There are two schools of thought with this recruiting class.
One group is disappointed because they know what this class could have been. These fans have lost faith in the staff’s ability to coach, so they believe we need superstar classes to compete with the big boys.
The second group is happy about the kids we actually signed and doesn’t worry about the misses. These fans have full faith in Golden and believe it’s only a matter of time before Miami is back on top.
The truth, as always, is somewhere in the middle.
It’s impossible to ignore the mistakes that kept us from capitalizing on South Florida’s bumper crop. We lost head-to-head battles for Valentine, Sony, Cook, Dixon and Rudolph. Everybody has heard the money rumors, and there may be some truth there. But more often than not, these rumors come from highly competitive coaches who can’t admit defeat. We got beat on these guys.
We’re still stubborn on size. I thought we were done with this crap when Golden came in and offered Dallas Crawford. But this year, we turned down Juwon Dowels and Isaiah McKenzie simply because they were too small. That’s disappointing.
Brandon Powell’s defection was a total ***** up. No other way to put it.
We were clumsy in our QB recruiting after Kaaya. Before the season, I advocated offering Kaaya, Treon Harris and Winky Flowers. We ended up doing exactly that, except we waited too long to offer Treon and offered a similar out-of-state player (Rosier) instead of Winky. If we followed the right blueprint, we could’ve signed two of the best athletes in Miami.
We offered Ryan Mayes instead of taking a similar player (Quincy Wilson) with Canes blood and extensive connections to the local football community. Wilson is by no means a perfect prospect, but this move revealed two flaws in our approach: an inability to think big-picture and an overemphasis on the Golden Camp. We make too many decisions based on workouts in shirts and shorts.
Finally, the defensive scheme is the new “cloud.” High school coaches are talking about it and college coaches are using it against us. If the results don’t change, this will do even more damage than the NCAA ever could.
But even with all of these issues, I feel the same way that Coach Golden felt in his NSD press conference: confident and comfortable.
The word to describe this class is “healthy.” There is balance across the board. The two most important positions in football—quarterback and defensive line—are the strongest positions in the class. Kaaya is our biggest coup in years. We’ve accumulated a stable of talented and hungry pass-rushers. The offensive line is in terrific shape. Kiy Hester will provide safety depth right away, and Berrios will emerge as a Shockey-type fan favorite.
If Golden is the man for the job, he has enough to win with. If he’s not, the next guy will have a balanced roster without the gaping holes that Coker and Shannon left behind.
More than anything, I just love seeing kids like Demetrius Jackson and Trayon Gray shed tears for the colors. I don’t care if it’s corny. Last year was the roughest NSD in ages, but we will always remember Stacy Coley putting on the Swag hat. These guys will represent the Canes for the next few years and maybe the next decade in the pros. Forget about the coaches. That’s what this day is about.
Welcome to Miami, fellas. Let’s go get number six.
