forums

Someone Who Knows Things

Advertisement
Advertisement
umfire2005 said:
I had lunch Friday with someone who knows things. We have been having this same lunch since 2004. He’s been at practices since 1997. Here’s what he had to say:

DL is lights out. Particularly mentioned Bain, Mesidor and Justin Scott. Scott — “day one potential.” Best DL since 2017 easily.

Ward. Best pure thrower we have ever had. Exact quote. No comment on the other QBs.

Loved OL, coaches have been on Carpenter’s *** every practice. Deep and talented. Some concern about RT depth.

Couldn’t say enough about Trader. Smooth smooth smooth. Ny Carr “steal of the class”.

Worries about Safety position.

Arroyo running better than he ever has at Miami. Easy day 2 pick.

Martinez pushing around LBs. Second Level problem.

Brown and Porter are “good not great”. Believes that’s all they have to be with our DL.

“better team than 2017” with “best young talent since 2005”
Click to expand...
I don’t post much as I am not as plugged into UM as I used to be. I wrote the above before the season and I thought it might be useful to look back.

Biggest disappointment for me is the DL. Should have been very good, was average. Internal issues played a role here, but I was wrong on this. We should have been a top unit and we were not.

Glad Arroyo delivered on all his promise. Lofton is a different style of player, but he looks strong.

Martinez was as advertised. Will miss him.

Safeties were godawful.

I am writing this because there are some wild narratives on this board, and I thought I’d throw my two cents in.

I have written several times about the difference between good and elite. Miami fans have forgotten what great coaching and players look like in my opinion, and a tendency to overrate coaches/players sets this fan base up for disappointment constantly.


We finally saw what elite looks like: Cam Ward was better than advertised and showed that Dawson/Cristobal are not QB killers. The other elite player was Borregales IMO.

Restrepo, Martinez were very good. Several OL played very well and that unit, while not elite, was very good. The offense AS A GROUP was elite. Should have made a playoff run with an elite side of the ball. We did not because we lost to teams we shouldn’t have, which is a Mario constant. He is who he has always been: a mediocre coach who recruits well. He’s Ron Zook, and NIL has eroded his recruiting advantage and so we are left with a mediocre coach with a mediocre overall football operations staff.

What about next year? We have a personnel problem — I see no room that has a chance of being elite, and several that will struggle to be average. Some posters seem to believe otherwise, which is fueling classic Miami fan delusion.

Reuben Bain is a perfect example. He had a very good freshman year, UM fans say he is elite and then he struggles his sophomore year (a Miami specialty) and now he “sucks”. Of course he doesn’t he just got
Immediately overrated by our fan base.

RB room is another example. I’ve read about how stacked we are at running back. Fletcher is an average ACC back, Lyle shows some promise. How is that stacked?

Ohio State has an elite player or an elite group at almost every position group. We will have zero next year.

We do not have the coaching acumen to overcome this. I like Dawson, think he is a good coordinator but not a magician. The offense will take a step back. DC is to be determined but an average defense, while an improvement, seems like the ceiling.

Miami needs more elite players. Whether portal or high school, we simply aren’t getting enough of them. We have had how many elite players in the past decade? 5, maybe? OSU has 3 this year. Player development at UM has been a problem for 20 years, across multiple coaches, and it continues today. But UM will not be back under Mario unless there are wholesale changes to the way UM approaches football. Cribby and others know what I mean.

Sorry for long post.
 
umfire2005 said:
I don’t post much as I am not as plugged into UM as I used to be. I wrote the above before the season and I thought it might be useful to look back.

Biggest disappointment for me is the DL. Should have been very good, was average. Internal issues played a role here, but I was wrong on this. We should have been a top unit and we were not.

Glad Arroyo delivered on all his promise. Lofton is a different style of player, but he looks strong.

Martinez was as advertised. Will miss him.

Safeties were godawful.

I am writing this because there are some wild narratives on this board, and I thought I’d throw my two cents in.

I have written several times about the difference between good and elite. Miami fans have forgotten what great coaching and players look like in my opinion, and a tendency to overrate coaches/players sets this fan base up for disappointment constantly.


We finally saw what elite looks like: Cam Ward was better than advertised and showed that Dawson/Cristobal are not QB killers. The other elite player was Borregales IMO.

Restrepo, Martinez were very good. Several OL played very well and that unit, while not elite, was very good. The offense AS A GROUP was elite. Should have made a playoff run with an elite side of the ball. We did not because we lost to teams we shouldn’t have, which is a Mario constant. He is who he has always been: a mediocre coach who recruits well. He’s Ron Zook, and NIL has eroded his recruiting advantage and so we are left with a mediocre coach with a mediocre overall football operations staff.

What about next year? We have a personnel problem — I see no room that has a chance of being elite, and several that will struggle to be average. Some posters seem to believe otherwise, which is fueling classic Miami fan delusion.

Reuben Bain is a perfect example. He had a very good freshman year, UM fans say he is elite and then he struggles his sophomore year (a Miami specialty) and now he “sucks”. Of course he doesn’t he just got
Immediately overrated by our fan base.

RB room is another example. I’ve read about how stacked we are at running back. Fletcher is an average ACC back, Lyle shows some promise. How is that stacked?

Ohio State has an elite player or an elite group at almost every position group. We will have zero next year.

We do not have the coaching acumen to overcome this. I like Dawson, think he is a good coordinator but not a magician. The offense will take a step back. DC is to be determined but an average defense, while an improvement, seems like the ceiling.

Miami needs more elite players. Whether portal or high school, we simply aren’t getting enough of them. We have had how many elite players in the past decade? 5, maybe? OSU has 3 this year. Player development at UM has been a problem for 20 years, across multiple coaches, and it continues today. But UM will not be back under Mario unless there are wholesale changes to the way UM approaches football. Cribby and others know what I mean.

Sorry for long post.
Click to expand...
Sarcastic Season 9 GIF by The Office
 
Advertisement
umfire2005 said:
I don’t post much as I am not as plugged into UM as I used to be. I wrote the above before the season and I thought it might be useful to look back.

Biggest disappointment for me is the DL. Should have been very good, was average. Internal issues played a role here, but I was wrong on this. We should have been a top unit and we were not.

Glad Arroyo delivered on all his promise. Lofton is a different style of player, but he looks strong.

Martinez was as advertised. Will miss him.

Safeties were godawful.

I am writing this because there are some wild narratives on this board, and I thought I’d throw my two cents in.

I have written several times about the difference between good and elite. Miami fans have forgotten what great coaching and players look like in my opinion, and a tendency to overrate coaches/players sets this fan base up for disappointment constantly.


We finally saw what elite looks like: Cam Ward was better than advertised and showed that Dawson/Cristobal are not QB killers. The other elite player was Borregales IMO.

Restrepo, Martinez were very good. Several OL played very well and that unit, while not elite, was very good. The offense AS A GROUP was elite. Should have made a playoff run with an elite side of the ball. We did not because we lost to teams we shouldn’t have, which is a Mario constant. He is who he has always been: a mediocre coach who recruits well. He’s Ron Zook, and NIL has eroded his recruiting advantage and so we are left with a mediocre coach with a mediocre overall football operations staff.

What about next year? We have a personnel problem — I see no room that has a chance of being elite, and several that will struggle to be average. Some posters seem to believe otherwise, which is fueling classic Miami fan delusion.

Reuben Bain is a perfect example. He had a very good freshman year, UM fans say he is elite and then he struggles his sophomore year (a Miami specialty) and now he “sucks”. Of course he doesn’t he just got
Immediately overrated by our fan base.

RB room is another example. I’ve read about how stacked we are at running back. Fletcher is an average ACC back, Lyle shows some promise. How is that stacked?

Ohio State has an elite player or an elite group at almost every position group. We will have zero next year.

We do not have the coaching acumen to overcome this. I like Dawson, think he is a good coordinator but not a magician. The offense will take a step back. DC is to be determined but an average defense, while an improvement, seems like the ceiling.

Miami needs more elite players. Whether portal or high school, we simply aren’t getting enough of them. We have had how many elite players in the past decade? 5, maybe? OSU has 3 this year. Player development at UM has been a problem for 20 years, across multiple coaches, and it continues today. But UM will not be back under Mario unless there are wholesale changes to the way UM approaches football. Cribby and others know what I mean.

Sorry for long post.
Click to expand...
great point although Ohio State is going to have to replace a LOT on both sides of the ball next year
 
college football is now paid to play at a level higher than the NFL in most cases. It makes the game less fun to watch knowing the top 10 have billionaires buying rosters of elite players while the rest are buying a few elite players. I doubt we see any positive changes to balance the field so the game is now similar to MLB, teams with $$$ win.
 
Last edited:
Advertisement
umfire2005 said:
I don’t post much as I am not as plugged into UM as I used to be. I wrote the above before the season and I thought it might be useful to look back.

Biggest disappointment for me is the DL. Should have been very good, was average. Internal issues played a role here, but I was wrong on this. We should have been a top unit and we were not.

Glad Arroyo delivered on all his promise. Lofton is a different style of player, but he looks strong.

Martinez was as advertised. Will miss him.

Safeties were godawful.

I am writing this because there are some wild narratives on this board, and I thought I’d throw my two cents in.

I have written several times about the difference between good and elite. Miami fans have forgotten what great coaching and players look like in my opinion, and a tendency to overrate coaches/players sets this fan base up for disappointment constantly.


We finally saw what elite looks like: Cam Ward was better than advertised and showed that Dawson/Cristobal are not QB killers. The other elite player was Borregales IMO.

Restrepo, Martinez were very good. Several OL played very well and that unit, while not elite, was very good. The offense AS A GROUP was elite. Should have made a playoff run with an elite side of the ball. We did not because we lost to teams we shouldn’t have, which is a Mario constant. He is who he has always been: a mediocre coach who recruits well. He’s Ron Zook, and NIL has eroded his recruiting advantage and so we are left with a mediocre coach with a mediocre overall football operations staff.

What about next year? We have a personnel problem — I see no room that has a chance of being elite, and several that will struggle to be average. Some posters seem to believe otherwise, which is fueling classic Miami fan delusion.

Reuben Bain is a perfect example. He had a very good freshman year, UM fans say he is elite and then he struggles his sophomore year (a Miami specialty) and now he “sucks”. Of course he doesn’t he just got
Immediately overrated by our fan base.

RB room is another example. I’ve read about how stacked we are at running back. Fletcher is an average ACC back, Lyle shows some promise. How is that stacked?

Ohio State has an elite player or an elite group at almost every position group. We will have zero next year.

We do not have the coaching acumen to overcome this. I like Dawson, think he is a good coordinator but not a magician. The offense will take a step back. DC is to be determined but an average defense, while an improvement, seems like the ceiling.

Miami needs more elite players. Whether portal or high school, we simply aren’t getting enough of them. We have had how many elite players in the past decade? 5, maybe? OSU has 3 this year. Player development at UM has been a problem for 20 years, across multiple coaches, and it continues today. But UM will not be back under Mario unless there are wholesale changes to the way UM approaches football. Cribby and others know what I mean.

Sorry for long post.
Click to expand...
Agreed, which is the reason why if they want to continue improving they need like 8-9 more portal additions, some 1 year rentals others with eligibility. With that being said I don’t think UM will ever be like Georgias of CFB, constantly stacking hella 5 stars every class. The culture needs to be more like Clemson, a couple 5 stars in each class, good high school scouting to find those underrated prospects, experience players, an emphasize on coaching and development, and continue to use NIL.
 
umfire2005 said:
I don’t post much as I am not as plugged into UM as I used to be. I wrote the above before the season and I thought it might be useful to look back.

Biggest disappointment for me is the DL. Should have been very good, was average. Internal issues played a role here, but I was wrong on this. We should have been a top unit and we were not.

Glad Arroyo delivered on all his promise. Lofton is a different style of player, but he looks strong.

Martinez was as advertised. Will miss him.

Safeties were godawful.

I am writing this because there are some wild narratives on this board, and I thought I’d throw my two cents in.

I have written several times about the difference between good and elite. Miami fans have forgotten what great coaching and players look like in my opinion, and a tendency to overrate coaches/players sets this fan base up for disappointment constantly.


We finally saw what elite looks like: Cam Ward was better than advertised and showed that Dawson/Cristobal are not QB killers. The other elite player was Borregales IMO.

Restrepo, Martinez were very good. Several OL played very well and that unit, while not elite, was very good. The offense AS A GROUP was elite. Should have made a playoff run with an elite side of the ball. We did not because we lost to teams we shouldn’t have, which is a Mario constant. He is who he has always been: a mediocre coach who recruits well. He’s Ron Zook, and NIL has eroded his recruiting advantage and so we are left with a mediocre coach with a mediocre overall football operations staff.

What about next year? We have a personnel problem — I see no room that has a chance of being elite, and several that will struggle to be average. Some posters seem to believe otherwise, which is fueling classic Miami fan delusion.

Reuben Bain is a perfect example. He had a very good freshman year, UM fans say he is elite and then he struggles his sophomore year (a Miami specialty) and now he “sucks”. Of course he doesn’t he just got
Immediately overrated by our fan base.

RB room is another example. I’ve read about how stacked we are at running back. Fletcher is an average ACC back, Lyle shows some promise. How is that stacked?

Ohio State has an elite player or an elite group at almost every position group. We will have zero next year.

We do not have the coaching acumen to overcome this. I like Dawson, think he is a good coordinator but not a magician. The offense will take a step back. DC is to be determined but an average defense, while an improvement, seems like the ceiling.

Miami needs more elite players. Whether portal or high school, we simply aren’t getting enough of them. We have had how many elite players in the past decade? 5, maybe? OSU has 3 this year. Player development at UM has been a problem for 20 years, across multiple coaches, and it continues today. But UM will not be back under Mario unless there are wholesale changes to the way UM approaches football. Cribby and others know what I mean.

Sorry for long post.
Click to expand...
Nothing in this post is unreasonable or surprising to anyone that has a general understanding of championship level college football across the country. we have a bunch of fans who are Miami fans only and view this through the lenses of professional sports fans pretending to care about college athletics. This year is likely our ceiling given the way we recruit and do the portal. We have to be a top 5 operation in both to overcome our staff and overall program deficiencies. The moment we didn’t do that is the moment I knew we are going to be Zook era Florida. We get excited when we pull a former walk on from UW at safety; Ohio State pulled the best true freshman safety in a decade with a “no contact” tag. We got a rotational guy from NC State. Ole Miss got a first round pick in Nolen. It’s just not the same. Our high school recruiting has reverted to the mean. There are levels to this **** that we are just not prepared to reach right now
 
umfire2005 said:
I don’t post much as I am not as plugged into UM as I used to be. I wrote the above before the season and I thought it might be useful to look back.

Biggest disappointment for me is the DL. Should have been very good, was average. Internal issues played a role here, but I was wrong on this. We should have been a top unit and we were not.

Glad Arroyo delivered on all his promise. Lofton is a different style of player, but he looks strong.

Martinez was as advertised. Will miss him.

Safeties were godawful.

I am writing this because there are some wild narratives on this board, and I thought I’d throw my two cents in.

I have written several times about the difference between good and elite. Miami fans have forgotten what great coaching and players look like in my opinion, and a tendency to overrate coaches/players sets this fan base up for disappointment constantly.


We finally saw what elite looks like: Cam Ward was better than advertised and showed that Dawson/Cristobal are not QB killers. The other elite player was Borregales IMO.

Restrepo, Martinez were very good. Several OL played very well and that unit, while not elite, was very good. The offense AS A GROUP was elite. Should have made a playoff run with an elite side of the ball. We did not because we lost to teams we shouldn’t have, which is a Mario constant. He is who he has always been: a mediocre coach who recruits well. He’s Ron Zook, and NIL has eroded his recruiting advantage and so we are left with a mediocre coach with a mediocre overall football operations staff.

What about next year? We have a personnel problem — I see no room that has a chance of being elite, and several that will struggle to be average. Some posters seem to believe otherwise, which is fueling classic Miami fan delusion.

Reuben Bain is a perfect example. He had a very good freshman year, UM fans say he is elite and then he struggles his sophomore year (a Miami specialty) and now he “sucks”. Of course he doesn’t he just got
Immediately overrated by our fan base.

RB room is another example. I’ve read about how stacked we are at running back. Fletcher is an average ACC back, Lyle shows some promise. How is that stacked?

Ohio State has an elite player or an elite group at almost every position group. We will have zero next year.

We do not have the coaching acumen to overcome this. I like Dawson, think he is a good coordinator but not a magician. The offense will take a step back. DC is to be determined but an average defense, while an improvement, seems like the ceiling.

Miami needs more elite players. Whether portal or high school, we simply aren’t getting enough of them. We have had how many elite players in the past decade? 5, maybe? OSU has 3 this year. Player development at UM has been a problem for 20 years, across multiple coaches, and it continues today. But UM will not be back under Mario unless there are wholesale changes to the way UM approaches football. Cribby and others know what I mean.

Sorry for long post.
Click to expand...
Hate that you don't post more. This is a homerun post.
 
Advertisement
cway313 said:
I agree. Enough of the mope vs slurp bs. Reality is stark and worrisome if you haven't been paying attention.
Click to expand...
When reality is negative, people that can’t handle it revert to calling you a mope. Calling balls and strikes has become an offense to many. If you’re objective and things are bad, you’ll say it’s bad. If they’re good, you’ll say it’s good. If it’s good but could be better? You get it.
 
umfire2005 said:
I don’t post much as I am not as plugged into UM as I used to be. I wrote the above before the season and I thought it might be useful to look back.

Biggest disappointment for me is the DL. Should have been very good, was average. Internal issues played a role here, but I was wrong on this. We should have been a top unit and we were not.

Glad Arroyo delivered on all his promise. Lofton is a different style of player, but he looks strong.

Martinez was as advertised. Will miss him.

Safeties were godawful.

I am writing this because there are some wild narratives on this board, and I thought I’d throw my two cents in.

I have written several times about the difference between good and elite. Miami fans have forgotten what great coaching and players look like in my opinion, and a tendency to overrate coaches/players sets this fan base up for disappointment constantly.


We finally saw what elite looks like: Cam Ward was better than advertised and showed that Dawson/Cristobal are not QB killers. The other elite player was Borregales IMO.

Restrepo, Martinez were very good. Several OL played very well and that unit, while not elite, was very good. The offense AS A GROUP was elite. Should have made a playoff run with an elite side of the ball. We did not because we lost to teams we shouldn’t have, which is a Mario constant. He is who he has always been: a mediocre coach who recruits well. He’s Ron Zook, and NIL has eroded his recruiting advantage and so we are left with a mediocre coach with a mediocre overall football operations staff.

What about next year? We have a personnel problem — I see no room that has a chance of being elite, and several that will struggle to be average. Some posters seem to believe otherwise, which is fueling classic Miami fan delusion.

Reuben Bain is a perfect example. He had a very good freshman year, UM fans say he is elite and then he struggles his sophomore year (a Miami specialty) and now he “sucks”. Of course he doesn’t he just got
Immediately overrated by our fan base.

RB room is another example. I’ve read about how stacked we are at running back. Fletcher is an average ACC back, Lyle shows some promise. How is that stacked?

Ohio State has an elite player or an elite group at almost every position group. We will have zero next year.

We do not have the coaching acumen to overcome this. I like Dawson, think he is a good coordinator but not a magician. The offense will take a step back. DC is to be determined but an average defense, while an improvement, seems like the ceiling.

Miami needs more elite players. Whether portal or high school, we simply aren’t getting enough of them. We have had how many elite players in the past decade? 5, maybe? OSU has 3 this year. Player development at UM has been a problem for 20 years, across multiple coaches, and it continues today. But UM will not be back under Mario unless there are wholesale changes to the way UM approaches football. Cribby and others know what I mean.

Sorry for long post.
Click to expand...
Since you mentioned OSU, Ryan Day ain’t elite either. A lot of that fanbased wanted him fired. I suspect that changed since they’ve barnstormed into the playoffs and it’s looking like they’ll roll over Texas and whomever else is in the championship.

If we switched head coaches what do you imagine the next 4 years would be like with Ryan day in charge of Miami football and with Mario in charge of buckeye football? I’d imagine we’d be 8-4 and 9-3 over the next couple years and Mario would fumble **** his way to a national ship possibly two.

I don’t know much about the organizational structures that supports Miami or OSU athletics but OSU seems to be a machine that you can plug in at the minimum, a good-mediocre coach and have success. Miami seems to need a hall of fame level coach to build the momentum for a championship. I think Mario will have us ranked on average in the 15-20 range; some years better some worse but I having trouble seeing him getting us a championship. I believe he is a bridge to “being back” if radokovich hires an elite to future hall of famer coach right after him, in a similar vane with manning at Oregon.
 
Last edited:
Advertisement
Back
Top