A few weeks ago, a handful of South Florida journalists were granted interviews with Al Golden. I hadn’t realized Coach was available for one on one’s during recruiting, so I immediately put in a request for some face time and was told I’d be granted one the next time Al was available.
That day was Wednesday and four of us got one on ones: Matt Shodell from CaneSport, Chris Stock from InsideTheU, Brandon Odoi from CaneInsider, and me.
When I found out that I scored a slot, I let my boss at CBS Sports know and to my surprise, he let me know that CBS would run my Q & A at some point, advising that I gear it to as national an audience as I could. I had a feeling that Matt, Chris and Brandon would ask the roster-oriented questions; depth charts, spring ball and whatnot, so I took a different path.
I wanted to get into the second-year head coach’s mind a bit. I wanted to better understand how he attacked recruiting. Golden has been labeled a closer and I wanted to know what made his tactics on the recruiting trail different from everybody else’s.
I asked about the importance of having multiple quarterbacks on campus as well as replacing all of the leadership lost to the NFL draft.
As soon as we wrapped, I sat down with my notes and transcribed the interview, which came in at just under 2,500 words. At some point the text will hit CBSSports.com but until then, you can hear the interview, unedited, in its entirety on Thursday night’s edition of allCanes Radio.
Due to the 9pm ET of the men’s basketball game against Virginia Tech, our show will hit the Internet at 6pm on Thursday might. I don’t want to spoil it for you, but I think Coach’s thoughts and words on Joe Paterno and his mentor’s passing will move you.
It’s one thing to read his answers, but it’s a completely different experience to hear the emotion in those words when spoken. allCanes Radio is the only outlet that has unfiltered audio of Coach Golden and this certainly is one show you won’t want to miss. Trust me.
Also joining us on the show tomorrow night will be @ProCanes and defensive back DeMarcus VanDyke.
DVD, the current Oakland Raider, will join Platon from ProCanes.com and I at allCanes to talk about his first year in the NFL. Come by the store and get DVD’s autograph and / or take a pic. He’s an unbelievable kid and I can’t wait to spend time with him.
IN OTHER NEWS : Aside from my time in Golden’s office on Wednesday, I also sat in on the Jim Larranaga press conference as his team preps for Virginia Tech. What will it take to beat the Hokies and how do the Canes avoid a letdown after the tremendous upset at Duke. Find out as we roll that audio.
I also sat court side as the women’s basketball team trounced 17th-ranked North Carolina. It was Miami’s thirty-eighth straight home win. We have the sound from coach Katie Meier and the Shenise Johnson post-game presser.
Lastly, the baseball team has their pre-season banquet on Friday. The season is days away and head coach Jim Morris believes this squad has a great chance at reaching Omaha. Listen in and find out why on this week’s show.
Can you tell it will be a completely jam-packed two hours?
Don’t miss it, but in case you do, you can listen to every show we’ve done on our archive page. We’ve got so much to get to and so little time. Thursday night. 6pm ET. allCanes.com. Be there.