It finally happened, and it had been a long time coming.
For a topic that holds entirely too close of a connection, I thought I would feel like this topic would be off-limits. After seeing the Miami Hurricanes get the hell beat out of them on Saturday however, writing this was not only necessary, but a requirement.
Facing Clemson in what was supposed to be an ACC battle, UM came out flat and got run over by a Clemson team that has proved itself to be a National title contender. The fact they got beat isn’t the problem. It’s the fact they lost 58-0 that infuriates fans, boosters, alumni and former players to such a degree that Al Golden was fired immediately.
Ultimately, you can’t blame the University of Miami for making the choice. Golden was hovering around .500 during his tenure and although he was supplied with Top 20 recruiting classes in every year of his reign as Head Coach, could never translate that talent into something worthwhile. While Golden embraced the role he would have as coach and curator of the University of Miami Football Program, he never quite fit. Mostly because he was too nice of a guy for a program that for a long time has been nestled between “controversial” and “criminal”. To say otherwise would be telling a lie.
The reality of the situation is that “boosters” have always controlled the University of Miami and have made “The U” what it’s always been. Good Miami-area products would go to the University for free cars, free housing, jobs for their parents, money or the promise of professionalism. Where it went wrong was when people like Nevin Shapiro took it too far, and not only pushed the limits of what would fly under the radar, but did it ostentatiously and with braggadocio. Because what’s being a booster at the University of Miami without the swagger, right?
Nevin Shapiro and his “transgressions” set back the program for at least 10 years, with all the sanctions and lost scholarships that the program has had to endure for “paying” its players. It takes time to rebuild, but the “boosters” down in Coral Gables don’t want to wait for the program to rebuild. They expect to be good immediately. They expect the swagger and the reputation and all the dated rhetoric to still mean something. Sadly, as someone who went to school down in Miami during the last true UM-era? All that crap has faded.
Al Golden was indeed in over his head. I can’t argue that. He went 0-5 against FSU, and had an inability to lock down top-flight Miami-Dade county talent like Amari Cooper, Dalvin Cook, Calvin Ridley and Sony Michel to name a few.
Thing is, it’s not his fault that he was overmatched with this job. UM couldn’t pay for an elite coach because nobody wanted the job due to the Shapiro story and the mess that was revealed when it came to light that there was long-time evidence players were getting paid to sign and perform for the football program. A legacy of NCAA violations was left in the wake of Nevin Shapiro’s transgressions. As such, they had to shop at the dollar store of college football coaches. That can’t be held against Golden.
Miami won at one point by going against the established status-quo of College Football. Staying all four years, and the idea of hard-nosed smash-mouthed football where nobody had style or flash was a “thing” once upon a time. Programs used to run the ball 40 times a game a la Penn State or Notre Dame. They also didn’t show any ounce of personality. UM changed that by throwing the ball, signing kids who weren’t afraid to be brash and different and embracing the idea of being a factory that produced ready-made NFL superstars. UM fully embraced being the “Bad Boys” of College Football and they were the antithesis of everything the game had been before them. Once the rest of College Football caught up and started doing the same thing – with better facilities, more money, better student experiences, and better coaching staffs, Miami couldn’t compete. Not even that infamous “swagger” could help them. Newsflash? Every player in the country has “swagger”… until they’re losing by 21 points. It’s not a trait exclusive to the University of Miami. Not anymore at least.
That said, the culture at University of Miami enabled what happened Saturday and what has been happening for the past few years, to finally take place. They enabled a culture of lawlessness to perpetuate for years, were forced to deal with the consequences of their actions, and weren’t happy when they a) weren’t as good as they would have liked and b) had to sit through a rebuild because they job wasn’t as attractive as it used to be because they had to endure sanctions, and the rest of the college football world had gotten demonstrably better.
Can it be rectified? Sure. Ohio State rebuilt in two years after the whole Terrell Pryor incident. Also, the talent pool in Miami-Dade county makes the job attractive still, to a point. But they probably won’t get a top-level head coach going forward. It’s still too much of a mess.
No, folks, the next coach is going to end up being a re-tread, someone looking for a second chance at a football life, someone who is going to believe in the same tired ideals and the, dare I say, bullshit propaganda that UM continues to sell when it talks about its program.
There will come a time sometime in the new few weeks when Blake James is going to stand in front of a packed ballroom and introduce a new figurehead for the program who is going to extol the virtues of swagger, and playing with an “attitude”, all while talking big about Jimmy Johnson and Butch Davis and all the legendary head coaches.
The new figurehead will say all the right things, make the boosters happy and every alumni and current student will hit messageboards and forums in a heap of excitement…
Then three years later, we’ll be back to the same ol’ song and dance, because nothing will have changed, and because the institution as its currently constructed has a flawed and delusional mindset. It’s a mindset where they still think that even though they are now a second-tier team, they can still walk around with the Ohio States/ Alabama/Oregons/Florida States of the world.
The “U” won’t change it’s culture and it’ll continue to allow the boosters to dictate how things get decided. They’ll continue to operate business as usual, blaming everything that’s happened on a “coaching” decision rather than an institutional mindset, which is so deluded it’s not even funny. They’ll keep promising poor kids from Overtown a bunch of free perks so they can wear green and orange in Saturday. It’s how UM does business.
That said, I can say, only half-joking, that I’m really looking forward to the Lane Kiffin-era at the University of Miami.
I wish I wasn’t half-certain that was the next move.
Damnit.
