The Bank (4/27)

DMoney

Apr 27, 2023 2 min read

- Miami is emphasizing character in the Portal. They want talent, but they want talent without headaches- Akheem Mesidor, Francisco Mauigoia, Matt Lee and Javion Cohen are examples of what they are looking for. Josh Farmer of FSU was a kid they liked, but they did not want to play negotiation games. Farmer ended up squeezing FSU for $440,000.

- One DT in the mix is Keivie Rose, who made First Team All-CUSA last year. Dennis Smith (Miami's recruiting coordinator) was instrumental in bringing Rose to Louisiana Tech. There is strong mutual interest. Miami continues to communicate with Tywone Malone (Ole Miss) and Miami would be happy to land one or both.

- Miami is in strong position for CB Jaden Davis (Oklahoma). They value his IQ, experience, energy and footwork. Miami would still like another corner. Jadais Richard (Vanderbilt) is a name that intrigues the Canes.

- Running back remains a position to watch. Miami is quietly in contact with multiple RBs in the Portal.

- They remain in good shape with WR Xzavier Henderson (UF) and believe there is more to his game than what he showed in Gainesville. He is a long-striding, field stretcher, but was often used on short passes and screens by Napeir due to their lack of shifty WRs. Miami is still in contact with JaQuae Jackson (D2 AA) and would take him.

- It looks like Miami or USC for Trequon Fegans. Miami wants him either as a big nickel or a safety. They are not as high on Demetrious Hill of FIU.

- Things continue to move along on the high school front. As Steve Wiltfong noted, Miami is in good position with elite DT Justin Scott of Chicago. There will be a major recruiting event in the weeks to come, with multiple elite targets set to attend. More information will be coming soon there. We have not heard much about Jerrae Hawkins of IMG and the Canes, but I understand there is significant mutual interest and communication. He has been compared internally to Jaylen Waddle.

- There is a lot of faith in Jacurri Brown at the Hecht, but they would love to add a backup QB and continue to search. Brown would love to redshirt if possible.

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rsa coral gables

Apr 28, 2023

Angry Ibis said:
Steelers haven’t won the Super Bowl in 15 years…

they would have won one or more except for the the pesky patriots.

if miami could achieve the relevance the steelers have had in the last 15 years (except last 2-3 years), all of us would take that

N
nickster

Apr 28, 2023

Gables Cane is right on and you slurpers need to focus on facts and not hype!

Dhatguy

Apr 28, 2023

Please get Hawkins in this class

supacane

Apr 28, 2023

DMoney said:
Miami is spending money. Just a month ago, Nick Saban was complaining publicly about the NIL money we threw at Cohen.

And we aren’t above the renegotiation game. We just won that battle against Bama for TVD.

It’s about picking the right battles and spending the money wisely. Let’s see how it works out.

You're wasting finger strength typing. These man just careen from one issue to the next to quarrel about. I do not think we can fix Miami through the portal. We need to bring in pieces from it, and have and will.

But when we start having James Williams, LT, Nyjelik Kelly and other exceptional talent we recruited out high school, start to step up and play like differences makers every week because of the coaching and development here, thats what will fix our issues. Thats what im waiting for. When the elite talent start performing like Kam, who can play like a man possessed against a elite program like Clemson.

A
AtlAtty

Apr 28, 2023

GojiraCane said:
I think we have to look at this not only in who we did not get, but who we did not lose. Let’s presume things stay as is with our current roster. We’re in the Wild West, no contracts. There is nothing - nothing - to stop USC from offering large amounts of money to Leonard Taylor, James Williams, Samson, or Francis Maiogoa to leave. The NIL money may also be used to keep the current team intact. Presently it’s a team that now has a 59% blue chip ratio, and there are people on our team that others would love to raid us for. We may be spending a lot behind the scenes to keep our most needed players here.

A second thing to consider is follow-on spending. Let’s say you offer a wide receiver $1.5M to jump. He agrees. But now Washington, Horton, Jacolby, and Colby theoretically want an increase too. So you have to be willing to spend on the existing players at the position you bring a prominent transfer in.

I think Zo and Mario are taking a more conservative, Pittsburg Steelers type approach to roster building in this era. The Steelers built through the draft and did not rely on free agency heavily.

You are now doing something dangerous; trying to make fanatics understand business principles. Everything impacts everything else. Every time I give a raise to one employee every other employee starts asking for a raise. And anyone who has run their own business, which college football is, knows and agrees with your points. Everyone who is just a fanatic likes to sit in a corner and scream like a child when their favorite team does not do exactly what the child thinks it should do, regardless of the reasoning.

FYI, I have been a Steelers fan since 1977. I believe they are the model organization in pro football.

Brains

Apr 28, 2023

calinative umstudent said:
I wonder if Zo is having a bigger effect in this aspect given he has so much experience working in the NFL with a salary cap. Think a lot of coaches are just in the mindset of give me all the money and all the best players you can buy... without zero regard for actual team building and talent evaluation/fit and how that spending could have negative effects in the future.
We need the money to be there but we gotta be responsibly using it. Spending out of control isn't how you win.

Lol, tell that to Manchester City, Chelsea, UGA, and Alabama.

G
gacaneaddict

Apr 28, 2023

Allabouttheu95 said:
Mario’s 1st year portal evals were borderline abysmal. We need the staff to do better in year 2 portal wise. I like the pieces we got in 1st wave but more is needed in 2nd wave… and obviously need more hits and less misses to make this team competitive enough to sell improvement for recruiting.

Parrish-3rd team ALL-ACC leading rusher on the team
Ahkeem Mesidor-ALL ACC honorable mention, led team in sacks
Darrell Jackson-Immediate starter played well first half of season
Mitchell Agude-39 tackles/7 TFL/4 sacks-career high
Jake Litchenstein-got hurt took RS
Antonio Moultrie-Rotational DT
Daryl Porter Jr.-limited PT
Jon Denis-Got some PT as backup Center
Logan S.-Played limited snaps

I think borderline abysmal is off base. Several starters and good players, and remember he just got to Miami trying to put together a team and sign a class, and hire coaches.

N
NorthEastCane

Apr 28, 2023

Angry Ibis said:
They were 4-8 in 2021, now they’re capping off the pieces for a playoff team. We were 7-5 in 2021 and are hoping to piece together 7 wins this year…

So, what's your point? Have you done a Memmon like analysis of USC's roster? Maybe they had they had talent that was too young that needed another year. Maybe that combined with a new staff increased their rate of development.

We know about our roster. 7-5 was done with smoke and mirrors and could easily been 5-7 or worse. We were poised for a tumble, that's why we all wanted Manny gone, remember.

JHallCanes

Apr 28, 2023

[]_[]nique said:
Because we don’t have the same caliber coaches to do what USC did last year at the same starting position as us. They went forward and should’ve been in the playoff last year. We went backward.

If we had hired Riley and USC had hired Mario yes this would be a different conversation

If people are honestly bringing up USC it’s only because they enjoy complaining about this fantasy that they think Miami should be

TheOriginalCane

Apr 28, 2023

Peruche said:
"Josh Farmer of FSU was a kid they liked, but they did not want to play negotiation games. Farmer ended up squeezing FSU for $440,000."

@DMoney Is that per year or the total amount he could earn through out his time at FSU.

Signed,

Peruche

Why is this always the ridiculous question that gets asked EVERY ******* TIME?

Farmer has already been at F$U for 3 years. How many more years do you think he can stretch out the extra $440K that F$U just agreed to?

Farmer will be gone in a year. So divide $440,000 by 1.

Hegemon

Apr 28, 2023

Angry Ibis said:
“Character”…getting bent over by your starting QB because your QB room sucks….

USC building a playoff team. Miami building a startup…

Riley stays getting butt****ed by physical teams though

TheOriginalCane

Apr 28, 2023

Canes2082 said:
Yeah but the PAC 12 sucks that’s why Mario won it so easy… or at least that’s why everyone says

So maybe that's why Lincoln was able to win last year. That and the fact that Mario moved from the west coast to the east coast.

WeBallinBoyz

Apr 28, 2023

NorthEastCane said:
How did you get reluctance to spend money out of the above. Not overpaying on "depth pieces" is not a reluctance to spend money. People talk as if we are one or two elite players from being a playoff team. They cite USC doing just that as an example of what we should be doing. Reality check, we are not in the same position as USC.

Last year, at the start of the season, the narrative was we have a serviceable OL but no depth, we were in trouble if we had to rely on backups. This year we have a better front line but still no depth (or at least depth we are comfortable with). You can't get all the bodies needed if you overpay for depth pieces. And they will be needed maybe not to the extent of last year, but nagging injuries of various degree always happen particularly in the trenches.

The staff needs to show results this season. If anything, the thinking seems to be to raise the floor on next season rather than raise the ceiling. We can't afford an implosion like last year, if we have to get down to the second level.

It seems like the focus is split and everything is being done close to the vest. Everyone's anxious because they see the few elite guys being signed elsewhere (where preexisting terms have already been worked out), while we're bringing in depth. Has any noticed that whenever word gets out about someone we think is more than just depth, a bag school suddenly becomes involved.

We just need to get the ones we targeted to commit, as well as the freshman coming in the summer and those that sat out the spring injured. The increased depth would be a sizable improvement. The types that people want aren't likely to commit until they see it on the field. We've waited 20 years; we can wait one more. Rome wasn't built in one day.

It’s no secret we’re reluctant to spend with the big boys. Now there’s a reason for that - if we spent on 2-3 guys, it’s not enough to overcome an entire roster full of deficiencies and lacking depth. It’s ok to admit we’re not spending like the big dogs right now, at least not consistently.

At some point though, we will have to.

OriginalCanesCanesCanes

Apr 28, 2023

gacaneaddict said:
Parrish-3rd team ALL-ACC leading rusher on the team
Ahkeem Mesidor-ALL ACC honorable mention, led team in sacks
Darrell Jackson-Immediate starter played well first half of season
Mitchell Agude-39 tackles/7 TFL/4 sacks-career high
Jake Litchenstein-got hurt took RS
Antonio Moultrie-Rotational DT
Daryl Porter Jr.-limited PT
Jon Denis-Got some PT as backup Center
Logan S.-Played limited snaps

I think borderline abysmal is off base. Several starters and good players, and remember he just got to Miami trying to put together a team and sign a class, and hire coaches.

Facts are irrelevant when you have an agenda.

Allabouttheu95

Apr 28, 2023

gacaneaddict said:
Parrish-3rd team ALL-ACC leading rusher on the team
Ahkeem Mesidor-ALL ACC honorable mention, led team in sacks
Darrell Jackson-Immediate starter played well first half of season
Mitchell Agude-39 tackles/7 TFL/4 sacks-career high
Jake Litchenstein-got hurt took RS
Antonio Moultrie-Rotational DT
Daryl Porter Jr.-limited PT
Jon Denis-Got some PT as backup Center
Logan S.-Played limited snaps

I think borderline abysmal is off base. Several starters and good players, and remember he just got to Miami trying to put together a team and sign a class, and hire coaches.

You forgot Ladson and Caleb Johnson. Both misses.

2022 season
Ladson- Miss
Johnson- Miss
Lichtenstein- Miss due to injury that should turn into hit this year
Moultrie- Miss
Denis- Miss
Sagapolu- Miss

I think 2023 will be better but not good sign on early reports of gore, roberts, and Dean

N
NorthEastCane

Apr 28, 2023

WeBallinBoyz said:
It’s no secret we’re reluctant to spend with the big boys. Now there’s a reason for that - if we spent on 2-3 guys, it’s not enough to overcome an entire roster full of deficiencies and lacking depth. It’s ok to admit we’re not spending like the big dogs right now, at least not consistently.

At some point though, we will have to.

We 're spending it on high school recruits, we did last year and attempted to do it for Noland. If it were at the right position, we'd do it in the portal. Did anyone really believe we had a realistic chance at any of the top spring portal entries? They all seem to have been back channelled.

Hurracanes

Apr 28, 2023

WeBallinBoyz said:
It’s no secret we’re reluctant to spend with the big boys. Now there’s a reason for that - if we spent on 2-3 guys, it’s not enough to overcome an entire roster full of deficiencies and lacking depth. It’s ok to admit we’re not spending like the big dogs right now, at least not consistently.

At some point though, we will have to.

We just outbid Bama for TVD and Cohen.

TheOriginalCane

Apr 28, 2023

wspcane said:
I don't think most people are forgetting that we got those guys. I think there are still that many glaring weaknesses and holes on the roster, and as of April 28, we seem to not be casting a wide net and/or locking guys up. Now, the former may be strategic in not being public with our interest, and the latter a matter of a contract requiring the agreement of both parties, but it is disingenuous to say that previously plugged holes diminish concerns about holes that still exist. Especially with positions like WR.

Everything you say is true.

But the earlier Portal successes are relevant to point out that Mario has done well in the Portal. He may not be "Top 5" in the Portal over the last 2 years, but he also didn't suddenly forget what he's doing these past few weeks.

Some people (not you) are using an overly small data pool (13 days of post-spring Portal period 2023) and coming up with sweeping generalizations and hot-takes about how bad Mario is at this "Portal Kombat" (hopefully people realize my usage of that term is a specific mocking of Gaytor fans).

I think a lot of people will be pleasantly surprised soon. They may not admit it, and they may not change their narratives, but still...

AtrainCane

Apr 28, 2023

Gi0logy said:
USC had a horrible roster. Lincoln just didn’t **** around with high school recruiting and invested in the portal. Now he’s about to strike gold again in the portal and potentially be in the playoffs in year 2.

Meanwhile, we’re emphasizing character so we can hopefully eek out 6 wins.

To be fair to Mario, he’s not an OC. He’s not a DC. So he can’t instantly impact one side of the ball. It’s always going to have to be a “process” because of that. Stack talent, develop talent. Just painful to witness.

You’re right he did flip the roster but again he brought the most important piece. He’s been grooming that kid for years to run his system. That’s the real reason they can make a run this year.

even with all the players they brought in would they be a playoff contender without C Williams ?