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The changing culture of the team - Miami Herald

CaneBoss

CaneBoss

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Love how much fun and how loose the team is this spring. I cannot wait for the rest of the cats to get here this summer and assimilate into the group by learning hard work and discipline while having fun at the same time.

Golden letting the good times roll this spring for Canes because team has showed maturity

They filmed their own Harlem Shake video and have spent all spring bobbing their heads to music throughout practice.

Thursday morning the fun continued for the Miami Hurricanes as coach Al Golden ended practice by having his offensive and defensive linemen line up and try to catch a simulated punt from a jugs machine.

After 10 embarrassing and rip-roaring moments of laughter, defensive lineman Luther Robinson saved the team from sprints with a bobbling catch and a 50-yard dash and dive into the end zone with a happy team chasing him from behind.

"We capture that film now, hold it until the perfect time to show them," Golden said with a smile. "All those guys who think they're great athletes, AAU basketball players, the truth is revealed."

As tough as the past two years have been with an NCAA investigation hanging over the program's head and players getting themselves suspended with off-the-field issues, Golden said he's allowed the team to cut loose a little this spring because they've earned it.

"This is a very mature team," Golden said. "Every year is different. These guys go to work and they make it fun. They make it fun because they're where they need to be. There's not a lot of list guys. They got a purpose and a focus about them. When you have that you can really enjoy the journey."

Tight end Beau Sandland, one of the Hurricanes' most prized new additions, said he's been blown away by how much fun Golden and his staff have had this spring -- while also getting the important work done they need to get done.

"I'm so happy I'm here right now," Sandland said. "Coach Golden's been in our shoes. He played tight end, played in the league. He knows how tough it is. The vast majority of teams aren't going to have a three-day weekend on Easter and a barbeque. You saw there at the end we were supposed to run and he gave us every opportunity at the end to not make us run. It's definitely exciting to have a real close-knit team."

Part of that closeness, Golden pointed out, is built by having the team's out-of-state players like Sandland spend Easter weekend with their Florida-native teammates. Inside the team's locker room, Sandland said, is a list dubbed: "No Player Left Behind."

"Our parents are great," Golden said. "Kacy Rodgers' mom and Duke Johnson's mom cooked for players last Thanksgiving. Parents step up and say bring so-and-so over and will cook for them and spend the weekend and it's fun."

> Hundreds of local recruits and coaches attended Thursday's practice and were treated to a barbecue with the team afterward.

"It's great," Golden said. "What can be more revealing, an honest look at your program than having them watch you coach, interact with the players? We must have had 400, 500 people out here today including coaches, family."

THIS AND THAT

> Golden said Ryan Williams is continuing to fight off redshirt freshman Gray Crow for the backup quarterback job behind Stephen Morris. Williams has shown better arm strength and speed in the pocket.

"Stephen needs to understand his competition is not necessarily here" Golden said. "He's competition might be at Texas or USC. He has to understand if he wants to be the best he has to compete against the best in college football."

> Golden said the areas of improvement he wants to see in the team's next scrimmage a week from Friday in Naples is "goal-line offense and short-yard offense."

"We didn't finish drives as well as we needed to," he said. "Our tackling needs to improve dramatically on defense. I thought we did a much better job on defense of eliminating the explosive plays. But we didn't get the ball down the field enough on offense either."

> Golden said the biggest surprise of the spring at tight end has been redshirt freshman Jake O'Donnell.

"Now you're talking about five guys competing for playing time," Golden said. "It's raised Clive [Walford's] game. It's raised Asante [Cleveland's] game. I said last week Asante is having as good a spring as anybody. It gives us a chance to go with two tight ends on the field or in Clive's case deploy him, flex him out and get him the football more than we have the last two years."

http://miamiherald.typepad.com/umia...wed-maturity.html#storylink=cpy#storylink=cpy
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Gonna be a fun season. No crazy expectations for me this year. Keep getting better and ill be happy. 10 wins. We can do it!
 
I honestly have a very good feeling about this team. A lot of the "me" players are gone and have been replaced with the lunch pail workaholics. Goes a long way on Saturdays....
 
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The last time I read about a team feeling and playing loose was the bucs under Morris. It is a fine line. Playing loose is a must ,but to loose and just see the bucs, music during practice and crap was an epic fail. if anyone can balance I believe it is golden.
 
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bbcane said:
The last time I read about a team feeling and playing loose was the bucs under Morris. It is a fine line. Playing loose is a must ,but to loose and just see the bucs, music during practice and crap was an epic fail. if anyone can balance I believe it is golden.
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The major difference is that during his first 2 years, Golden made the players earn his trust and once the players lived up to that standard that Golden set from the door, he turned them loose. Golden probably doesn't even have to say much anymore. Guys like Chick, Linder, Bunche, Hurns, and Denzel probably take care of every slip up and/or misstep.

Also doesn't hurt to have your best player be one of the hardest working dudes on the squad.
 
I hope O'Donnell is the real deal. Great to have that kind of bench. For them to move him I would have guesses that someone saw something, because reports were pretty good about how he was doing at DE.
 
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I wonder if Golden is taking a bit of a piece from Jim L's philosophy re: fun. I imagine the team element is different with a b-ball team, but maybe not as much as we think.
 
I know it has been brought up before, but does anyone think O'donnell eventually slides in to play OL like Eric Winston?
 
I think it's going to come down to Porter and Pierre staying healthy, and getting something out of their backups. LB's and DB's seem to be getting solid.
 
Our TE spot is too stacked. We may see more two TE formations this season. Walford, Sandland, Dobbard, and O' Donnell is a very solid group. Start going that Stanford route with the TE's.
 
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CaneBoss said:
Golden said the areas of improvement he wants to see in the team's next scrimmage a week from Friday in Naples is "goal-line offense and short-yard offense."

"We didn't finish drives as well as we needed to," he said. "Our tackling needs to improve dramatically on defense. I thought we did a much better job on defense of eliminating the explosive plays. But we didn't get the ball down the field enough on offense either."
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Still dont like hearin this though
 
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