Just my opinion, but this is what's REALLY holding the program back. Coaches come and go, but we simply cannot stay in that shytehole and expect to ever maintain an elite program. Again, just my opinion, and I realize that it's a pipe dream that we get our own stadium any time soon.
I completely agree with you. There was a thread here recently asking if we would be satisfied with a 5 year plan. I suspect it will be a revolving door 5 year plan, with continuous false hope. It reminds me of when I was a USC student and covering the basketball team for the student newspaper. We had a nice NCAA tournament team one year. I wrote we were probably 4 years away from legitimate chance at the Final Four. Then I caught myself and zapped that sentence. Who am I trying to kid? This is USC basketball. There's no birthright or logic toward the Final Four, four years or four decades from now.
I don't think the Dolphins or Canes will win a championship in that stadium. That was my position on the Dolphins once I first set foot in the place in 1987, and no reason to alter for the Canes. I believe in bottom line early foundational logic, not ping ponging due to the latest news. Playing that far away and in such a dismal stadium is a natural leak. You forfeit 1.5 to 2 points per game and lose out in recruiting also. No matter how well we fare, nobody is convincing me that some top players don't look at that situation and atmosphere and either never consider us or eventually reject us.
Besides, I don't think Miami is on the level of Notre Dame or Alabama or USC or other long term dynasties, programs that can lay dormant but always eligible if not inevitable for a huge rebound. Maybe that's because I started following the program and attending the games in the late '60s as a kid. There was no prospect of titles or major bowls at that point so IMO it's silly to announce that since we're in a fertile recruiting area that the title opportunities and wins will inevitably follow. That's a fraction of the equation. You need special, special people at the helm, whether it's coaches or skill positions or defensive tackle. Actually, all of the above. In this stadium as a college venue I don't see how you attract special people. The fact that we chose to play in this place and seem willing to accept it for another two decades screams to me that we are basically overmatched. I'll have faith in the upside when someone shows up who makes a new venue the absolute top priority. That was Schnellenberger more than three decades ago.
So let me get this straight... In your opinion, Miami will be a revolving door of coaches giving false hope but never winning anything? And Miami can't or won't attract top coaches/staff and loses top recruits all because of Sun Life stadium? Wow.
As much as I loved the Orange Bowl stadium, what made that place special were the teams the Miami put out onto its field, not the other way around. The Orange Bowl was so difficult/intimidating for opposing teams because Miami was fielding some of the greatest college football teams of all time. The Orange Bowl wasn't such a scary place for opposing teams in the 50s, 60s or 70s, I wonder why? You mean to tell me that those Miami teams of the '80s, 90s and early 2000's would not have been as successful if they had played at Sun Life stadium??? Jerome Brown, Sean Taylor, Michael Irvin, etc... would somehow have not been capable of winning national titles if they had played in Sun Life stadium??? I find that hard to believe.
You claim that Miami loses top recruits because of Sun Life stadium but yet you cannot prove this claim. In fact, the evidence clearly points that it has no bearing on a decision by a recruit. Look at this year as one example; Miami has a top 5 type recruiting class. I've never once read of a recruit saying "I didn't come to Miami because of their stadium situation." What really matters to most to recruits is proximity to home, relationship with coaches and playing time, in no specific order.
I am really shocked that you have so little faith in the Miami program rebounding from being in a down cycle. Your point about the 1960's is not applicable anymore. The issue in the 60's was that the talent was in South Forida but Miami football wasn't recruiting it in the 60s. It took Schnellenberger to realize that focusing on the State of Miami talent was the way to winning. The formula is out there now. The talent is here in South Florida and isn't going away. All it takes for Miami to be elite is to have a coach that can (a) follow the blueprint started in the early 80s and recruit the local talent and (b) coach up said talent. Miami will always be a good head coach away from national titles by virtue of being located in a hotbed of talent.
You believe great coaches and staff won't come to Miami because of Sun Life stadium??? The determining factor in Miami getting coaches is money, plain and simple. If Miami opens up its pocket books, they could snag just about any coach. Problem has been Miami has been cheap when it comes to salary but now it looks like that is changing. No coach in their right mind would turn down $2 million dollars to coach at Miami because of Sun Life stadium (a facility that is used by the team only 6 or so times every year, mind you).
Don't get me wrong, I would love for Miami to have its own stadium. It would be great for us as fans. But it would have no bearing on the on field product. Miami still would have been terrible because of Coker and Shannon and no stadium in the world could've changed that fact. Miami has been losing over the past decade because of poor coaching and all that comes with it. That's it. And as soon as Miami has good coaching (jury still out on Golden IMO), Miami will be elite again.
A question: if the stadium is such an integral part to success of a college football program, why don't teams like Auburn, Tennessee, Penn State, etc... with great stadiums have championship caliber teams each year? A current day prime example is Alabama: why were they so bad for 15 years since they have a top notch on campus stadium? Because they hired the likes of Mike Dubose, Mike Shula, etc... Then they hire Nick Saban and see what happens. It's all about hiring good coaches that can recruit and coach them up.
Finally, I'd like to say that Miami is a special, special program. No other program has the mystique/aura/undefineable quality that Miami has. It was always there, it just took Schnellenberger to bring it out, and once it was discovered in the 80s, it will always be there. It might get hidden when you have guys like Coker and Shannon at the helm but it is still there under the surface, just waiting for the right coach to tap into it. Sure, other programs have history and mystique as well but they are nothing like The U. This isn't me just being a homer; if you ask any objective, non-biased college football observer, they see the same things. Miami is a unique program.
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