the cornerstone of everything. Progress can’t be fast-tracked and the only thing that can be controlled right now is the infrastructure—which despite the 2-2 stumble out the gate, it still where it needs to be for this program’s long-term future, minus a few tweaks here and there if this first wave of coordinators and position coaches don’t fit the bill.

All that to say, Cristobal must quickly figure out how to parallel path and build for tomorrow, while solving the problems of today. It simply can’t be a long-term vision with an “Under Contruction” sign at the front door of Hecht Athletic Center with some “Project Complete — January 2025” declaration, while a fan base sits around waiting for three years.

The quarterback solution everyone felt was a strength going into this season; welcome to a full-blown conundrum before even getting out of September.

Whether that’s all on Van Dyke, this loss of his two go-to options to graduation and his top new target sidelined with a foot injury—or the scheme that first-year offensive coordinator Josh Gattis is running—something has to give, and fast.

Miami wideouts struggled to get open against Texas A&M’s third-string secondary, while the Canes defensive backs got absolutely torched in man coverage against Middle Tennessee State, after looking halfway decent against the Aggies.

Doesn’t take Canestradamus to predict that combo is no recipe for 2022 success.

The result entering the ACC portion of the schedule; every coach’s nightmare—a loose-playing back-up quarterback looking more comfortable than the starter. Jake Garcia has just entered the chat and now the one position on the field that looked like Miami’s biggest strength entering the season—while salvaging last year and making 2020 look better than it was—it’s seemingly entered train wreck-mode.

Even worse, the wrong decision could absolutely destroy psyches and fast send the 2022 down the drain; coaches giving up on Van Dyke too quickly, Garcia underperforming and then going back to the starter that the staff showed they had no faith in by making the switch.

Fun times ahead.

While the overhyped yahoo fan either seriously, or jokingly woofed about “15-0!!” when Cristobal was hired—fact remains this current crossroads is where the first-year coach needs to earn his paycheck; problem-solving on the fly, as the wrong moves set the program back and ultimately push the turnaround timeline further down the road.

FIND A WAY; TAKE THE AVERAGE COASTAL DIVISION

Fans love to mock the annual, “Coastal is still within reach!” narrative when year after year fall apart for the Canes, but as far as Cristobal’s inaugural season goes,  Miami did lose the two of the most “meaningless” games on the schedule—despite the fact one was a glorified high school team that hails from a place called Murfreesboro.

North Carolina. Virginia Tech. Duke. Virginia. Florida State. Georgia Tech. Clemson. Pittsburgh. The result of those eight showdowns will write Miami’s 2022 season narrative; not the last two weekends.

Of course if one shits the bed against the likes of a Middle Tennessee State, the odds of beating half of those teams—let alone all eight—is an uphill battle, but then again so is life. Welcome to Cristobal’s and his staff’s challenge for the rest of this football season. Figure it out, gents.

Xavier Restrepo’s injury depletes a receiving corps that already lost Charleston Rambo and Mike Harley to graduation last year.

Outside of Clemson, the rest of these teams are absolutely pedestrian—and even the Tigers are a shell of what they’ve been the last decade.

Cristobal knows what’s at stake; the same dilemma his last few predecessors faced—winning big enough with what he has, in order to land the kids he needs to ultimately win bigger—which feeds off itself, attracts more talent over the next few recruiting cycles, putting Miami in position to be a true contender in the next three to five years.

Whether this team has the guts, heart and character to scrap its way into the Coastal Division hunt year one, we’ll see— but anything less than obvious improvement over last year’s 7-5 debacle is an indictment on this staff for not figuring out how to get the most out of these kids.

An fortunate and opportune time for a bye week as this program needs to stew on this loss a little longer; especially when players are offering up media quotes about not being ready to play, while others can’t answer the simple where-it-all-went-wrong question for the coaching staff.

Safe to say back-to-back losses are keeping this coaching staff up all night, during this 14-day lull before Miami takes the field again—but what about these Hurricanes players? Are they stewing and ready to take the frustration out on North Carolina, or are they in that dangerous it-is-what-it-is state of mind?

Fans can bitch about high-priced coaches all they want, but these players can’t be immune to the same harsh criticism.

Not at Miami, not when they’re very vocal on social media and not in an NIL era where amateurism has gone out the window and college athletes have pretty much reached the semi-pro ranks. Everybody is fair game once you take a check for services rendered.

Miami’s football history is rich, distinguished and hangs over the head of anyone who puts on that “U”-adorned helmet—but until enough current Hurricanes realize heavy is the head that wears the crown, nothing is going to change. These kids have to want it—and if they don’t, then the next few recruiting classes will push them aside, as the ones ready to rebuild this thing the right way.

Rest assured, every class Cristobal brings in from ’22 on out will fast-understand what it means to be a Mi-am-i Hurr-i-cane—authentically; not in some nonsensical, “It’s All About The U” marketing department, t-shirt, schedule poster verbiage or hashtag.

The question over these next eight games; can this coaching staff drill pride, winning ways and next-level effort into the heads of the last three classes—or are Diaz’s kids too far gone?

There’s still time to write your history, Miami.

Sky’s the limit, but you best clean it up fast if you don’t want to be a footnote in this disastrous chapter for the Canes.

Christian Bello has been covering University of Miami athletics since the mid-nineties. Getting his start with CanesTime, he eventually launched allCanesBlog—which led to a featured columnist stint with BleacherReport. He’s since rolled out the unfiltered, ItsAUThing.com where he’ll use his spare time to put decades of U-related knowledge to use for those who care to read. When he’s not writing about ‘The U’, Bello is a storyteller for some exciting brands and individuals—as well as a guitarist and songwriter for his Miami-bred band Company Jones, who just released their debut album “The Glow”. Hit him on Twitter for all things U-related @ItsAUThingBLOG.

MIAMI’S D’ERIQ KING—CROWN JEWEL OF NIL & NEWEST FACE OF BIOSTEEL

Posted on by Chris Bello


The release came across the wire this morning—BioSteel Sports Nutrition Inc. (“BioSteel”) announced the signing of Division I quarterback D’Eriq King, making him the brand’s first collegiate name, image and likeness (NIL) deal and first college football ambassador.

A couple of quotes followed; King talking up why this product is imperative to his training—smart about what goes into his body and what not—while co-founder and co-CEO John Celenza praise the Miami Hurricanes’ quarterback as being an ideal brand fit, wishing him well on the season.

BioSteel also lists Patrick Mahomes, Luka Dončić, Ezekiel Elliott, DeAndre Hopkins and Jalen Ramsey as brand ambassadors—as well as some “smaller sport” athletes and the USA Hockey Team—but King is the first college athlete the hydration specialists have signed.

As of July 1st, King already landed sponsorship deals with College Hunks Moving Company, The Wharf (event venue in Miami), Murphy Auto Group and Dreamfield—as well as creating his own logo—a graffiti-like “D-King”, with an orange “1” representing the “i’ in his name; the mark itself emulating a king’s crown.

Six weeks later, King signed on with the Florida Panthers—where he’ll appear at some games, engage with fans on social media and produce digital content for the local NHL franchise.

Safe to say the whole NIL—name, image and likeness—NCAA ruling has played well in King’s favor; as did his decision to sit out his final season at Houston in 2019 (he played in the first four games, before sitting). The decision paved the way to his one-year transfer to Miami—a bonus season granted in 2021, by way of COVID and last fall’s quirky, quarantine-defined, socially distanced season—where the almost 24-year old King decided to return for a sixth season as a college quarterback.

NIL RULING; BLESSING, CURSE, BOTH, OR NEITHER?

There’s a deeper dive to be done on all things NIL—a long-overdue ruling in the eyes of many, though one that still has its detractors.

Terence Moore, a sports journalist and contributor at Forbes admits the NCAA had no choice to comply—but was quick to follow up with the claim it will damage both football and basketball on the collegiate level.

Moore states that the Transfer Portal “is about to go nuts”—the NCAA announcing that players can now transfer once before graduating, without having to sit out a year.

By mid-May a record 1,500+ basketball players declared for the NCAA’s version of free agency—with football expected to see their own version of a mass exodus; playing time no longer the only key query—where can players go to maximize their financial portfolio, which school, city and fan base will result in more followers than another.

On the surface, it all sounds harmless, but Moore believes the modern athlete with the individual mindset is about to go next-level, with winning becoming secondary.

Moore also pointed out the fine print with some schools, versus others—the University of Georgia now allowing their athletes to use the school’s iconic “Power G” logo for endorsements deals—while the University of Tennessee has zero problem with their players displaying the Volunteers’ logo, or brand. Rocky Top for the win with this advantage-giving decision.

The rest of the argument falls rather flimsy—Moore’s mention that athletes will struggle to figure out how to pay taxes (while stating that universities don’t have the bandwidth to help players figure it out), as well as perceived dissension between teammates—that haves, versus the have-nots who aren’t earning, potentially causing locker room drama.

As for that sea of players transferring—he never explains how this is necessarily an issue—just that it’s happening in larger numbers than before.

What Moore completely ignores, outside of the small competitive advantage Tennessee might’ve given itself over Georgia—or other schools overly-protective of their mark—the different sales pitch universities can give based on their strengths against other’s weaknesses.

KING UNLOCKED CHEAT CODE WHEN CHOOSING MIAMI

As mentioned earlier, King’s transfer from Houston to Miami in spring 2020 is the ultimate reason the quarterback is seeing the type of attention he’s garnering from brands who want to align with him. If he were suiting up for his final season in the AAC with the Cougars, instead of the ACC with the Canes—he’d be prepping for Texas Tech this weekend, instead of a highly-touted showdown against the Alabama Crimson Tide in Atlanta.

The Cougars will also face Rice, Grambling, Navy, Tulsa, Tulane, Temple and a handful of other scrubs—outside of Memphis and South Florida in September.

Post-Alabama, Miami hosts the Big Ten’s Michigan State mid-September and a standard conference schedule—including what should be a prime-time showdown against a Top 10 North Carolina squad, the in-state annual battle against Florida State and other quality match-ups against Virginia, North Carolina State, Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech and Duke—all pumped out via ESPN, ABC and the ACC Network.

Conference and opponents aside, what about the city of Miami versus Houston—or the likes of Tuscaloosa, Clemson, Columbus, Gainesville, Tallahassee or Baton Rouge, for that matter?

The University of Miami has long been at a disadvantage for decades as a private university in large, diverse metropolitan city.

THE MAGIC CITY; REBIRTH DUE TO NIL SHIFT

Where the typical college town revolves around a successful football program, Miami remains an events-driven environment—as there is tremendous competition for the entertainment dollar and a slew of ways to spend one’s time, other than a stadium on a Saturday afternoon watching a non-championship caliber football team.

Miami’s ascension to the top of the college football world in the early 1980’s was the result of being a cutting-edge, outlier program who tapped into the nation’s best hotbed of athletic talent well before anyone else. Howard Schnellenberger kept local legends home—Melvin Bratton, Alonzo Highsmith and others who changed the game—and the Hurricanes were living proof that speed killed; defenses that smashed the wishbone and option, while Miami’s offense left slow and pasty Big Ten defenders choking on their dust.

Over time, other programs made their in-roads to South Florida’s treasure trove of talent—while these public universities who built football factories tapped into big alumni dollars to fuel their rise to glory—something the Hurricanes couldn’t use to their advantage, as the majority of UM supporters are local non-alum who pull for the program as they would the Dolphins, Heat, Marlins or Panthers.

All this to say, the pendulum could swing back in the Hurricanes’ favor as this NIL shift in thinking helps level the playing field. What Miami can’t offer in college town undying support, packed stadiums and big-fish-in-a-little pond adoration—it’s a legitimate paradise with sand, beaches, beautiful people, diverse culture, celebrity and entertainment. Miami Hurricanes players and coaches live in a place other folks pay to experience for a few days on vacation.

There’s a reason celebrities have flocked to the area for years—multi-million dollar homes on Fisher or Star Island, Coconut Grove or Key Biscayne. There’s a reason so many free agent athletes find their way to Miami at some point in their career—knowing it will create a season in life like no other.

Here I am in the place where I come let go—Miami the bass and the sun set low. Everyday like a mardi gras, everybody party all day. No work all play, okay. So we sip a little something, lay to rest the spill. Me an Charlie at the bar runnin’ up a high bill—nothin’ less than ill, when we dress to kill. Every time the ladies pass, they be like “Hi, Will”.

Can y’all feel me, all ages and races, real sweet faces. Every different nation—Spanish, Hatian, Indian, Jamaican, Black, White, Cuban, and Asian. I only came for two days of playing—but every time I come I always wind up stayin’—this the type of town I could spend a few days in. Miami the city that keeps the roof blazin’.

Party in the city where the heat is on. All night, on the beach till the break of dawn. Welcome to Miami…

The old whack-track by Will Smith is a bit dated decades later, but the lyrics and sentiments still hit hard. There isn’t any place in this country like Miami—especially for high-profile athletes looking to live the good life.

THE U: TRANSFER PORTAL DREAM DESTINATION

There’s a reason “The U” has become the hottest transfer destination for college football’s best over the past few seasons. Before King.

Tate Martell didn’t ultimately pan out, but the former Ohio State quarterback and start of Netflix’s QB1 series was considered a crown jewel-type grab in January  2019—and Martell’s decision sparked the transfer of former high school teammate and 5-Start USC safety Bubba Bolden to UM.

Prior to that duo, Miami also reeled in former 5-Star defensive end Jaelan Phillips from UCLA—the oft-injured, underdeveloped talent ultimately playing his way into a first round NFL Draft pick this spring; reeled in by the Dolphins and thrilled to remain in his adopted city.

Wide receiver K.J. Osborn found his way to UM in this cycle, as well—followed by Miami nabbing defensive end Quincy Roche, kicker Jose Borregales—as well as two key offensive line pick-ups in Issiah Walker Jr. and Jarrid Williams.

In this most-recent off-season, the bounty continued with defensive end Deandre Johnson—a Southridge product who opted for Tennessee out of high school—returning to the hometown program to run it back, as well as offensive lineman Justice Oluwaseun of UNLV. The Canes also nabbed veteran Oklahoma wide receivers Charleston Rambo, who is expected to start against the Crimson Tide this weekend—as well former Georgia cornerback and Southridge grad, cornerback Tyrique Stevenson.

All the aforementioned players took their talents to Coral Gables to play for Miami—simply for the football and the city and prior-to the NIL rule was put into place.

If this was the type of damage third-year head coach Manny Diaz and staff could do on the portal recruiting trail—just imagine the sales pitch when the city of Miami is now also part of the package as a money-making playground for college football players who moonlight as influencers?

The King Effect showed on the field last year, as Miami worked its way to 8-3 in the shortened season—as well as the locker room, where the transfer quarterback’s charisma, winning attitude and leadership skills helped cut through a long-time toxic culture at “The U”.

Next up, for the Texas native—laying and providing a blueprint for current and future teammates to follow in regards to image creation. pitching product, social media strategizing and laying the first building block in a personal-brand empire—with Miami the perfect backdrop for the journey.

Chris Bello has been covering University of Miami athletics since the mid-nineties. Getting his start with CanesTime, he eventually launched allCanesBlog—which led to a featured columnist stint with BleacherReport. He’s since rolled out the unfiltered, ItsAUThing.com where he’ll use his spare time to put decades of U-related knowledge to use for those who care to read. When he’s not writing about ‘The U’, Bello is a storyteller for some exciting brands and individuals—as well as a guitarist and songwriter for his band Company Jones, who just released their debut album “The Glow”. Hit him on Twitter for all things U-related @ItsAUThingBLOG.

HURRICANES ARE AGAIN OFF-SEASON KINGS; NOW WHAT?

Posted on by Chris Bello


After a three-game skid and 6-7 finish to last season, there has been little good to say about the Miami Hurricanes and a once-proud football program wallowing in mediocrity for a decade and a half.

No mincing words; year one was a complete and utter disaster for Manny Diaz at the University of Miami—on every level. It’s impossible to sugarcoat anything about a losing season; especially the fashion and manner in which the Hurricanes reinvented ways to the shit the bed.

Thrice losing as a two-touchdown favorite; the first time this embarrassing feat had been accomplished in a season in almost four decades—as well as the who, why and how regarding a three-game skid to end the season; Miami shown-up by a cross-town commuter college, a basketball school and the third-best football team in the Bayou State.

It was a worst-case scenario that quickly became a reality—on the heels of the Canes seemingly turning the corner with a late comeback at Pittsburgh, a convincing win in Tallahassee and a Senior Day rout of Louisville.

Mike Tyson once said, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth”—and unfortunately for Diaz, he’d been spittin’ chiclets since his catching that 0-2 uppercut that launched his inaugural season. The result; rock bottom. Deja vu all over again, yet different as this program has been punch-drunk for way too long.

None of this what anyone prepared for year one after last year’s Transfer Portal heist, an Alabama assistant taking over an anemic offense, Diaz’s swag-a-licious social media game—as well as that whole yacht-to-a-booster-event thing—but let’s be honest; that’s on the buyer’s naivete, not the salesman’s pitch.

WHO’S THE FOOL WHEN FOOLISHLY BUYING FOOL’S GOLD?

Anyone delusional enough to call for 12-0 last fall—as well as expecting to roll Florida in the opener, while begging for a crack at Clemson and treating the Coastal like it was a gimme—those rubes deserve everything they got last fall, and then some.

Diaz was Miami’s fifth hire in 14 seasons; taking over a program 16 years into it’s move to the ACC, with nothing more than one lowly divisional title, after being poached from the Big East to bring more football cred to the basketball conference.

Those stuck in yesteryear can bitch-moan-and-complain about the expectation level; it doesn’t change the fact these Hurricanes are 97-71 dating back to that Peach Bowl ass-kicking—40-3—courtesy of LSU back in 2005, and a 35-3 massacre in the 2018 Pinstripe Bowl. It was a Brooklyn-beatdown so bad, veteran head coach Mark Richt called it a career within 24 hours of Wisconsin owning Miami a second post-season in a row.

Richt survived a decade in the SEC, dealing with pent-up Georgia fans itching for their first championship since 1980; yet not one  title game appearance—yet three seasons in that Coral Gables meat-grinder; an instantaneous decision that retirement sounded more optimum than a fourth go-around at rebuilding The U.

Miami hasn’t had a next-level quarterback since the 2004 season; D’Eriq King’s addition can’t be understated.

ALL THESE RECENT MOVES, NOWHERE TO GO BUT UP

One year in Diaz just might’ve gotten the worst out of the way—courtesy of the type of humiliating debut that forces fast change. Even the most-stubborn leader couldn’t double-down on what he just witnessed out the gate; his hand immediately forced.

When one can officially get past the Florida International, Duke and Louisiana Tech debacles—it’s easier to fall into that blessing-in-disguise place, as the past six weeks Diaz has been aces with literally every move he’s made; all made possible by the horrific nature in how year one played out.

Going back to the final week of last December, the following has occurred for Miami, just after that post-season shutout in Shreveport was in the books:

Offensive coordinator Dan Enos was “relieved of his duties”; the news leaking before the the bowl game even kicked off. 9-4 and winning out arguably would’ve staved off that execution, but it’d have been a ruse of a season, as Enos was off-brand and not wired for the Miami job from the get-go. This had to be done and it was; the former Alabama assistant not even lasting a full calendar year at UM.

A byproduct of this move also sent offensive line coach Butch Barry packing, as well—Barry with ties to Enos from their Central Michigan days, and equally as useless, as the only thing worse than Miami’s quarterbacks room in 2019 was anything having to do with an offensive line looked as terrible in December as it did late August.

Any preconceived notions about what Diaz thought Miami’s offense could and should look like; shattered by Enos’ incompetence—to the point where the spread offense was finally welcomed at UM and a guy with a strong acumen for running it was hired in SMU’s Rhett Lashlee.

Losing seasons don’t often produce great hires, but Diaz appears to have landed a good one in Lashlee; whose stock went up even more the moment his presence helped Miami reel in Houston quarterback D’Eriq King as a one-year transfer—far and away the top Portal quarterback option this cycle.

In an off-season where it was reported the Hurricanes’ three gunslingers got lost in a THC-induced fog—the entire dynamic was flipped on its ear when UM landed King; to the point last year’s starter Jarren Williams bolted for the Portal, while N’Kosi Perry and Tate Martell quietly became afterthoughts; No. 5 most-likely the back-up, while No. 18 will probably move to wide receiver for good.

While the mere mention of Martell will prompt chatter about Diaz’s off-season efforts in 2019 not yielding the intended efforts—if one is deluded to the point they see the move as nothing more than just “bringing on another quarterback”—opposed to the difference between an inexperienced kid with potential, versus a bonafide Heisman candidate; again, there’s no fixing stupid.

Hardly a stretch if one were to say Miami literally lost three games last season by way of the kicking game—Florida, North Carolina and Georgia Tech fast come to mind—leaving the name Bubba Baxa painfully carved into UM folklore; payback for all those years of trashing FSU kickers.

In a welcomed twist of fate, the same Jose Borregales who played a part in FIU upsetting Miami—he’s now a Hurricane and an immediate upgrade to one of UM’s most-troubled positions.Toss in the addition of Temple defensive end Quincy Roche as an immediate starter, as well as last year’s west coast transfers—Jaelan Phillips and Bubba Bolden—this Canes’ defense is primed to be a feisty bunch come fall.

Lots of early-year chatter about Alonzo Highsmith returning to his alma mater; a name that sounded ideal out the gate, but less feasible when picturing a 54-year old with eight years of NFL experience, working towards a GM-type role—taking a step back into an assistant athletic director-type position which has become en vogue in college football, as the head coaching position has become a bigger beast.

The knee-jerk go-to—present company included; a dig that neither Diaz or Miami’s admin wanted an alpha-type dog in the position. The notion was quickly dispelled when former safety Ed Reed was brought home in a Chief of Staff role.

The most-jaded were quick to call the Reed hire a PR move; funny, as this same contingent roasts UM for “not caring about football”. If the latter is true, why bother with making moves to appease the fan base—and when has Miami’s athletic department ever proven PR-savvy?

Fact remains, Reed is as much an alpha as Highsmith—and the the Hall of Fame safety wouldn’t have returned to his alma mater for a fluff role.

Yes, the 41-year old will answer to Diaz, per the org chart, but Reed already has a finger on the pulse—much like Highsmith did when discussing UM—especially in regards to the ongoing theme of a broken culture.

“It’s not a complicated thing,” Reed shared soon after his hiring. “These kids just have to humble themselves … The problem is the people they are surrounding themselves with are the people who are giving them the glory when they haven’t done anything … It’s about being with your teammates and having that accountability. I am not telling you not have fun, because we did have a lot if fun—but we did it together.”

Regarding the job itself, Reed will serve in an advisory role to Diaz—involved in strategic planning, quality control, operations, player evaluations and their development—as well as team building, student-athlete mentorship and recruiting, “as permissible under NCAA rules”.

It will take a few years to truly measure the effects of the Reed hire and the overall impact it has on the program, but in an era where lots of college football programs are adding a position like this—it’s hard to have anything negative to say about the return of an all-time Hurricanes great, as well as the de facto head coach of the 2001 national champs.

Wide receivers coach Taylor Stubblefield was poached by Penn State weeks back, which no one seemed to care about, as Miami’s wide receiving corps was a mixed bag in 2019 under the first-year position coach.The departure proved to be addition by subtraction for the Hurricanes when Diaz replaced him with veteran Rob Likens; last seen as Arizona State’s offensive coordinator—but with a strong resume across the board.

Likens pent seven years under Sonny Dykes; a proponent of the Air Raid offense, which fits the mold regarding the staff Diaz wanted to hire with this move to the spread.

Last, but hardly least—a National Signing Day surprise with the last-minute addition of 4-Star safety Avantae Williams to the 2020 class. Williams was a former Canes verbal commit a ways back and appeared to be a full-blown Gators lock, before a change of heart and arguably one of the biggest surprises that first Wednesday of February.

Williams was ultimately the highest-ranked player of the class; the top safety in the nation, according to some—and the move itself vaulted Miami from the 18th-ranked class, to 13th—as well as second-best in the ACC, only behind Clemson.The Canes also benefitted from a coaching change at Washington State, nabbing wide receiver Keyshawn Smith late in the process, after Mike Leach left the Cougars for Mississippi State—as well as picking up cornerback Isaiah Dunson days before NSD.

Combined with the addition of the top running backs in Dade and Broward County—Don Chaney Jr. and Jaylan Knighton, respectively—as well as Tyler Van Dyke at quarterback, Jalen Rivers on the offensive line and a defensive line trio including Chantz Williams, Quentin Williams and Elijah Roberts—it was a hell of a haul, considering 6-7 and the way Miami faded down the stretch.

Anyone who thinks Ed Reed retuned to ‘The U’ in a lackey-type role—they simply don’t know Ed Reed.

SIX WEEKS OF CHANGE; THE REMEDY?

When taking full stock in the past month and a half, it’s impossible to not praise the efforts of Diaz and the moves that have been made. Things felt beyond dismal as 2019 came to a close—to the point where most already had an understandable stick-a-fork-in-2020 approach to year two and were counting the minutes until the newbie head coach would be fired.

Instead, a handful of moves that not only can breathe life into this stagnant program—but can serve as a true jumpstart that turns things around rather quickly.

The work still has to be done—and yes, there were some off-season moves made this time last year that didn’t translate to wins in fall—but again, even on-paper, the upgrades were nowhere near as impressive as this latest haul.

Also in Diaz’s and Miami’s favor; the softest schedule the Hurricanes have seen in a good while—unlike 2021, where the Hurricanes open the season against Alabama. This coming season, the opposite as Miami starts off against Temple, Wagner and University of Alabama-Birmingham—all at home.

WEAK 2020 SCHEDULE COMES AT IDEAL TIME

The first road trip takes place late September when Miami heads to East Lansing to take on a Michigan State program that’s been in a downward spiral for years—and just experienced head coaching change, which should play to the Hurricanes’ favor.

Pittsburgh at home, at Wake Forest a few days later and then North Carolina in Miami—a much easier out than facing the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill. The Canes head to Virginia on Halloween; Charlottesville always a tough spot—but without Bryce Perkins under center, the Cavaliers are also in rebuild-mode on some level.

Florida State treks south early November, Miami heads to Virginia Tech the following week and close the regular season with a road trip to Georgia Tech, before taking on Duke in the home finale.

Hardly a Murder’s Row schedule for the Hurricanes—and one that affords some early breathing room for King, Lashlee, Justice and a revamped offensive line to get their footing—opposed to opening with a Florida (2019) or LSU (2018), getting tagged in the nose and struggling to regain composure.

September is a lifetime away and the next measuring stick for the Hurricanes will be spring football, where the goal is for Greentree to continue morphing back into that place that breeds competition and brings out the best in Miami kids.

From there, summertime—when coaches are hands-off, but players must take on a leadership role and guys need to self-motivate out of nothing more than a desire to be the best—which is what championship programs do.

FIND IDENTITY; EMULATE OTHERS WHO GET IT DONE

A prime example; Clemson players adopted an in-season, team-wide social media hiatus years back—and it remains in place as the Tigers continue chasing titles. Meanwhile, Miami has literally had to discipline players for social media conduct and has to many me-first guys posting individual moments of glory to the platforms from games the Hurricanes lost as a team.

Clemson is now 101-12 since adopting this player-driven social media policy—”We don’t have time to be on social media, to be honest—so it’s no big deal,” senior defensive end Austin Bryant shared a week prior to the 2018 season, where the Tigers went 15-0 and won the national title—so safe to say, it has merit.

Champions don’t become champions overnight, nor are high-caliber coaches all winners out the gate; Dabo Swinney having his struggles early on in Clemson, before finding his footing, creating his team’s identity and becoming the top-tier guy today.

The road to success is always paved with failures; but it’s those setback moments where growth occurs. Diaz and his Canes certainly stumbled out the gate—but many of those potholes got smoothed over this off-season, giving reason for optimism in 2020 and a logical, legitimate step forward year two for Miami’s homegrown head coach.

Chris Bello has been covering University of Miami athletics since the mid-nineties. Getting his start with CanesTime, he eventually launched allCanesBlog—which led to a featured columnist stint with BleacherReport. He’s since rolled out the unfiltered, ItsAUThing.com where he’ll use his spare time to put decades of U-related knowledge to use for those who care to read. When he’s not writing about ‘The U’, Bello earns a living helping icon Bill Murray build a lifestyle apparel brand. Hit him on Twitter for all things U-related @ItsAUThingBLOG.

MIAMI HURRICANES FALL TO VIRGINIA TECH AFTER LATE RALLY

Posted on by Chris Bello

Despite racking up it’s third loss of the season by early October, you can say this about the Miami Hurricanes under first-year head coach Manny Diaz—there are some fighters on this team and this bunch doesn’t quit. Backs-to-the-wall, these Canes go down swinging and are in it until the clock hits zero; a refreshing change after so many years of wilting in the face of adversity.

Unfortunately, that’s about the only positive to dwell on after falling behind to Virginia Tech, 28-0 early in the second quarter; the Canes tying the game late, only to watch the Hokies march down the field for a game-winning score—similar to how things played out against the Gators and Tar Heels in other soul-crushing losses.

What can’t be said about this poorly-coached bunch; that it plays smart, shows up prepared, hits the ground running or is learning to eliminate crucial-moment mistakes as the season nears the halfway point; all this setbacks the difference between sitting pretty at 5-0, or a retched 2-3 start to this new era of UM football.

Diaz and staff had another bye week to prepare and get this team focused, yet Miami suffered another painfully slow start and disastrous first quarter—much like an early September showdown in Chapel Hill; on the heels of the Canes’ first bye, where the road favorite was in a 17-3 hole in a matter of minutes, again waking up late and ultimately falling short.

For those paying attention, Miami was outscored 45-3 in the first quarter of both post-bye games thus far in 2019—yet scrapped back to take fourth quarter leads, only to see the defense fail in game-defining moments.

At North Carolina, blown coverage on 4th-and-17 led to a game winning touchdown by a freshman quarterback making his second career start. Against Virginia Tech, a back-up quarterback making his first career start, led a five-play, 63-yard touchdown drive—burning the Hurricanes’ defense on a play that worked twice before, with Miami unable to adjust and shut it down.

TURNOVERS CHANGED; ON WRONG SIDE OF MARGIN WITH FIVE GIVEAWAYS

Insult to injury again came in the form of untimely mental mistakes, boneheaded penalties or game-defining special teams gaffes—all at the least opportune times. Just like the loss at North Carolina, Miami’s showboaty bling stayed locked away in its case all evening against Virginia Tech—but unlike the Canes protecting the football in Chapel Hill, they gifted the Hokies five turnovers; four in the first quarter, alone.

Jarren Williams—praised pre-game by ESPN commentators for not turning the football over once in his first four outings—threw an interception on his first attempt from scrimmage. Then another. And another. Seven attempts on the day, three picks later and the r-freshman’s day was over by the 3:55 mark in the first quarter.

In Williams’ defense, not everything was his fault. That initial third down attempt to Mike Harley was a little behind the receiver, but a clear-cut pass interference call was flat-out ignored as the ball ricocheted into the air for Jermaine Waller to haul-in.

On the ensuing drive, Williams didn’t step into his throw and hung it up there for Dee Wiggins in the end zone; the sophomore receiver doing little to fight for the ball as the defacto defender, allowing Caleb Farley to pick off the pass with relative ease. The following possession saw Williams targeting Brian Hightower; another floater that Waller nabbed for his second takeaway on the day—Hightower somewhat lackadaisical in his pursuit of the ball, as well as any effort to chase down the defender; Waller picking up 23 yards on his return.

Williams and the receiving corps hardly deserve all the blame for the early hole, as the Hurricanes defense looked nothing like the we’ll-get-that-shit-back unit it was the past few years when the offense struggled.

The mobile and fearless Hendon Hooker—again in his first career start, replacing the statuesque Ryan Willis—led an eight-play, 48-yard scoring drive after Williams’ first cough-up.

Hooker passed once on the drive, handed off to Deshawn Clease three times and kept it as many times for himself—scampering in from 12 yards out on 3rd-and-6 for the score. Credit to head coach Justin Fuente for easing the newbie into the game; establishing a run and letting the quarterback get conformable with his feet before calling on him to get it done through the air.

The Canes defense forced a three-and-out after Williams’ end zone pick, but couldn’t hold after the errant pass to Hightower in Miami territory; starting field position—the UM 23-yard line. After a run by Keshawn King netted three yards, a brilliant call where tight end Dalton Keene lined up right, appeared to be a blocker, only to peel left as the majority of the Miami defense bit right, thinking run—leaving Keene to rumble 20 yards for the score.

Even worse, this same play would burn Miami with 1:25 remaining in a 35-35 ball game where a crucial third down stop was imperative. Instead, the Canes defense bit again and Keene caught the exact same pass, around the same exact spot—getting stopped at the three-yard line this time, before Deshawn McClease punched in what proved to be the game-winner.

In between Keene’s two pivotal moments, N’Kosi Perry did his best to rally the offense, in spite of the hole Williams put the Hurricanes in—turning in a valiant 422-yard, four-touchdown performance.

PERRY GETS HIS SHOT WHEN WILLIAMS’ CLEAN STREAK GOT DIRTY

Entering the game, Miami having already spotted Virginia Tech a cool 14 points—Perry hit Harley in space, only to see the receiver fumble; the Hokies recovering on the UM 20-yard line—Hooker again shaking-and-baking on 3rd-and-6, running for 15 yards and setting James Mitchell up to pound it in from a yard out. Down 21-0, just like that.

Three consecutive passing attempts with Perry—and zero effort to run the football—resulted in a three-and-out and another defensive letdown as the Hurricanes let the Hokies march down the field 80 yards on 12 plays.

Miami surrendered a 26-yard run to McClease on a 3rd-and-10 from the Virginia Tech 20-yard line—a gut-punch with an opportunity to stop the bleeding. Hooker picked up another third down with his legs and found Keane for a first down touchdown from the UM 17-yard line, pushing the lead to, 28-0 with 9:30 remaining in the first half.

A nine-play, 71-yard drive—highlighted by a 51-yard snag by Brevin Jordan—came up four yards shy of a score; offensive coordinator Dan Enos again abandoning the run and calling four consecutive passing plays (two to a well-covered Jordan) before Perry rolled right and stuck it in Farley’s bread basket on fourth down, unable to find an open receiver.

Miami did get their lucky bounce before halftime when a fourth down, 38-yard Hail Mary attempt fell into the hands of Mark Pope, off the Will Mallory deflection—a sign of life for the snakebitten Hurricanes, cutting the deficit to, 28-7.

The third quarter couldn’t have been scripted much better as the defense forced a three-and-out, followed by an eight-play, 88-yard drive where Perry found Jordan a 28-yard pick-up on 3rd-and-10, while working Jeff Thomas into the mix with a 18-yard connection. A rare pass interference call on the Hokies set the Canes up at the six-yard like, where Perry and Jordan hooked up again, cutting the deficit to 14.

Both offenses cooled for back-to-back possessions, before Miami’s defense flinched first. Facing a 3rd-and-2 from the VT 28-yard line, the Hurricanes thought run—safety Bubba Bolden caught in no man’s land—allowed Hooker to drop one over the shoulder of a sprinting Mitchell, who galloped 67 yards to the five-yard line before Hooker hit Keene—inexplicably open, yet again—extending the lead back to 14.

It was a kick in the teeth similar to the season opening, late fourth quarter, 65-yard pass from Feleipe Franks to receiver Josh Hammond, setting Florida up for the eventual game-winning score. Only this time there was ample time for Miami to keep chipping away—12:14, to be exact—and by the 3:16 mark, the Canes finished their own improbable 21-0 run to tie the ballgame, 35-35.

Perry kept finding Jordan and Thomas, while also working Harley, KJ Osborn and Dee Wiggins into the fold—Wiggins with a 22-yard pick-up on 3rd-and-12 and Osborn with an 11-yard grab on 4th-and-5 before capping the drive with a 13-yard strike to Thomas.

After a quick three-and-out by the defense, a 26-yard completion to Thomas got the action going, an 11-yard reception by Jordan had Perry and the Canes just outside the red zone and on 3rd-and-11, a 25-yard shot to Thomas for his second touchdown on the day. Another three-and-out and after a seven-yard run by Perry—the play of the game as Dallas broke two tackles and absolutely willed himself to pay dirt—bolting 62 yards for a touchdown, minutes after laying out and stretching for a two-point conversion after the Thomas score.

In a moment where everything was going right—true to form for the Hurricanes, something had to go wrong.

DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN; FOURTH QUARTER MISCUES DOOM THE CANES

It happened against Florida in a few big moments; Thomas muffing a punt. A first down on a fake field goal called back for offensive holding, leading to a 27-yard, game-tying whiff by the cursed Bubba Baxa. The Franks-to-Hammond game-breaker; not to mention the Hurricanes pissing away 30 yards of field possession—trailing the Gators by four—thanks to Al Blades Jr. tossing up double middle fingers, followed by an illegal block; from the UF 25-yard line and field goal range to the UM 45-yard line in one tick of the clock.

Chapel Hill, was defined by 4th-and-17—as well as special teams disasters; a missed PAT that forced a failed two-point attempt and a forced game-tying field goal from 49 yards out, instead of a tied ball game and overtime.

In the wake of Dallas’ brilliant run, another immature moment from a team that’s been penalized 50 times for 403 yards, with five games in the books—and celebration penalty that added 15 yards to the kickoff; but before that would happen, another momentum swing as Baxa’s PAT hit the goal post, Miami whiffing with a chance to take it’s first lead of the game.

Baxa’s 71-yard kickoff was touchback-bound without the penalty, but with it—Virginia Tech ran it back to their own 37-yard line, Hooker hitting Damon Hazelton for a 29-yard pick-up immediately; able to play aggressive with a tied ballgame, opposed to trailing by one, where a field goal wins it; the Hokies bleeding the clock to keep the Canes’ offense at bay. Three plays later; back to the well with Keene and the same misdirection Miami fell for earlier—McClease rolling in from three yards out with 1:30 on the clock.

Perry pushed the Canes down field with more fire than he did last fall in a similar situation against Duke; hitting Wiggins for gains of 20 and 12 yards, as well as a 16-yard connection with Osborn that got Miami to the 10-yard line with :05 left on the clock. A 1st-and-Goal attempt to Jordan went off his hands—which looked to the the ballgame, before a review gave the Hurricanes :01 and new life.

This time Perry looked down Thomas from the get-go, trying to squeeze the ball into double coverage—not putting enough on it; the pass batted down by the defender covering Dallas on a delayed release.

Had Perry not rushed the the throw—he had time in the pocket—Dallas could’ve caught the ball around the nine-yard line, with a full head of steam and one man to beat. To the left, Perry also had Osborn peeling off around the five yard line and one-on-one coverage. Thomas was literally the worst option on the play, but Perry was hellbent on forcing it to his go-to. It never got there. Ballgame.

All that’s left now is the aftermath; a third loss racked up by the first week of October, an 0-2 start in the ACC and some drama and division come Sunday in regards to a quarterback competition or controversy, depending on the vantage point.

QUARTERBACK COMPETITION OR CONTOVERSY? DEPENDS WHO YOU ASK

ESPN commentator Dusty Dvoracek took umbrage with Diaz and Enos yanking Williams late in the first quarter; a nation that if Williams was “their guy”—they needed to let the quarterback work through the adversity, giving him a chance to make a comeback.

Devil’s advocate to Dvoracek’s take; Miami’s quarterback battle in fall almost had #15  getting the nod by default. Neither Williams, Perry or Ohio State transfer Tate Martell were head and shoulders above the rest. According to Diaz, the Hurricanes felt they could win with all three guys, but Williams won out every so slightly due to, “the greatest upside due to his passing ability, his instincts and his determination”.

There was no right or wrong in regards to making the switch at the time. With a neck-and-neck quarterback battle dating back to spring—with Martell converting to receiver in fall—the Hurricanes are in a 1a and 1b situations in regards to starter. Should the Williams experiment tank, Perry is in need of some valuable minutes and this was a logical way to get him some.

It was also a situation the r-sophomore has been in before; trailing Florida State, 27-7 last October and rallying Miami to a 28-27 victory. Low-risk to ask Perry to mount a comeback against Virginia Tech—yet that’s almost exactly what he did.

There’s a deeper dive regarding this current quarterback competition—or controversy, depending the vantage point—but that’s for another time.

For now, it’s a 2-3 start to a new season—three losses in heartbreaking fashion, had Miami simply gotten out of its own way and played smarter football at the beginning, middle and end of each game. Little time to lick wounds here as Virginia treks south on Friday night for arguably the Coastal Division game-of-the-year.

Until then, back to work and hopefully learning from a slew of mistakes.

Chris Bello has been covering University of Miami athletics since the mid-nineties. Getting his start with CanesTime, he eventually launched allCanesBlog—which led to a featured columnist stint with BleacherReport. He’s since rolled out the unfiltered, ItsAUThing.com where he’ll use his spare time to put decades of U-related knowledge to use for those who care to read. When he’s not writing about ‘The U’, Bello earns a living helping icon Bill Murray build a lifestyle apparel brand. Hit him on Twitter for all things U-related @ItsAUThingBLOG.