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The Decline of South Florida

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South Florida has been in decline for decades. Football coaches became vultures in it for the bag, most with little to no coaching experience with no motivations that were focused on the kids succeeding. No work ethic or technical coaching being provided with focus on playing the recruiting game. No one else is at fault.
 
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Coach Macho said:
We have massive parenting and coaching issues in South Florida... and they're getting much worse.

1. Most high school programs down here are "enablers" to their stud players. They allow them to get away with what they want, which leads to less development, less accountability, poor work ethic, etc. They arrive at college with those bad habits.

2. There's not a lot of development going on down here. Kids aren't leaving high school "college ready"...mentally or physically. Their technique sucks, they can't read a defense/offense, DB's only know how to play one coverage, they dont know college terminology, etc.

Manny would take kids like this in a heartbeat...
And then he'd enable them some more.
That's why we got what we got.

Mario wants FOOTBALL PLAYERS. High character, high work ethic, knowledge of the game. And you gotta be willing to leave South Florida if you want a roster like that. Those kids aren't in abundance down here.
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You would know better than most so I highly respect your opinion. However, regarding coaching and parenting as separate issues, don’t you think that could be a nationwide issue rather than just a south Florida one?

With the money being spent before it’s collected & counted, hasn’t that made the youth sports atmosphere worse all over the country? I coach basketball, I’m with you on the parenting and coaching worsening. I’m sure south Florida is one of the worst offenders.

What I’m not certain about is that it’s just a local issue, and that in the places with better parenting/coaching/structure/habits that those players have the athletic and physical measurables (Fabian Moreau wanting to be a rb and yet being able to switch to DB and become a pro), instincts, or unique intangibles (like X’s toughness, Teddy Bridgewater’s joy for the game, fill in any personality blank, etc.) that sticks to future professionals who grow up in soFlo.
 
pacusmc said:
There is no other explanation.
It happens all the time and it’s the reason why the nba and soccer are full of international kids.
The “crib”!!!
Kids get any bit of love and hype and they stop grinding.
Leonard Taylor, according to Flo, bought the suit he was gonna wear to the draft before the season was even over.


A lot of sofla kids get the blue chip hype and just forget what got them there or don’t understand that someone will outwork and beat them.

This 7 on 7 sht is spoiling these kids and now with nil it’s gonna get even worse.

They act like the nfl is some sort of guarantee after they get 20 offers and blue chip status.
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I’d pushback heavily on this. First, soccer, futbol as they call it, is the biggest sport in the world. There is no point in history that it has been American dominated, except on the women’s side.

There is a huge structural, affordability problem when Zlatan Ibrahimovic, during his time with the LA Galaxy, is complaining about the costs of his children’s futbol leagues.

Next to soccer, the second biggest sport in the world is basketball. They both are casting wider nets off rip.

The NBA is full of international kids, today, because Michael Jordan was one of the most famous people on earth. The Dream Team gave tens of millions hoop dreams of becoming like mike. The game spread like wildfire.

Additionally, the “early adopters,” Sabonis, Luka’s father, Wemby’s parents, etc. who already played basketball all their life started having kids. They were able to train their children with their unique knowledge that their parents did not have.

Moreover, basketball, unlike football and futbol, is much more dependent upon height as an indicator of success. So since America doesn’t have a monopoly on height, once the game generated serious cash, guys like Yao Ming, Hakeem, Joel Embiid, etc. were offered opportunities to become professional athletes.

7 footers in the 1950s were just regular dudes. Joel Embiid said he learned how to shoot by watching instructional videos of white guys on YouTube. He had the benefit of Luc Mbah A Moute being his mentor.

Next, although Roger Goodell has been super strategic about targeting international areas to grow the sport, football is an inherently violent game that automatically turns off a ton of prospective international kids who will grow up to be men w/ body types and/or skill sets that could succeed in CFB/NFL.

Lastly, basketball, baseball and futbol all have low barriers of entry and less chances of being injured. Sure, we all played street football growing up — often two hand touch for safety. Still, that is a much more watered down version of the game compared to 3on3 pickup basketball/futbol or DR baseball where they use oven mitts as gloves.
 
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brock said:
Gus Edward’s, while not as productive at Miami he still went on to be very productive in the nfl and graduated from Miami
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Was it you back in the day driving the Gus Bus when a lot on the board were calling him twinkle toes? Or was that bleakvern?
 
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cookies said:
I’d pushback heavily on this. First, soccer, futbol as they call it, is the biggest sport in the world. There is no point in history that it has been American dominated, except on the women’s side.

There is a huge structural, affordability problem when Zlatan Ibrahimovic, during his time with the LA Galaxy, is complaining about the costs of children’s futbol leagues.

Next to soccer, the second biggest sport in the world is basketball. They both are casting wider nets off rip.

The NBA is full of international kids, today, because Michael Jordan was one of the most famous people on earth. The Dream Team gave tens of millions hoop dreams of becoming like mike. The game spread like wildfire.

Additionally, the “early adopters,” Sabonis, Luka’s father, Wemby’s parents, etc. who already played basketball all their life started having kids. They were able to train their children with their unique knowledge that their parents did not have.

Moreover, basketball, unlike football and futbol, is much more dependent upon height as an indicator of success. So since America does have a monopoly on height, once the game generated serious cash, guys like Yao Ming, Hakeem, Joel Embiid, etc. were offered opportunities to become professional athletes.

7 footers in the 1950s were just regular dudes. Joel Embiid said he learned how to shoot by watching instructional videos of white guys on YouTube.

Next, although Roger Goodell has been super strategic about targeting international areas to grow the sport, football is an inherently violent game that automatically turns off a ton of prospective international kids who will grow up to be men w/ body types and/or skill sets that could succeed in CFB/NFL.

Lastly, basketball, baseball and futbol all have low barriers of entry and less chances of being injured. Sure, we all played street football growing up — often two hand touch for safety. Still, that is a much more watered down version of the game compared to 3on3 pickup basketball/futbol or DR baseball where they use oven mitts as gloves.
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pacusmc

Thread 'Are the travel/aau/academy programs hurting american athletics?warning very long'

Is everybody catching up or are we just diluting athletic talent?

I haven’t followed the nba in a while so I began watching again in the playoffs.
The amount of foreign basketball players was intriguing. As of Oct 2023 there were 125 international players from about 40 foreign countries. And it’s not just average players. It’s all stars and mvp’s.

That’s crazy to think about for an old head like me. So what could be going on in the states that would have had such a drastic change n the landscape?

Was the talent in other countries always just as good and not discovered?

Is the talent in...
  • Like
 
pacusmc said:
pacusmc

Thread 'Are the travel/aau/academy programs hurting american athletics?warning very long'

Is everybody catching up or are we just diluting athletic talent?

I haven’t followed the nba in a while so I began watching again in the playoffs.
The amount of foreign basketball players was intriguing. As of Oct 2023 there were 125 international players from about 40 foreign countries. And it’s not just average players. It’s all stars and mvp’s.

That’s crazy to think about for an old head like me. So what could be going on in the states that would have had such a drastic change n the landscape?

Was the talent in other countries always just as good and not discovered?

Is the talent in...
  • Like
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Will read this in a bit, thanks
 
Gocanes1990 said:
Great write up D! Is there any context from staff on the hesitancy to hit Texas but affinity for Deep South?
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I’m not sure why people feel Mario has a hesitancy to hit up Texas. He hired Rod Wright as our dline coach.

I do think Mario made a strategic calculation based on he and his staff’s network/history to target Louisiana/Alabama/the Midwest and other parts of Florida very heavily.

Everything is about trade offs. Texas has scores of talented players, however, they also have scores of colleges and coaches w/ ties to those schools, which raises the barrier of entry for blue chips to choose our school in Coral Gables.
 
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Coach Macho said:
We have massive parenting and coaching issues in South Florida... and they're getting much worse.

1. Most high school programs down here are "enablers" to their stud players. They allow them to get away with what they want, which leads to less development, less accountability, poor work ethic, etc. They arrive at college with those bad habits.

2. There's not a lot of development going on down here. Kids aren't leaving high school "college ready"...mentally or physically. Their technique sucks, they can't read a defense/offense, DB's only know how to play one coverage, they dont know college terminology, etc.

Manny would take kids like this in a heartbeat...
And then he'd enable them some more.
That's why we got what we got.

Mario wants FOOTBALL PLAYERS. High character, high work ethic, knowledge of the game. And you gotta be willing to leave South Florida if you want a roster like that. Those kids aren't in abundance down here.
Click to expand...
Appreciate the insights

When Mario has prioritized the area it’s been IMG, which is obviously a totally different beast. He’s also gone to STA which has a history of good coaching

His first big class what I noticed most was most every interview with these kids was very impressive

Not to paint too many broad strokes but seeing it play out for a few years now I see what he’s doing
 
cookies said:
Was it you back in the day driving the Gus Bus when a lot on the board were calling him twinkle toes? Or was that bleakvern?
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I was One of them. There was a few others can’t remember though. That’s been a long time ago
 
grover said:
If we were winning with the NIL program we have in place now, we get over half those recruits. Plus another 50 you didn't list.
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Nah you're right, let me vent bro.

The reality is...

"Miami's real-estate market is feeling the effects of the climate crisis and a growing population. Wealthier residents are moving to higher ground, putting pressure on lower-income communities. A general lack of affordable housing is also hurting Miami's low-income and immigrant communities."
 
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Dwinstitles said:
The problem is alot of the guys get over rated cause of the region.
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This is it. An overabundance of recruiting media based in Florida, they have to write about something and then they all start drinking their own Kool-Aid and an overly positive narrative is built about a player.
 
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88 said:
To be honest Miami has a better shot getting elite kids outside of South Florida anyway. I’ve seen that elite elite kids down here want to get away far too often. We’ve been almost 0 for all of them since Coker

Sony Michel
Calvin Cook
Mathew Thomas
Pat Surtain
Tyson Campbell
Jordan Battle
Jeremiah Smith
Jerry Jeaudy
Amari Cooper
Calvin Ridley
Dallas Turner
Patrick Peterson
Teddy Bridgewater
Joey Boss
Nick Bosa
Lemarcus Joyner
TAMU cuck DT
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Because there was NIL before NIL with 98% of those kids. It’s part of the reason we have sucked for so long. You can’t keep losing the legit studs Mario is fixing this. And by the way we never got them all even in the glory days. Kids left.
But the fact that Miami has been running out teams that have lost to Duke, BC, GT and other **** programs along with never beating North Carolina on the road is a disgrace. And it shows south florida has been underrated. Also these kids care more about hat games and social media than they did 20 years ago. They were trying to buy their parents a home. Not go live on Toktik or whatever that crap is.
 
I don't buy it! Why? Ohio State, Alabama, Clemson, Michigan, Texas, OU and etc aren't staying out of South Florida/Florida! I give you some history on this! Former HC Howard Schellenberger before the Canes, he coached 7 years with the Miami Dolphins in the 70's. Before taking the Canes job and after taking the job, his time with the Dolphin made him understand something. South Florida and the rest of Florida had guys all in the NFL. He understood, if he could win big at Miami, if he could get his fare share of South Florida and the rest of Florida recruits. What most fans don't know or remember, prior to Schellenberger, Miami was a national recruiter. The Miami 1983 national title team based on % was high 50% to low 60% Florida prep players on the roster. The rest was from out of the state of Florida. Miami's next 4 national along FSU 3 and UF 3 were done with roster of 70% or higher Florida HS players.
 
SoFlo kids have become soft. Their character is for Sale as is many of the so called mentors who guide them. Street attitude, what can i get from thi$$. Doesn't work, move on... Lou Holtz was asked what is the difference in football players today and 50 years ago. He answered "Simple, Today's athletes talk about rights and privileges. And the players 50 years ago talked about obligations and responsibilities!” To me that describes society today in all areas including the workplace!!
 
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cane4life72 said:
This is a fact!! I was born and raised in Miami went to HS in the inner city and my entire no longer lives in Miami anymore. Some move north in state but the majority left the state to other parts of the country. In 10 yrs NW and other inner city schools will become a shell of it once was in football. GA, TX, TN, Carolinas will benefit greatly from the exodus.
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Yea what you posted wont be happening.

The inner city miami schools alumni care wayyyyy to much about football to let that happen..

****** Miami Central have kids transferring IN...from California, Colorado,Rhode Island.

The ppl that are leaving for the most part are the demographic that werent playing sports anyway.

When you see decline it will be the youth parks becoming bare.......well i dare you to go out to any park in south florida currently....dare you....the **** youth clubs have off szn conditioning **** near as long as um college does. Its chuc full of 5 year olds strapping on pads currently believe me i pass em up n down every day from miami to deerfield beach in broward.

Last week there may have been 5,000 at a youth optomist jamboree at sta.....the decline is being overstated severely.
 
JHallCanes said:
Appreciate the insights

When Mario has prioritized the area it’s been IMG, which is obviously a totally different beast. He’s also gone to STA which has a history of good coaching

His first big class what I noticed most was most every interview with these kids was very impressive

Not to paint too many broad strokes but seeing it play out for a few years now I see what he’s doing
Click to expand...
your repeating my thesis from earlier int he thread if you can find it
 
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