Golden looked agitated and defensive yesterday on ESPNU. His shoulders were shaking a little bit and his eyes narrow. This was late morning, after the first wave of signings went against us but before Coley.
Such a contrast from a year ago, when I met him at the signing day party and he could not have been more relaxed, and obviously satisfied with the class.
IMO, Golden simply made poor assumptions. It comes down to math, as a poster accurately detailed in another thread, regarding our defensive tackle predicament. I admittedly don't follow recruiting. But I can evaluate the broad scope. A couple of weeks ago I noticed the expected percentages here, of landing this recruit and that recruit. They looked great but when I inspected further, our competition included FSU all over the place. FSU doesn't strike out. They close fiercely every year. Defensively they were #1 in the country last season, allowing 3.85 yards per play. We were above 6. I didn't see how it equated to sweeping FSU for player after player, particularly when they were defensive guys, for the most part, like Thomas and Bryant.
In an article late yesterday, Golden expressed frustration that the NCAA news of two weeks ago worked against Miami, because it brought the topic up again, and working parents don't have time to fully inspect the details. That's a crock, IMO. One paragraph earlier he said these recruits have been exposed for two years, unlike a year earlier with the 2012 class. When you've been blanketed with the news for two years you don't overreact in the late going.
I think Golden simply doesn't grasp the math and level of competition. The percentage of premier kids he pulled this year will be the norm, even when sanctions are done. We have certain disadvantages, like a bland corporate stadium 25 miles removed. As always, I don't like the happy 40% adjustments. Everyone wants to overreact, like when we signed James Coley suddenly we were going to get everybody. Golden fancies himself as a supreme recruiter and can't rationalize kids turning him down, especially after they send positive vibes along the way. But it will continue to happen, long after the NCAA mess is settled. If every big time program is taking a run at kids, we're not overwhelming odds-on (less than even money) favorites, even if he's in our own backyard. I suspect Golden will become accustomed to the realities a few years from now and realize he goofed when he assigned so much weight to the NCAA variables.
