My thoughts on the class (long)

[fastcane]

Wow, that was great! We got some Canes over here!

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.

 

[drifters1234]

1) If you think Berrios and McKenzie are the same size then you obviously havent seen either. Berrios is a thicker build. (More Smoss like) and Mckenzie is more Roscoe Parrish. Golden is like Butch. He doesnt like frail looking athletes. Shrugs. We will see if he was dumb or not very soon for not offering. We know how Roscoe turned out.

yeah, I don't know why when people discuss McKenzie's size they don't address the real issue. It's not height, it's that he can still make weight for a optimist game. No denying kid was arguable the best player on the field for AH for a majority of the games the last two seasons, but let's not ignore the elephant in the room. Kid was laying on the field stankin more than once. With the big deal made about head injuries now a days a kid that's had multiple run ins with getting his bell rung can be a cause for concern especially after the Witt ordeal.

Also as someone mentioned Mayes was one of Luke's kids. Luke was a guy Miami coaches appeared to have been trying to mend fences with. Last spring if Ice was 1a of guys who the "politicians" felt needed ball stoking, then Luke was 1b. Chad was no where in the conversation, so it silly to do revisionist history now bec Chad and Quincy turned out to be major mitches.

I just don't get using weight as a discriminator for playmakers. there is a laundry list of lightweight studs: travis benjamin, roscoe, TY Hilton. McKenzie is that type of kid, and we will regret not going after him.

 

[De Pinga]

D$, I disagree with you. That doesn't mean I don't like you. I'm arguing with you because I disagree with you, and I don't think you've dismantled anything, but if it makes you feel better to pump out your chest, so be it. Logic doesn't support some of your arguments, but they do support mine. I've pointed out those cases and asked questions, which you haven't answered. My position is that McKenzie and Dowels are excellent football players, but so are the ones we signed. We can't take them all, and it's up to the coaches to make those decisions. Time will tell if those decisions were mistakes or not, and their jobs depend on the outcomes. Agree to disagree.

Mayes offer sheet..... I WANT ANSWERS NOW

FAU, FIU, Cuse, BC, and Miami according to 247. Mayes projects as a safety, correct? Safety is a bigger position of need than CB, correct? Mayes is a local kid from a feeder school, correct? Now we don't want the staff to offer and sign local kids?

#salutethehoot

 

[sebastian91]

Mayes was offered at Al Goldens camp as a cornerback. Fact

Who was disputing that?

Sebastin

Um, no, I didn't.

 

[sebastian91]

Mayes was offered at Al Goldens camp as a cornerback. Fact

Has Pete not said that he projects as a safety here? Did AG not say that he could play safety in his presser yesterday?

He was offered at corner. You just said isn't safety a position a need? Well, we offered at CORNER. And he will start his career at corner.

Answer my questions. I haven't disputed anything you just said.

 

[skyman]

I think Mayes is a corner, doesnt really have the mentality of a safety at all. Only reason I dont knock the Mayes commit much is because he brings something to table that is kinda hard to find (size) and we have some good talent already on roster (Artie, Howard) so you can take a chance on a project, especially with the 2015 class being loaded.

But not at safety, if you want a safety bring one in or move Artie (where I think he would just blossom into a beast as a centerfiedler). Seen this kid at Krop and NW, he is not really a safety and doesnt have mentality for it, his coaches have talked openly how they want him to be more aggressive and thats what you want from safeties. You can get away with it a little at corner, safety. Nah.

 

[bozcane]

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.

How dost this torment me? Let me count the ways.

 

[drifters1234]

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.

How dost this torment me? Let me count the ways.

This may be a blessing in disguise, as it may enlighten Golden that he will not be able to pull top defensive talent - e.g. TV - if he continues with this bull**** read and react 3-4. We all know that recruiting is the lifeblood of CFB, and if he sees he may be locked out of the top talent in the area then hopefully he will switch it up and play to the strengths of his players.

And notwithstanding Golden's bull**** spin about trending up w/ certain defensive stats, the guy is not stupid. He knows are defense was horrific last year.

 

[ejfudd]

I agree with OP. A couple of comments:
1) Golden's stubbornness on the "scheme/staff" has turned a DC issue into a head coach issue. He now owns it and will have to live/die by the outcome.
2) Number six will not come until we can stop other programs and carpet baggers from raiding top local talent.
3) It mystifies me that the AD has not forced Golden's hand on staff upgrades. There is no one on that staff with meaningful coaching pedigree or that is highly qualified relative to their role.

Solid class but we need to (and should) do much better with the blue chippers. I don't enjoy being negative but this is how I see it.

 

[Big Sky Cane]

If we're going to use scholarships on post-signing day Hail Marys, I don't see why we can't use scholarships for political/package deal reasons.

Because chances are, it ends up blowing up in our faces. Damned if we do, damned if we don't.

 

[User-4525]

Mayes was offered at Al Goldens camp as a cornerback. Fact

Has Pete not said that he projects as a safety here? Did AG not say that he could play safety in his presser yesterday?

He was offered at corner. You just said isn't safety a position a need? Well, we offered at CORNER. And he will start his career at corner.

Answer my questions. I haven't disputed anything you just said.

If the staff offered him at corner, and will start him at corner do you not believe the plan for Mayes is to succeed at corner?

 

[freespirted305]

This is 100% right on the mark... if Golden can't finesse and work with 3rd parties any better than he better replace those that can't with more Coley's of the world. I want my canes to be back on top of the college football landscape no matter what and I pray that Golden implements changes and does not keep up the arrogance and rigid process he has spewed for the last 2 years. Obviously South Florida culture is different and he needs to learn to adapt.

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.

This is how I feel. Thanks for summing things up.

Bottom line is I don't think this is an "A" class at Miami, yet we got like 10 guys who I think have a better than 50% chance at being NFL players. Says a lot about our geographic advantage. Football is not getting less popular in inner city Miami.

Exactly my feeling. Think the class is good enough to win and win a lot. With excellent coaching, it is good enough to beat FSU. With good coaching is it good enough to be second in ACC. With the coaching we saw last year, no class short of the 2001 team is good enough to win much.

I tend to agree with recruiting certain kids just for who they are. Wilson certainly caused pain. My thought is do like FSU did with Treon, get the commit, use the recruiting boost and then gentle ease them away, or sign and then dump them the next year. We certainly cut kids loose for many reasons.

But I would add one tactic. Never offer a kid with a handler like Greron. Make it know that those kids will never get a offer from THE U. We seem to always lose out in those cases so we actually lose nothing, but if it starts to cut down on the number of kids these bloodsuckers get their hands on then it could be worth it.

I like Golden's camps, but I agree that shorts are not the way to pick kids. I fear our practices are not physical enough to pick starters from either. How do you know who hits or can take hits if there is no hitting?

I disagree with blacklisting the scumbag handlers. Gary Williams did that at UMD basketball, and despite being a great coach, his teams progressively deteriorated over time with the exodus of talent from DC and Baltimore.

The DC/Baltimore area is the equivalent of S. Fla for football. Bottom line, these handlers are going to become more prevalent, not less. So we have to figure out a way to work with them. i guarantee you the SEC will.

 

[CANE4LIFE]

This is 100% right on the mark... if Golden can't finesse and work with 3rd parties any better than he better replace those that can't with more Coley's of the world. I want my canes to be back on top of the college football landscape no matter what and I pray that Golden implements changes and does not keep up the arrogance and rigid process he has spewed for the last 2 years. Obviously South Florida culture is different and he needs to learn to adapt.

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.

This is how I feel. Thanks for summing things up.

Bottom line is I don't think this is an "A" class at Miami, yet we got like 10 guys who I think have a better than 50% chance at being NFL players. Says a lot about our geographic advantage. Football is not getting less popular in inner city Miami.

Exactly my feeling. Think the class is good enough to win and win a lot. With excellent coaching, it is good enough to beat FSU. With good coaching is it good enough to be second in ACC. With the coaching we saw last year, no class short of the 2001 team is good enough to win much.

I tend to agree with recruiting certain kids just for who they are. Wilson certainly caused pain. My thought is do like FSU did with Treon, get the commit, use the recruiting boost and then gentle ease them away, or sign and then dump them the next year. We certainly cut kids loose for many reasons.

But I would add one tactic. Never offer a kid with a handler like Greron. Make it know that those kids will never get a offer from THE U. We seem to always lose out in those cases so we actually lose nothing, but if it starts to cut down on the number of kids these bloodsuckers get their hands on then it could be worth it.

I like Golden's camps, but I agree that shorts are not the way to pick kids. I fear our practices are not physical enough to pick starters from either. How do you know who hits or can take hits if there is no hitting?

I disagree with blacklisting the scumbag handlers. Gary Williams did that at UMD basketball, and despite being a great coach, his teams progressively deteriorated over time with the exodus of talent from DC and Baltimore.

The DC/Baltimore area is the equivalent of S. Fla for football. Bottom line, these handlers are going to become more prevalent, not less. So we have to figure out a way to work with them. i guarantee you the SEC will.

This is a lot easier said than done though. Many of these "handlers" are straight up huslters and scumbags. Go read about what has been going on with 7v7 and its a cesspool. Even $EC coaches are dismayed over how sleazy the whole thing is. With UM already on probation, and not having the booster/alumni/ $$$ support of bigger programs, our success there is going to be limited. What we need to hope is that we can keep Coley on board, and get some of our other coaches working it hard to get our share of So Fla talent every year. But the days of us "cleaning up" in So Fla are OVER. So Fla is now the biggest single meat market in the country.

 

[Southcane]

The Wilson thing I don't agree with. For all the pied piper talk, none of his boys ended up where he was. If you don't think Wilson can play then don't even bother. We'll see if their wrong on that evaluation but for now Mayes at least appears to be kid who wants it. Did everything he could to be an EE. No guarantees in life, but I get the feeling Quincy and his father would've surely been a pain in the *** if he was stuck behind other players for a year or two.

Signing Wilson wasn't just about 2014. The South Florida Express isn't going anywhere. Big-time kids like Sam Bruce are already parroting anti-Miami talk. These kids won't necessarily follow Wilson, but I'd rather them hear Miami propaganda than Miami hate.

More than anything, I'm just not a Mayes fan. I don't understand offering him and turning our nose up at Wilson.

Dan, I don't know if you are missing this point or you are aware of it but disagree of it: Golden recruits what he thinks of "character kids" of parents who he thinks agree with his philosophy and let him be the head coach. He may have made mistakes judging character before but this is a point of emphasis for him.

You disagree with AG regarding Wilson but I tend to believe that he didn't think signing him up would be beneficial. You are seeing it from a fan prospective and he has to deal with as a head coach.

 

[Canesfrom]

Great post D$. Some thoughts on recruiting in South Florida.

S. Florida recruiting has become extremely (1) competitive (2) dramatic and (3) tough to evaluate. The football is so good here, its impossible to keep everyone out and keep everyone happy.

On point 1, I actually think that always has been the case. Very few years did we ever clean up S. Florida. Maybe in the early 2000s and maybe Schnelly's first couple classes. But other than those times, we've always lost top players in S. Florida to other schools and its not always b/c we didn't offer them (Santonio Holmes), see (Dwayne Bowe, Max Jean Gllles, Lamont Green, etc). I think this year, despite our S. Florida heavy class, we historically should have gotten 2 of the 6 guys we missed. Losing more of them is the due to competitive nature from the SEC and Florida State winning the NC.

On point 2, I think Golden has made huge strides here versus Shannon and Coker. You've heard about how much support he gives the local coaches (other than U school which is baffling). But the issue is, there are so many players down here, you are going to have to make tough decisions every year. If you only need one CB, do you take the top 4 even though they are all top recruits? how do u choose? Based on your evals, their influence, their teams, etc? I don't think you are going to find a coach better at managing this than Golden. He seems to be most organized. Booker T last year was very strange, U School this year too. But there is probably more behind the stories than we know. Golden seems like a man of principle, and if you cross him, he isn't going to roll over.

On point 3 - no coach is infallible. They will hit on some and miss on some. Happens in the NFL. Lets hope we hit on this class.

I don't think we can expect to ever clean up down here, unless we have 3 Duke Johnsons in every class and we are coming off a national championship season. Too much $$$, too much competition. But that doesn't mean we can't win down here in Miami.

 

[cubin10]

This is 100% right on the mark... if Golden can't finesse and work with 3rd parties any better than he better replace those that can't with more Coley's of the world. I want my canes to be back on top of the college football landscape no matter what and I pray that Golden implements changes and does not keep up the arrogance and rigid process he has spewed for the last 2 years. Obviously South Florida culture is different and he needs to learn to adapt.

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.

This is how I feel. Thanks for summing things up.

Bottom line is I don't think this is an "A" class at Miami, yet we got like 10 guys who I think have a better than 50% chance at being NFL players. Says a lot about our geographic advantage. Football is not getting less popular in inner city Miami.

Exactly my feeling. Think the class is good enough to win and win a lot. With excellent coaching, it is good enough to beat FSU. With good coaching is it good enough to be second in ACC. With the coaching we saw last year, no class short of the 2001 team is good enough to win much.

I tend to agree with recruiting certain kids just for who they are. Wilson certainly caused pain. My thought is do like FSU did with Treon, get the commit, use the recruiting boost and then gentle ease them away, or sign and then dump them the next year. We certainly cut kids loose for many reasons.

But I would add one tactic. Never offer a kid with a handler like Greron. Make it know that those kids will never get a offer from THE U. We seem to always lose out in those cases so we actually lose nothing, but if it starts to cut down on the number of kids these bloodsuckers get their hands on then it could be worth it.

I like Golden's camps, but I agree that shorts are not the way to pick kids. I fear our practices are not physical enough to pick starters from either. How do you know who hits or can take hits if there is no hitting?

I disagree with blacklisting the scumbag handlers. Gary Williams did that at UMD basketball, and despite being a great coach, his teams progressively deteriorated over time with the exodus of talent from DC and Baltimore.

The DC/Baltimore area is the equivalent of S. Fla for football. Bottom line, these handlers are going to become more prevalent, not less. So we have to figure out a way to work with them. i guarantee you the SEC will.

The SEC will be making and enforcing the rules, oops mean nCAA

 

[OldhamA]

It sounds like we need someone like Coley to get his hands dirty in the SoFl recruiting game.

Clearly Golden is above it.

 

[OldhamA]

1) If you think Berrios and McKenzie are the same size then you obviously havent seen either. Berrios is a thicker build. (More Smoss like) and Mckenzie is more Roscoe Parrish. Golden is like Butch. He doesnt like frail looking athletes. Shrugs. We will see if he was dumb or not very soon for not offering. We know how Roscoe turned out.

2) As far as Dowels, I will let WildcatDefense dig in your a$$ on this one. Im sure he will be here in a minute..

3) And as far as Powell is concerned. This is the coaches fault. But I guess they were too busy worrying about DCook that they let this guy slip through the cracks. (Or thats prob how Powell felt)

As somone once told me, "You messin' up yo' fa sho pu$$y, tryna get some mo' pu$$y".. Powell was in the bag and we let him get away. And Cook ended up gettin away in the end anyway. Smh.

1. Berrios and McKenzie are listed as being virtually the same size by 247. Hey, maybe that's deceiving, but the fact is that Berrios is small. If the coaches are so stubborn on size, why Berrios? We had Bethel committed for a long time. Dixon isn't 6', and we wanted him. They went out and signed Corn Elder late in the cycle last season. RLIII is small (extenuating circumstances acknowledged). Anyway, I don't see this stubbornness on size that he claims. Berrios is an off-the-charts athlete, and Kaaya wanted him badly. That's good enough for me, and best of luck to McKenzie, who I think will be very good. And if Golden is like Butch, I'll take that all day.

2. Dowels is a great football player. I really like the way he plays, so there's no need for Wildcat to come in and defend him. However, when the kid's best offer is Syracuse (no way he had offers from Clemson and Oklahoma like he claims), well, Miami isn't the only team missing out.

3. How is something relating to transcripts the coaches' fault? No one has even tried to answer that question. The kid wanted an out, UF.ag was the offer he wanted, and he took it when it came. Simple as that. If the kid wanted to be a Cane, he would've waited the 2 days like Yearby did.

I agree that Powell wanted an out - he wanted that UiF offer.

What I will say though is that we had two days to close the deal. We shouldn't have kids waiting around on campus for Admissions to sort out some red tape. Powell should be a Cane because we SHOULD have locked that down the second he stepped onto campus to sign his papers as an EE. That's a huge **** up by someone.

 

[cubin10]

1) If you think Berrios and McKenzie are the same size then you obviously havent seen either. Berrios is a thicker build. (More Smoss like) and Mckenzie is more Roscoe Parrish. Golden is like Butch. He doesnt like frail looking athletes. Shrugs. We will see if he was dumb or not very soon for not offering. We know how Roscoe turned out.

2) As far as Dowels, I will let WildcatDefense dig in your a$$ on this one. Im sure he will be here in a minute..

3) And as far as Powell is concerned. This is the coaches fault. But I guess they were too busy worrying about DCook that they let this guy slip through the cracks. (Or thats prob how Powell felt)

As somone once told me, "You messin' up yo' fa sho pu$$y, tryna get some mo' pu$$y".. Powell was in the bag and we let him get away. And Cook ended up gettin away in the end anyway. Smh.

1. Berrios and McKenzie are listed as being virtually the same size by 247. Hey, maybe that's deceiving, but the fact is that Berrios is small. If the coaches are so stubborn on size, why Berrios? We had Bethel committed for a long time. Dixon isn't 6', and we wanted him. They went out and signed Corn Elder late in the cycle last season. RLIII is small (extenuating circumstances acknowledged). Anyway, I don't see this stubbornness on size that he claims. Berrios is an off-the-charts athlete, and Kaaya wanted him badly. That's good enough for me, and best of luck to McKenzie, who I think will be very good. And if Golden is like Butch, I'll take that all day.

2. Dowels is a great football player. I really like the way he plays, so there's no need for Wildcat to come in and defend him. However, when the kid's best offer is Syracuse (no way he had offers from Clemson and Oklahoma like he claims), well, Miami isn't the only team missing out.

3. How is something relating to transcripts the coaches' fault? No one has even tried to answer that question. The kid wanted an out, UF.ag was the offer he wanted, and he took it when it came. Simple as that. If the kid wanted to be a Cane, he would've waited the 2 days like Yearby did.

I agree that Powell wanted an out - he wanted that UiF offer.

What I will say though is that we had two days to close the deal. We shouldn't have kids waiting around on campus for Admissions to sort out some red tape. Powell should be a Cane because we SHOULD have locked that down the second he stepped onto campus to sign his papers as an EE. That's a huge **** up by someone.

People need to be removed from their jobs for allowing that to happen.

 

[sebastian91]

Mayes was offered at Al Goldens camp as a cornerback. Fact

Has Pete not said that he projects as a safety here? Did AG not say that he could play safety in his presser yesterday?

He was offered at corner. You just said isn't safety a position a need? Well, we offered at CORNER. And he will start his career at corner.

Answer my questions. I haven't disputed anything you just said.

If the staff offered him at corner, and will start him at corner do you not believe the plan for Mayes is to succeed at corner?

That isn't the issue. At all. Mayes being recruited or starting out at corner is not in dispute. Why are you refusing to answer my questions?