Consigliere
All-American
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- Feb 2, 2012
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To put it lightly, the game hurt. The game really hurt. It put a lot of things in perspective and quickly altered my beliefs in the state of the program and our leader. Before you read my diatribe, I am no football scientist. I am a fan who questions what they see. I was known as an Al Golden “Homer” by some, but things change.
[Please Note this is a long post and I am sure you are sick of reading them]
Part I: Actual On Field Improvement
Entering the season, I wanted to see mostly improvement and more wins. Before the season, I believed we were a 9 win team that would struggle but show improvement over last year. Even though we may hit 9 wins, I am questioning the overall improvement.
November 1st, we’re 7-0 (3-0). We beat UF, that was big. I don’t care that they appear to be inferior now, the team we played on September 7th at home was not the team that appears today (i.e. injuries). We played physical football PERIOD. We played how I expected and wanted. That was a big win. We beat GT, UNC and WF to start 3-0 in the ACC. We beat those teams by not giving up, in years past we gave up and they we would lose (see UVA or UNC from last year) but we held our own and played strong till the end.
All indications at this point were that the team was improving. Sure the victories over GT, UNC and WF were incredibly close but we pulled out with 3 Ws. The games were not ****, the 10 turnovers sucked but we won. At this point in time we hammered off 9 straight wins (going back to last year). I didn't mind winning like we did because I expected us to win the games we lost in the past. At this point in time things looked great and everyone was pretty happy. My expectations changed from a 9 win team to winning the ACC Coastal and 10 wins.
On November 2nd, we lost to FSU. I am not condoning a lost to FSU but we Lost. They were better than us and it showed. With everything still on the table, all I wanted was a rematch with FSU. Even though Duke Johnson, the leader on offense and our best playmaker went down, I believed the rematch was still possible.
On November 9th, at home against VT we lost and we lost bad. Everyone lost that game, especially the defense. The coaching was poor, the energy was poor and the turnovers sealed the deal early. There is no need to go into detail over the game specifically as we all saw it with our own eyes.
This game had tremendous implications and was quite possibly the biggest game in Al’s tenure but we lost.
Today, we’re 7-2 (3-2) and a rematch against FSU is unlikely. Even though I think VT will still lose a game, I don’t think we can run 3 straight. I think we will be in a dog fight every game, I expect this team to have a bunch of issues over the next 3 games.
Year 1: 6-6 (3-5) (Bowl Ban)
Year 2: 7-5 (5-3) (Bowl Ban)
Year 3: 7-2 (3-2) (Bowl Game Unknown)
Total: 20-13 (11-10)
Since every year we play different teams OOC, let’s discuss strictly our performance in the ACC (since those schedules are similar). It appears that we still could have some improvement (not enough) in terms of a record stand point in the ACC. But even at 6-2 it would not be satisfying given what we could have achieved this season.
I know some people are going to say injuries and talent are at least partially to blame for where we are today. While I agree in part, I believed we still should have beaten VT. I believed we were good enough to not turn the ball over (including the bad snap) 3 times and win the game ugly (4th quarter). Injuries are part of football though, teams get injured (look at UF) and things change. One must rise above it, even without our players (Johnson, Dorsett and Scott) we still must win games. Even with Bush having a hernia surgery, we still need to put out something good at Safety as Highsmith is unacceptable.
Overall 10 wins would be a minor consolation prize but I rather be in the ACCCG, I wanted a rematch. I would have rather beat VT and Duke, lose nail bitters to Pitt and UVA and get to the game at 9-3. I just wanted that rematch. I wanted to really win the coastal this season. 10 wins is more than 9 wins but 10 wins on its own doesn’t mean much. While I acknowledge that it is one more than I predicted before the season, my expectations changed over time. While I also acknowledge we haven’t won 10 games since 2003, it is only a mitigation of damages without winning the ACC Coastal.
Over the last 33 games, we have seen the following:
Improvement:
- Physical Training (Players are bigger and stronger)
- Winning games in the 4th quarter
Little to No Improvement:
- Defense (Scoring + Pressure)
- Turnovers (Offense)
- Lack of Complete Games
Even though this team suffers clear talent issues (Insert Player X couldn’t start at School Y), I believed we were good enough to beat VT and perform better overall this season. We fail to play complete games even when we win. I liked that prior to FSU, we fought to the end but things are different now and one game (VT) can kill all that improvement/success. One game can destroy what we did achieved this season.
Part II: Inheritance, Intangibles, the NCAA and Recruiting
Inheritance: Al inherited a Shelby Cobra but it was missing all the parts. We were just a name. This program was in bad shape for awhile. The talent was lacking, the culture was shot and the last 4 years (under Shannon) were a waste of time. I have always said a team will continue to rebuild until it is done right. The 4 years prior to Al were a waste, it didn’t matter that we grew more irrelevant and the fans were more impatient. The program was just a name when he inherited it. It needed to be built from the ground up.
Intangibles: I think Al is doing a great job as the figurehead of the program. The camps, the social media and the little things are all excellent and great to spread our brand. I think he is a great figurehead but being the HC is more than just being a great figurehead.
Recruiting: I am not going to short change Al here. He did great. He did great and had the NCAA on his back the WHOLE TIME. Since December 2010 to October 2013 (even though the sanctions will continue through 2016) he always had to recruit with the NCAA Cloud. He always had to overcome the negative recruiting and bring in kids. In addition to this hurdle, Miami hasn’t had much success since 2003. It is not always easy to sell a program that is down.
It doesn’t matter whether Al knew prior to taking the job about the potential sanctions that were coming, he handled everything first class. The guy and his staff are tireless recruiters, they never stopped and were able to bring in a boat load of talent.
Here is the future:
QB: R. Williams, Olsen, Kaaya and Rosier
RB: D. Johnson, Edwards, Yearby and Powell
WR: Dorsett, Scott, Coley, Griffin, Langham and Berrios
OL: Flowers, Gadbois, Isadora, Gall, Knighton, Darling, McDermott and Gibbons
TE: Sandland ________ (Left to be desired)
DT: Stuckey, Valentine and Jenkins (Left to be desired)
DE: AQM, McCord, Thomas, Harris and Jackson
LB: Kirby, J. Figs, Grace, M. Smith, Young, Owens and McCray
CB: Howard, Gunter, Crawford and Burns
S: Bush, Jenkins and Carter
ATH: Mayes and Gray
Al and Co have done a great job recruiting even without the NCAA. While there is room for improvement, specifically another RB, DT and S, overall it is tough to complain given the hurdles we faced. Sure another RB, DT and S would be what this team needs right now but this is what he choose to do prior to this season. It would have also been easier to have some more players if we weren’t anticipating sanctions (i.e. playing last year at 79 and this year at 75) but this is the roster Al decided to begin with this season.
I have no doubt in my mind that recruiting will always be great with Al and only improve now with the NCAA behind us. The problem is recruiting is only half the battle, coaching them up (before and during the season) is the other half.
Part III: The Issues and the Future
Before the season I was skeptical with our DC and maybe the DL Coach. While I think we do have talent issues, I believe neither are maximizing their performance with the talent. I am not here to debate the talent, I am realistic but under these realistic expectations I believe we are not performing as good as we can on D.
If Al wants to ride and die with these guys, I believe then Al will fail here and eventually be gone.
It is hard to fire your best friend who you have been working with since 71 BC but if you want to be a professional and you want to win then you have to make difficult decisions. It is Al’s choice and while I do believe Al knows 100000 times more than me about football, it seems there are major issues on the defensive side of the ball (please note I have issues with the offense as well). I can deal with the yards, I can’t deal with the points. I can’t deal with letting up 40+ to VT. I can’t deal with the lack of pressure on opposing QBs.
If Al is going to keep the DC, I am just hoping for the best because I don’t believe (even if talent improves) that things will change much based on the last 33 games. Al as CEO is responsible for the defense (either because he hired the DC or he is actually coaching the defense) and this can’t continue if we are to have success and become a much better program.
I believe that our fan base is free to make any opinions about our program and the HC. I believe that whether you like it or not, barring a complete let down, Al will be given the chance at 2014 and 2015 to get us back to where we should be headed. You can complain every day about any issue but it is a waste of time IMO because of the above.
As for the rest of 2013, we have 3 games left and a bowl game. Even if the best case scenario happens and we go 6-2 in the ACC and win the Toilet Bowl, it will be a letdown IMO. That does not mean I want to lose but I just think it would be a letdown in terms of how my expectations changed at 3-0. Even without Duke Johnson, I think we can beat Duke, Pitt and UVA. That doesn’t mean we will beat them but we could beat them. My hope is that Al can get these kids back and win our next 3. It would be beneficial but not a success to improve from 5-3 in the ACC last year.
In December of 2010, when Al was hired I never thought he was going to instantly change the program and win right of the back. I think he inherited utter dog crud and it would take awhile for culture change and improvement (I still believe he inherited crap). I thought it was going to be a process and there would be slow improvement. While I think there were some hurdles along the way to slow things down and some improvement was actually shown it was not at the pace I wanted or believed.
I thought when Al had the majority of upperclassman as his kids we would truly show what he can do. It is approaching that time, this is year three and his underclassman are becoming the elders. I believe 2014 is the make or break year for Al (in terms of whether he can actually get us there). I believe that is when he will have his first real class (2012 class) entering their junior season.
Before VT, I was confident about Al and him having success at Miami. Now I am hoping that Al can have success at Miami. I am hoping that he will make the necessary changes and these issues will be corrected. I would regain some confidence if he made personnel changes and brought in a much better DC and DL Coach (if necessary) and let them run the show on Defense but if he sticks with Coach D, I can only hope for success because I am not confident we achieve that success.
While the season is not lost, I feel it was a letdown given how things were going.
Please Beat Puke!
[Please Note this is a long post and I am sure you are sick of reading them]
Part I: Actual On Field Improvement
Entering the season, I wanted to see mostly improvement and more wins. Before the season, I believed we were a 9 win team that would struggle but show improvement over last year. Even though we may hit 9 wins, I am questioning the overall improvement.
November 1st, we’re 7-0 (3-0). We beat UF, that was big. I don’t care that they appear to be inferior now, the team we played on September 7th at home was not the team that appears today (i.e. injuries). We played physical football PERIOD. We played how I expected and wanted. That was a big win. We beat GT, UNC and WF to start 3-0 in the ACC. We beat those teams by not giving up, in years past we gave up and they we would lose (see UVA or UNC from last year) but we held our own and played strong till the end.
All indications at this point were that the team was improving. Sure the victories over GT, UNC and WF were incredibly close but we pulled out with 3 Ws. The games were not ****, the 10 turnovers sucked but we won. At this point in time we hammered off 9 straight wins (going back to last year). I didn't mind winning like we did because I expected us to win the games we lost in the past. At this point in time things looked great and everyone was pretty happy. My expectations changed from a 9 win team to winning the ACC Coastal and 10 wins.
On November 2nd, we lost to FSU. I am not condoning a lost to FSU but we Lost. They were better than us and it showed. With everything still on the table, all I wanted was a rematch with FSU. Even though Duke Johnson, the leader on offense and our best playmaker went down, I believed the rematch was still possible.
On November 9th, at home against VT we lost and we lost bad. Everyone lost that game, especially the defense. The coaching was poor, the energy was poor and the turnovers sealed the deal early. There is no need to go into detail over the game specifically as we all saw it with our own eyes.
This game had tremendous implications and was quite possibly the biggest game in Al’s tenure but we lost.
Today, we’re 7-2 (3-2) and a rematch against FSU is unlikely. Even though I think VT will still lose a game, I don’t think we can run 3 straight. I think we will be in a dog fight every game, I expect this team to have a bunch of issues over the next 3 games.
Year 1: 6-6 (3-5) (Bowl Ban)
Year 2: 7-5 (5-3) (Bowl Ban)
Year 3: 7-2 (3-2) (Bowl Game Unknown)
Total: 20-13 (11-10)
Since every year we play different teams OOC, let’s discuss strictly our performance in the ACC (since those schedules are similar). It appears that we still could have some improvement (not enough) in terms of a record stand point in the ACC. But even at 6-2 it would not be satisfying given what we could have achieved this season.
I know some people are going to say injuries and talent are at least partially to blame for where we are today. While I agree in part, I believed we still should have beaten VT. I believed we were good enough to not turn the ball over (including the bad snap) 3 times and win the game ugly (4th quarter). Injuries are part of football though, teams get injured (look at UF) and things change. One must rise above it, even without our players (Johnson, Dorsett and Scott) we still must win games. Even with Bush having a hernia surgery, we still need to put out something good at Safety as Highsmith is unacceptable.
Overall 10 wins would be a minor consolation prize but I rather be in the ACCCG, I wanted a rematch. I would have rather beat VT and Duke, lose nail bitters to Pitt and UVA and get to the game at 9-3. I just wanted that rematch. I wanted to really win the coastal this season. 10 wins is more than 9 wins but 10 wins on its own doesn’t mean much. While I acknowledge that it is one more than I predicted before the season, my expectations changed over time. While I also acknowledge we haven’t won 10 games since 2003, it is only a mitigation of damages without winning the ACC Coastal.
Over the last 33 games, we have seen the following:
Improvement:
- Physical Training (Players are bigger and stronger)
- Winning games in the 4th quarter
Little to No Improvement:
- Defense (Scoring + Pressure)
- Turnovers (Offense)
- Lack of Complete Games
Even though this team suffers clear talent issues (Insert Player X couldn’t start at School Y), I believed we were good enough to beat VT and perform better overall this season. We fail to play complete games even when we win. I liked that prior to FSU, we fought to the end but things are different now and one game (VT) can kill all that improvement/success. One game can destroy what we did achieved this season.
Part II: Inheritance, Intangibles, the NCAA and Recruiting
Inheritance: Al inherited a Shelby Cobra but it was missing all the parts. We were just a name. This program was in bad shape for awhile. The talent was lacking, the culture was shot and the last 4 years (under Shannon) were a waste of time. I have always said a team will continue to rebuild until it is done right. The 4 years prior to Al were a waste, it didn’t matter that we grew more irrelevant and the fans were more impatient. The program was just a name when he inherited it. It needed to be built from the ground up.
Intangibles: I think Al is doing a great job as the figurehead of the program. The camps, the social media and the little things are all excellent and great to spread our brand. I think he is a great figurehead but being the HC is more than just being a great figurehead.
Recruiting: I am not going to short change Al here. He did great. He did great and had the NCAA on his back the WHOLE TIME. Since December 2010 to October 2013 (even though the sanctions will continue through 2016) he always had to recruit with the NCAA Cloud. He always had to overcome the negative recruiting and bring in kids. In addition to this hurdle, Miami hasn’t had much success since 2003. It is not always easy to sell a program that is down.
It doesn’t matter whether Al knew prior to taking the job about the potential sanctions that were coming, he handled everything first class. The guy and his staff are tireless recruiters, they never stopped and were able to bring in a boat load of talent.
Here is the future:
QB: R. Williams, Olsen, Kaaya and Rosier
RB: D. Johnson, Edwards, Yearby and Powell
WR: Dorsett, Scott, Coley, Griffin, Langham and Berrios
OL: Flowers, Gadbois, Isadora, Gall, Knighton, Darling, McDermott and Gibbons
TE: Sandland ________ (Left to be desired)
DT: Stuckey, Valentine and Jenkins (Left to be desired)
DE: AQM, McCord, Thomas, Harris and Jackson
LB: Kirby, J. Figs, Grace, M. Smith, Young, Owens and McCray
CB: Howard, Gunter, Crawford and Burns
S: Bush, Jenkins and Carter
ATH: Mayes and Gray
Al and Co have done a great job recruiting even without the NCAA. While there is room for improvement, specifically another RB, DT and S, overall it is tough to complain given the hurdles we faced. Sure another RB, DT and S would be what this team needs right now but this is what he choose to do prior to this season. It would have also been easier to have some more players if we weren’t anticipating sanctions (i.e. playing last year at 79 and this year at 75) but this is the roster Al decided to begin with this season.
I have no doubt in my mind that recruiting will always be great with Al and only improve now with the NCAA behind us. The problem is recruiting is only half the battle, coaching them up (before and during the season) is the other half.
Part III: The Issues and the Future
Before the season I was skeptical with our DC and maybe the DL Coach. While I think we do have talent issues, I believe neither are maximizing their performance with the talent. I am not here to debate the talent, I am realistic but under these realistic expectations I believe we are not performing as good as we can on D.
If Al wants to ride and die with these guys, I believe then Al will fail here and eventually be gone.
It is hard to fire your best friend who you have been working with since 71 BC but if you want to be a professional and you want to win then you have to make difficult decisions. It is Al’s choice and while I do believe Al knows 100000 times more than me about football, it seems there are major issues on the defensive side of the ball (please note I have issues with the offense as well). I can deal with the yards, I can’t deal with the points. I can’t deal with letting up 40+ to VT. I can’t deal with the lack of pressure on opposing QBs.
If Al is going to keep the DC, I am just hoping for the best because I don’t believe (even if talent improves) that things will change much based on the last 33 games. Al as CEO is responsible for the defense (either because he hired the DC or he is actually coaching the defense) and this can’t continue if we are to have success and become a much better program.
I believe that our fan base is free to make any opinions about our program and the HC. I believe that whether you like it or not, barring a complete let down, Al will be given the chance at 2014 and 2015 to get us back to where we should be headed. You can complain every day about any issue but it is a waste of time IMO because of the above.
As for the rest of 2013, we have 3 games left and a bowl game. Even if the best case scenario happens and we go 6-2 in the ACC and win the Toilet Bowl, it will be a letdown IMO. That does not mean I want to lose but I just think it would be a letdown in terms of how my expectations changed at 3-0. Even without Duke Johnson, I think we can beat Duke, Pitt and UVA. That doesn’t mean we will beat them but we could beat them. My hope is that Al can get these kids back and win our next 3. It would be beneficial but not a success to improve from 5-3 in the ACC last year.
In December of 2010, when Al was hired I never thought he was going to instantly change the program and win right of the back. I think he inherited utter dog crud and it would take awhile for culture change and improvement (I still believe he inherited crap). I thought it was going to be a process and there would be slow improvement. While I think there were some hurdles along the way to slow things down and some improvement was actually shown it was not at the pace I wanted or believed.
I thought when Al had the majority of upperclassman as his kids we would truly show what he can do. It is approaching that time, this is year three and his underclassman are becoming the elders. I believe 2014 is the make or break year for Al (in terms of whether he can actually get us there). I believe that is when he will have his first real class (2012 class) entering their junior season.
Before VT, I was confident about Al and him having success at Miami. Now I am hoping that Al can have success at Miami. I am hoping that he will make the necessary changes and these issues will be corrected. I would regain some confidence if he made personnel changes and brought in a much better DC and DL Coach (if necessary) and let them run the show on Defense but if he sticks with Coach D, I can only hope for success because I am not confident we achieve that success.
While the season is not lost, I feel it was a letdown given how things were going.
Please Beat Puke!
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