How does one even try to bring perspective to this whole thing. I keep looking for ways to make all of us feel like this isn’t bad. I’ve failed.
Someone please write the date down; August 16th, 2011. I have a feeling ten years from now we’ll still be talking about today like it was yesterday. Same way I remember running down the block during a break in a summer sports journalism class to get a copy of the SI calling for Miami to drop football. At the time I never thought there could be anything worse than that story. Today I realize I was wrong.
I’ve covered this program for close to twenty years. The SI story. The deaths of Marlin Barnes, Chris Campbell and Bryan Pata. I was there for the brawl and for the firings of several coaches. Nothing compares to this.
Before you start to tell me these are just allegations, stop. There’s too much here and even if the NCAA can only prove 10% of what’s in that story, we’re looking at another major setback. Earlier today I thought, “it might be bad, but at least we won’t have that whole lack-of-institutional-control thing”. I was wrong. This is very, very, very bad and no matter how many times you try to tell yourself that this is coming from a desperate convicted felon and that it was more than four years ago, it’s not going to erase the fact that this is going to effect UM for a long time to come.
Yes, I believe Nevin Shapiro is an absolute tool. I’m sure I met him at some point, but my assessment is based on reading the Yahoo! report today. Still, my anger is directed at all the people who had a hand in this thing and aren’t here anymore. Kirby Hocutt bolted. Frank Haith bolted. Aubrey Hill bolted. Clint Hurtt was told to find a new place to get on probation. Jeff Stoutland? Gone. Equipment guys? Gone.
Meanwhile, Al Golden, Jim Larranaga, Shawn Eichorst and their staffs are all left to deal with the fallout and a mess they had nothing to do with. Donna Shalala is still here too, but at the age of seventy it wouldn’t surprise me if she decided to retire. I’m glad she got the academic rankings as high as she did because it might be a while before that success is matched on the field.
Today we learned that all those days spent yucking it up at the likes of Ohio State, North Carolina, Southern Cal, etc. was bad karma. This stuff goes on everywhere. Just so happens our kids live in the country’s playground. If Miami were Lubbock, it’d be a bit more difficult to rent floors of hotels for prostitute parties without the entire town being in the know.
Back to UM at 6am tomorrow, where I half expect Coach Golden to be dressed as a clown and fired out of a cannon onto the practice field. It will be an absolute circus and it’s completely deserved. This is arguably the biggest scandal in college sports since SMU and that’s not just my take – that’s the stance of every national writer I’ve read this evening.
One thing’s for sure – I care a lot less about Jacory Harris versus Stephen Morris as this point. Honestly, Jacory had over ninety calls / texts to or from Shapiro. This quarterback competition may soon become a one-man race.
Lastly, we’re still doing allCanes Radio this Thursday night from the Titanic from 7pm to 9pm ET. Tune in via allCanes.com or stop on buy as I could use some drinking buddies.
the u might get the death penalty or very near. this guy shapiro has nothing to lose and he is snitching b/c he felt slighted once he got caught on the ponzi scheme. the only way to put a stop to this is thru a shiv otherwise this buy is going to snitch until he dies. nothing to lose at this point and a guy that has evidence.
good luck with this.
Some of these guys should probably delete their Twitter accounts.
Damn shame. I can’t believe the turn of events. Everyone who has a picture with this tool is responsible. Shame on the powers, staff, administration, everyone. The problem is we are in limbo until a ruling comes and then we will be left behind during the punishment years. Even without the death penalty this kills the program if not permanently then for a long long time. I expect golden and staff to bolt at the first opportunity and somehow I have a feeling it will be Penn state next year. This was supposed to be the beginning of something special and now it’s all gone due to greed and poor judgement by all involved. All coaches found guilty should be fired from their schools and banned for life. All players should be suspended and banned for life. The worst part is the team was losing and was living it up as though they were NCs. What can you do other than to shake your head in shame. It’s bad enough the players from the Coker era were doing it. But the 2008 class? To have this go in within the last 4 years is where the problem lay because it mskes it continuous. The class that has under achieved accomplished nothing other than mediocrity. Jacory, forston and the rest have been one of the biggest disasters in um history. And where was all the discipline that Shannon was praised for. HIS OWN COACHES WERE GOING BEHIND HIS BACK. there was no institutional control. I’m so disappointed at the whole thing. Good luck to all the current coaches and innocent players that had nothing to do with this. Hopefully their future wil be brighter than this for them. I wouldn’t blame a single commit for de-committing.
At first this seemed like a minor story, but it certainly doesn’t look good now. It’s really a shame to start off the Golden era with this BS… Another huge setback for this program.
Oh Football God’s, please please please make it stop !!!
Step one for Miami is that every player who took anything from this p.o.s. should be permanently blacklisted from all things related to The U. Any team records they hold should be wiped out for the next guy on the list that did it the right way. Their names should be removed from team rosters. They should be permanently banned from ever stepping foot on Greentree, or a sideline again. Want to come down for off season training…nope sorry, move on down the road. These morons made selfish decisions that they knew damn well could end up hurting the program and their “family” and now it’s time for the family to disown them. You talked about karma in your article. I hope it catches up will every one of these selfish players who put a little fun over the University and team they claim to love so much.
You are dead on. SMU will pale by comparison to this. Unquestionably the most embarrassing day in the history of UM. Where were Larry “Elmer Fudd” Coker, Randy Shannon, Paul Dee et. al. while all this was transpiring? Butch Davis? Maybe what happened in Chapel Hill was indicative of something much more insidious than we ever knew about “Butchie Boy”.
The sad fact is that the overwhelming majority of participants go free while the innocent are left to suffer the consequences.
“Tis a sad, sad day indeed.
The Canes program is blowing up like the Hindenburg. Shapiro doesn’t know how to spend his money, all that cash and no talent. While Shannon was asleep at the wheel his boys were getting busy with chicken heads. The program is in shambles and its going down a wormhole to total disaster. Burn baby burn
way to have a life and comment on a hurricane blog about the gators why dont you go suck tim tebows dick and leave this blog?
go harp you little fiddle elsewhere. This is a time and place for ‘Canes family only. Its ok to smack talk rivals about the game, but to wish for the destruction of a program is weak man..especially when your program is less than squeaky clean.
I hope to God not all of this is true, but regardless the bad press and giant cloud over us is going to hurt team chemistry, future recruiting, and the marketing of our program for a decade. I just can’t believe this. I’m sad , I’m disappointed that my hope in watching a new Golden era just got destroyed, and I’m mad as hell as a bunch of self important players and admin were acting like this and didn’t even have the talent or balls to make us better than a mediocre team while they decided to live like kings. Ridiculous. Those players should be personally financially responsible (or at least the coaches) for the aftermath, whatever it is. This has the potential to basically ruin U football and the U brand for a long time if even a small bit of it is true.
We’re f**cked. This guy was rubbing elbows with the administration and I think the players took their cues from them. This will get ugly. I have no idea where this could end but it won’t be good. I agree with Colin Cowherd that it’s very ironic that the only conference in major college football right now that is somehow not being investigated is the SEC. But that doesn’t take away from where Miami is right now. This situation is bad and will be made worse with it being Miami. This could put us back ten years.
Um, Auburn? Just because it’s not making headlines doesn’t mean it’s not happening. We were investigated for months before this blew up. I think GTech was investigated for like a year. The SEC is being investigated, and if they aren’t it’s because they make the most $ and have the NCAA by the balls.
Wrong, Auburn , Tennessee,Ufelons and lsu.
This is definately a kick in the stones! Make no bones about it, however I believe that with the recent track record of the NCAA and all the wishy washy punishment, probations, loss of scholarships, etc. The NCAA will probably use Miami as an example, or we will “get off light” But either way, us as fans, broadcasters and journalists, have to stand fast in the face of opposition. Golden, Eichorst, and Larranaga are all professionals, and will do WHATEVER is needed to correct theses problems and hopefully will use this whole debacle as a training tool for our future student athletes.
I just hope this all ends quiclky!
Go CANES!
One can always hope that things are not as bad as it seems, and certainly a convicted felon is not exactly the most reputable of sources. But allCanes is right – if even 10% of this is true, then all of the years it took to make Miami a reputable program again are wasted. Despite the recent years of poor play on the field, Miami had cultivated a reputation as a relatively clean school compared to other major institutions.
No more.
This is a body blow that I am skeptical the UM program can recover from. If you read between the lines from the Miami Herald’s interview with Coach Golden, it appears as though the administration was “less than forthcoming” in the situation. If indeed that is the case, then I would not be surprised to see Coach Golden resign, even in the middle of the season. Why should he owe anything to the University if they were not honest and up front?
This will not end quickly. The typical time table for NCAA investigations of this scope will be long months if not years. We may not get a final ruling with penalties until next year. UM may want to consider self-imposing penalties now – including scholarships and post-season play – in an attempt to mitigate further rulings.
Sadly, from a long-term perspective, I believe Miami is “done”. Whatever hope they had of returning to the top echelon of college football is gone for at least a generation. It is truly sad, and I sincerely hope I’m wrong. While I don’t see the NCAA ever imposing the “death penalty” again, they will come very, very close in this case. Miami will be a hollow shell of its former self before this is over.
What’s worse is that I believe in many ways UM DESERVES to be punished – SEVERLY. I cannot in good conscious feel otherwise, no matter how painful the consequences. If the allegations are true, then the program – administration, coaches AND current/former players brought them on themselves.
What a sad, sad day. I was starting to believe some of the hype around Coach Golden and the program turning around. It appears that turn around will be cut short before it even starts.
I have read that the NCAA can only go back 4 years! So 60 of the 72 players who are named are past the 4 year time frame! However, most of the 12 players will not play this year! Al Golden and staff should not be punished!
True … EXCEPT in cases where the institution knew about the events and did not report them. That is why this is so bad. IF it is proven that UM staff KNEW this was going on since 2002 (or later), and they did not report it, then I believe the statute of limitations is lifted. I’m not a lawyer, but that is what I gathered from reading the Yahoo and Herald articles.
This is absurd, the canes are going to be punished for individuals actions that occur because the former coaches allowed and welcomed this crap. This should be looked at as the major players are already gone, and golden isn’t playing the same game, neither are his coaches. UM gets hurt because of this while UF players are arrested multiple times for smoking pot and driving drunk and they are allowed back on the field to play. Its BS.
Mike, you obviously are looking at this SEVERE matter with Orange-n-Green cheap sun glasses.
Because, two former Miami players have already gone on record and said beacoup cash was being tossed around by the diminutive Shapiro. $ 30,000 and $ 40,000 dollars anyone.
Also, the Hurricane mens basketball program had it’s hands in the Nevin piggy bank.
No sir Mike, the Hurricane program will receive some degree of punishment. And that you can take to the bank.
First. Mr. Dan LeBetard is the VOICE OF REASON among a developing Hurricane approaching the SoFla vicinity.
Second. Now, do U’all Hurricane fans UNDERSTAND why Miami’s former A.D., Hocutt, bolted away from the Coral Gables campus. Yes, he was privy to what was taking place at the U-niversity. CONNECT THE DOTS Hurricane fan.
Third. Cowherd and a host of FOXSPORT A.M. sports radio pundits are calling for Miami to be handed the DEATH PENALITY. Go bloody figure.
Fourth. Yesterday, I stated the allegations against Miami were very, very SERIOUS. Yet, the administrator of this here Cane college sports forum deleted my post. Again, go figure.
Fifth. I’m going on record and touting that current Miami head coach Al Golden will depart the Cane football program for his alma mater. Of course, the speculation is predicated on the extent of the penalites the N.C.A.A. hands down on the university football program.
Sixth. And believe or not U’all loyal Hurricane fans, their will be serious sanctions handed out.
Seventh. I truely will sorry for Al Golden, because he happened to take the wrong coaching position, at the wrong time. That’s all.
Ugh, where to even begin? I agree with most that this is going to get VERY nasty. Granted what the players at Miami did is NO different than what happened at OSU or USC, the fact that it happened to “The U” is going to make hell rain down a lot harder than those other institutions. Im almost to the point where i think the NCAA just needs to say eff it, this is going on EVERYWHERE and just let everyone do what the hell they want, but at the same time that would destroy the game.
I do believe those people blaming the kids need to stop. This isnt on them, its on the assholes like Shapiro who prey on these young, poor, poorly educated athletes. I mean lets call a spade a spade. Most of these kids are coming from inner city areas where the number one thing one can aspire to is being overly wealthy and having a lot of women. These young kids(yes most of them are african american) are trying to live up to a falsified social stereotype that is found in all rap videos. They believe they are nothing unless they have a lot of money and a lot of power. They are under the impression that an intellectual black man is not a real “black man”. Thus a good education is irrelevant. This is a thought that is rampant throughout that culture and it will NEVER change. Due to the fact that you cant change the culture, the kid shouldnt be punished. The scum like Shaprio should be punished. I think ANYONE caught trying to solicit gifts to a student athlete should have to serve mandatory jail time. These wolves are preying on the fragile minds of these young players that believe if they dont live like the characters in a Jay Z video then they aren’t men. That needs to stop. Make the punishment so harsh, that no one would want to attempt to solicit anything to a young student athlete.
As was posted on this blog. Remember the date. The U is going away, for a long, long time.
I am so angry and so sad. Having put 20+ years into supporting this program through the ups and downs, this hurts more than anything. The Sports Illustrated article did not make me feel the way I do today. How on earth everybody let this go on and did nothing about is what I find so frustrating. This arrogant, egotistical, sociopath POS had no business hanging around the players. Where was compliance? What did Kirby Hocutt know before he bailed? How can people who are supposedly highly educated (Shalala, Dee, etc) be so blinded by money? And the coaches – if anything is proven against any coaches, they should be banned for life by the NCAA. I can’t even express myself right now. I was so looking forward to this season. Everything seemed to be clicking in the right direction. And now……?? Who knows. Coach Golden, I will support you and your team this year, but my heart is so heavy right now.
I believe I read somewhere they can go past the 4 years if there is evidence of a “lack of institutional control”….if thats the case….were done. If, by the grace of God….they only look within the past 4 years then…perhaps….the punishment is not so severe. Losing 12 players this year looks alot better then the “DP” word being thrown around.
I heard that too and this fits the requirements. Also they can give the death penalty because of the baseball major infraction back a couple of years.
Let me start off by saying that I am lifelong Nole. This hurts me to see. I love college football and firmly believe that the best football is played in this state. I was so excited that Golden was hired as the new coach. I had hope that this step would bring us back to those days when Florida was the center of the college football universe. Those fall days during the 90’s were great to be apart of. All three schools were taking their turns being on top. It looked like it was headed that way again. I will always be a nole but I feel for all of you and hope you guys can rebound quickly. It is no fun without the U.
I’m hurt to see all this happened.Knowing that the canes will just be a legend a myth of time where things could have been should’ve been but never were.Could have been the best college football university on the planet, but you can never have something go right and have nothing go wrong.It’s life, now that all of this is about to happen after this season i have no interest at all in college football so as the canes are finished so am I. College football is boring without the canes.So Farewell “The U” Farewell “Swag” Farewell “Schnelly” Farewell “Orange Bowl” Farewell”Canes Faithful” I was always a loyal fan no matter how hard the times got. C-A-N-E-S Farewell CANES.
I keep pinching myself wishing this whole mess was just some kind of horrific nightmare I can wake up from. Alas, it’s been to no avail. This is a sad reality we’re gonna have to deal with for the foreseeable future. I really hope Nevin Shapiro enjoys getting passed around in prison cause he deserves it for being such a cancer to UM athletics. The players deserve much of the blame, too. I know most of them came from poverty and were easy targets for a sleazeball like Shapiro waiving $100 bills and high-priced hookers in their faces, but they should have known the difference between right and wrong.
As for the infamous Miami Northwestern Class of 2008, shame on you guys! All that hype and all those promises they made about bringing the University of Miami back to the top of collee football sure seem like a distant memory now. Even Sean Spence, one of the few Bulls who actually lived up to the hype on the playing field is caught up in this mess as one of the names being tossed around who received improper gifts from that rat.
As a lifelong Canes fan, this has to be one of the worst, if not the worst, weeks of my life. Just two weeks before the season starts, instead of worrying about how were gonna match up with Maryland, we’re stuck worrying about the fate of the entire football program.
Where was the institutional control?! How did a rat like Shapiro get so much unsupervised access to the players?! Where was Paul Dee?! Where was Larry Coker?! Where was Randy Shannon?! Where was Donna Shalala?! Damn it man, I want answers!
Didn’t the article reveal several recruits that never went to Miami or transferred or decided to go elsewhere? I think it mentioned Bryce Brown, among others that did NOT attend Miami? Will these players and teams be under investigation? I believe a lot of this might come from the “Hip-Hop” culture. Money,strip clubs,women, jewelry,fame, moving on to multi-million dollar contract in the NFL. I am not trying to sound racist, but is this a factor? Poor kids without a dime, being handed things for performing on the field? I am not sure how I feel.It could be a bad influence from this dirt bag. I hope this doesn’t play out too awful, or I will have a lot of Miami gear to get rid of……
Word today seems like this is a Miami witch-hunt, as several players who took things from Shapiro but either went to another school or transferred at some point are being cleared. So I guess in the future if you know that the NCAA is coming to investigate your school….. transfer.
we have one thing going for us, our AD during all of this is the current president of the ncaa. The worse institutional control that is judged by the infractions committee the worse Dee looks since he used to also be the head of the infractions committee. The point? Dee will probably try to clear his name and look to blame individual players versus the institution. It may end some players careers but not the U
Paul Dee isn’t the president of the NCAA and he’s already recused himself from this investigation. Do you HONESTLY think they’d let HIM hang around during an investigation in a school that he was the AD at?
Lol @ you.
I’m not a UM fan, but I certainly understand what it feels like when the media is out for blood. I’m so sorry for what you fans have to go through. Stay strong! And love your team.
Chill everyone. The first word in response to Shalala’s letter today from NCAA Prex E. were; If these assertions are true…
He’s had the investigation for five months. I have a hard time the local coaches and others like Luke wouldn’t have heard something.
YOU will also note that the sh*t Shapiro named 12 of the current squad, 8 starters. I think the NCAA will have a tough time proving these players took $$$ and gifts.
Prove it I say, PROVE it.
Let’s wait for the letter of allegations.
If there is a U fan in that prison he needs to take one for the team. Off this clown and there goes the case.
Get real. Murder to cover up wrong doing? Is that what they teach at UM? No wonder the program is tanked.
Our only shot is if the NCAA Splits the infractions between pre 2008 and after 2008. If they only look at the last four years we may be ok. If they look at all of it we are screwed. I see this playing out in one of two ways.
1. The NCAA rules in the next couple of months and drops the hammer on us due to this story being so new and raw. They would be forced to get as close to the DP as possible.
2. They wait potentially a year maybe longer to come out with a ruling on the level of USC or slightly harsher. The reason they wait I don’t believe they want to hand a severe penalty like the DP. Waiting for a year when the story isn’t so sensational gives them breathing space to be more lenient than ruling now.
Another thing to consider is that Paul dee was on their committee during USC probe. Imagine they accuse Miami of lack of institutional control during dees time as AD. How many questions and headaches does that raise for them. Fact is the NCAA wants this story to go away like all other scandals. The DP or anything close will make this linger for a long time. I also don’t believe they want to fall into a ponzi scheming turds hand by giving him what he wants which is to kill the u program.
I believe we will vacate all victories since 2002 get 3 years probation and reduced schollies. Does that suck yeah but it’s better than the alternativ
I hate to say it, but the way they are talking on ESPN, if Golden doesn’t sit everyone named, like Tressel should have done, the NCAA is going to lower the boom. I mean look USC and Ohio St are premier schools with huge and powerful alums and got off light so far, Miami has been seen as the bad boys and this only reinforces that feeling. Ten years 72 players, seven coaches? Miami is just the program the NCAA wants to use as an example to everyone else by dismantling the football program. They need to sit everyone named and beg that the NCAA has mercy, otherwise the U football will be a distant memory.
What a change a week can make. Golden coming in, the reports on practice promising and now a blackhole threatening to suck up everything and not leave a trace.
I’ll say this if these guys did it and they claim to love the U and everything and how they are canes at heart need to man up and admit the wrong that they did..Shows a lack of respect for everything U their teammates and that the guys before them put into the mystique of the playing and reppin the U..I’m still going to fly my flag and rep my team through thick and thin.. And for the ones that are already gone if its true then they need to have their U cards pulled for being selfish to the point of sticking a knife in the heart of all the fans that supported them regardless of statue or fame..Plus i’m impress with Al and the way he’s handling this situation that he had no part of..I know its got to be tough to be the face of an entire school let alone Cane nation and be able to handle it like a true professional..Whether or not he leaves he’s far more then earned my respect not only as a man but as a head coach..The one shining light in this storm…
Sadly, some of what has been alleged is going to be true. The willful violation possibility would eliminate any statute of limitations concern for the ncaa. Truthfully, at this point the biggest mitigating factor in regards to a penalty is outside of Donna, (who honestly should not be expected to know this was happening with a long time AD dee and then kirby in place and a stickler like Shannon at the helm.) all the staff and administration culprits are gone. There really is no one left to punish at the U. That does not preclude serious punishment, but it should mitigate it some.
The ncaa of late has started to hammer coaches even if they are at other schools. These named coaches, if culpable, will face suspensions even at their new schools. Some may be banned. And this goes to athletic directors as well, kirby should be very concerned.
Ultimately, i could be wrong, but i think there is strong argument for a somewhat reduced penalty based on the fact that the culprits are gone, at least if there is interest in really punishing the individuals responsible.
Golden has to sit everyone implicated in this debacle. Yes, innocent until proven guilty. Unfortunately, there is also…perception is reality, and that’s the way it’s going to look to the public. In order to eliminate any taint to the on field endeavors moving forward, i don’t see where Coach Golden has much choice.
If this was happening to any of our hated opponents we would be calling for suspensions. Can’t have it both ways.
This sucks!!!
Why the snitching now? Shapiro says that he was forced to disclose all of his expenditures during the Ponzi era. Perhaps that’s true. But, he also voluntarily disclosed all of that information to sports writers and private investigators. Turns out, he is looking to write a book. His attorney states that proceeds from the book “will be used to make the victim’s whole.” However, this statement is misleading. What he is really attempting to do is to return some of the money that he stole to the victims to OBTAIN A REDUCED PENAL SENTENCE. He is a low-life and will do anything to try and save his ass.