The Patrick Nix Era comes to a close…

Whether he was ‘let go’, fired or his contract simply wasn’t renewed, the Patrick Nix era is officially over in Miami. The Hurricanes finished 89th in total offense and are 12-13 since Nix took over calling offensive plays.

Of course this is only half the battle. Ridding the program of Nix is huge, but even bigger is his eventual replacement. Randy Shannon settled on Nix last time around – after Kevin Sumlin (Oklahoma), John McNulty (Rutgers), John Bond (Northern Illinois) and first choice Dirk Koetter turned the gig down.

According to the Miami Herald, Nix stated that he wanted to run a more wide-open offense than he was allowed to.

”There were obvious philosophical differences between coach Shannon and I in offense. I wanted to be a little bit more wide open — no-huddle, spread out, go for it. And he wanted to be more two-back, conservative,” said Nix. “It was a fine line in trying to balance the two and not that one is better than the other. It’s just a different philosophy. Both ways can win, just different philosophies.” 

Doesn’t sound to me like ‘different philosophies’ was the difference as much as the fact Nix couldn’t run a two-back offense. It also sounds like a one-sided parting shot by a now ‘former’ coach with one foot out the door. Saying he wanted to open it up more is oh so easy to do after the fact. Sounds to me like a man trying to save some face and making himself sound hireable regarding his next opportunity. (“Hey, it was me. It was the head coach. I really wanted to open things up. I didn’t deserve to get fired.”)

No huddle and a ‘spread it out’ offense definitely has a place in modern day college football, but at Miami everything goes through your running game. Always has, always will. 

At no point the past two years was Nix ever able to establish the run. Part of that can be blamed on poor offensive line play and banged up running backs. Still, Miami’s ground game remained non-existent.

A lack of balance always plagued Nix, as did his predictability. Pounding it up the gut was the extent of his creativity, proving that running the ball didn’t come naturally to Nix. The concept was foreign to him.

Nix’s highlight games at UM were two solid offensive showings against Texas A&M, as well as a gadget play-filled second half against Florida State this past October. Down 24-3 at the half, Nix went to his grab bag of gimmicky plays and found some reverses and a halfback pass that resulted in a score. 

When it came to consistency and methodically moving the ball, Nix failed. Miami averaged 326 yards per game this season. Only thirty other Football Bowl Subdivision schools did worse. Regarding the 27 points per game average, Nix’s Canes were 52nd of 119 schools.

Nix may say he wanted to run a more ‘wide open’ offense, but that doesn’t mean he knew how to pull off the feat. I ‘want’ to be a rock star. I ‘want’ to see the Canes in the thick of things every year. Wanting and doing are two different things. 

Before folks get get caught up in Nix’s coachspeak, remember the product you saw on the field the past few years. A complete lack of identity. Trying to run the ball one week. Direct snaps to the running back the next. A second half full of trick plays after a first half where nothing worked.

Nix and Shannon may have had different philosophies, but in the end the only thing proven – Nix couldn’t make either philosophy work in over two years. That signals time for chance.

Next up, the hire of a new offensive coordinator. Curious to see how Randy plays this. Makes you wonder if someone is in mind. Whatever the case, there is no margin for error with this next hire. Nix was the Canes’ fourth offensive coordinator hired in a four year span. Fifth, if you could co-coordinator Todd Berry, who was on board during the Rich Olson era… which was after the Dan Werner era… which took place after the Rob Chudzinski era.

Does Koetter get the heave-ho in Jacksonville and trek south, to the job he almost took two years ago this week? What about former Cane and the recently released Chudzinski? No longer at Cleveland, does Shannon put in the call to the man who was offensive coordinator when he was running the defense? Or is there an unknown Shannon has in mind?

Koetter still seems a viable option if things go south in Jax. A deal was in place two years ago but the Jags offer was one he couldn’t refuse. Chud? Doubtful. Doesn’t make sense for him to backslide and return to a place where he had some past glory. That’s a career no-no.

Whatever the case, there’s reason to take a deep breath tonight and appreciate what just took place. Two years on the job and Shannon has now canned a defensive coordinator and an offensive coordinator. Guys weren’t getting it done and were quickly removed from the equation. Lesser head coaches would’ve stood by their men and simply hoped they’d come around. Randy knew better. Big move on his part and rumor has it a few more firings are coming. Stay tuned.

One parting thought… As frustrating as this rebuilding process can be at times, I truly wish no ill will on any of these coaches or players. Regarding Nix, he worked his ass off the past two years – as all coaches do. I realize that and for that, I thank him. That said, he didn’t get the job done and when you fail at your day-to-day, you’re let go. It’s the nature of the game.

I truly wish he and his family the best and pray Team Nix lands on their feet.

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