If you want to have a reasonable discussion about this topic, the first step is to discuss the differences in the college football landscape. The biggest difference? Butch didn't have to deal with how the internet has leveled the playing field and access to talent. Butch didn't have to deal with the rise of an AAU culture. Butch didn't have to deal with a generation of athletes/recruits who have grown up with social media and expect instant gratification in almost all aspects of their lives.
This is a different environment and it's the first thing that needs to be addressed before making any historical comparison.
I think this is why Golden is having such a tough time with team discipline. At Temple, you aren't getting top 5% athletes or talent. You're getting players that are grateful to have a free ride at all, haven't necessarily been the best at their former stops or have been on mediocre or bad teams, and are likely more pliable to the philosophizing and mind games that he riffs on because they want to taste some real, tangible success.
The Miami athlete is more along the lines of what you are referring to, and have been figuratively sucked off their entire lives by most adults they've come in contact with. They were likely the best player on their respective high school team, were inundated with scholarship offers, praised incessantly, been told have great they are and how they can be the next NFL superstar making millions, how they can play at the next level immediately without waiting, etc.
Now suddenly they are faced with a program mired deep in mediocrity, playing for a coach preaching about a long-term process, being disciplined on and off the field adhering to the rules without exception, and faced with some legitimate adversity for the first time in their sporting lives, we're seeing pushback from multiple sides. We've got a loudmouth father complaining that his very average son's playing time is hurting his draft status, other kids going off the reservation and skipping practices, another beating his woman, and who knows what else.
I can buy that, sure. But I still don't think that's the primary reason we're struggling. Other top teams have these problems as well and manage to find a way to perform regardless.
Golden should be ahead of the curve on all of these things. He's pretty obviously not an Xs and Os innovator or technical tactician. And, if you're not, you better be an innovator on the culture/management side. In planned scenarios, I think he's almost always ahead of the curve and on point. What has concerned me is some of the glimpses we've seen in live action.
He adheres to a strict philosophy (i.e. "we're in it together, we trust each other, let's rely on our defense") apparently without regard for a realistic assessment of our in-game circumstances. What do I interpret from those glimpses? Well, I can't make a conclusion, but I can raise concern that his approach may be a bit too rigid at times. I can interpret that he errs on the side of conservatism. In a discussion about this exact topic, someone pointed me to the onside kick against FSU. I countered that was almost assuredly pre-planned, had been worked on through the week, and would be applied if the scenario was right. It was essentially a rip-off (on the same field) of the Sean Payton move in the Super Bowl.
Does all of this mean he cannot turn things around? I think that's way too early to say. I'm more inclined to trust him because I see more evidence of a positive direction than negative glimpses.
I also consider our alternatives. We may think "we're the University of Miami," but we're really just a program trying to get back to what that even means. We'll never get there by saying it. We'll only get there with a product on the field.
Golden has to adjust. He started off with a good foundation and says the right things. But, what may have worked 5 years ago may not be optimal today. Bill Parcells tried to employ into the Dolphins franchise the exact strategy he executed in Dallas. What failed? The environment changes. We need someone who can stay ahead of the environment to some degree. I think Golden can be that guy, but I'd like to see more evidence. Until then, I don't suggest tying anything into short term expectations. We are a 6.5 win team (for the record, preseason thread I said 6). No matter what has happened throughout the season, we're still...a 6.5 win team.
