Here is my defense of Al Golden, it's very long... I will probably get negged like crazy for this, but I’m just tired of reading all the negative posts and wanted to provide a different perspective. Am I happy with where the team is at? NO. Do like all the coaching decision etc? NO. But reading all these posts about Golden and his staff you would think they can’t even coach a HS team.
He came in after
2010 season taking over a very talented 7-6 team that vastly underachieved. Let revisit each season since he has been here.
2011 (6-6)
Recruiting:
Golden came in after the Bowl game and started recruiting with less than 2 months left to signing day. With very little time and few commitments, he was able to put together a class of 21 players. 2 JC players were signed to fill immediate needs (Botts and D. Smith), and 2 senior transfers were also brought in to help with depth (Ayles, M. Williams). I believe golden did a great job with the limited amount of time that he had by flipping and signing a bunch of talented players. However, 3 of them did not qualify (Grooms, Gadbois, Kinard), 3 more would eventually transfer out (Grimble, Alexis, R. Williams), and 3 starters from the class were dismissed from the team (E. Johnson, G. Paul, Finnie). This left the 2014 class with only 10 players on the current roster (Chick, Dorsett, D. Crawford, Perryman, Pierre, Scott, Goudis, Armbrister, Wells, King).
Season:
This may have been the most talented team that Golden has coached at the U so far. The core of the team was from the #1 ranked 2008 recruiting class who were entering into their 3rd year. The team went 6-6 in that year with a lot of suspensions of key players and negativity around the program. I still think, we could have easily gone 9-3 or 11-1 that year. Call me crazy but they lost to K-State by 4, @ VT by 3, @ FSU by 4, Virginia by 7, BC by 7. I think the season would have been very different if we didn’t lose the opener at Maryland without 9 players including 7 starters. We self-imposed and did not go to a bowl game.
2012: (7-5)
Recruiting:
Golden’s first full year to recruit was handicapped by the NCAA investigation but he still pulled in a large and talented class of 33. Headlined by local stars Duke, Tracy, and Deon this class brought a lot excitement and hope to the U.
Season:
The team went 7-5 after losing 14 starters from the previous year including 5 underclassman (Forston, Streeter, Miller, Vernon, Washington) who declared for the draft. They also suspended Ray Ray Armstrong and A. Johnson for the season prior to the start of the season. Losing a total of 23 players who have started games in their college was careers was too much to overcome for this young but talented team. Depth was almost non-existent as the roster was filled mostly with freshman and sophomores. The team started out 4-1 losing to an experienced K-State team who ended the year at #12. The middle of the season was tough with 3 consecutive losses to #4 ND (12-1), NC (8-4) and #10 FSU (12-2). The Canes closed out the season going 3-1 with the only loss on the road to Virginia by 1 point on the last play of the game. The team self-imposed again and skipped a bowl game.
2013: (9-4)
Recruiting:
Miami signed a small but solid class of 20 of which 3 DNQ (Bond, Lockley, Griffin). 3 highly talented players from the class are no longer with the team (Figs, Olsen, Sandland) as well. As always Golden also got a few SR transfers to fill in immediate gaps on the roster (Renfrow, Gilbert, O’Donnell).
Season:
The season started out with a lot of promise as the NCAA investigation came to an end with very few penalties left after all the self-imposed penalties Miami had already taken. This team was much improved from the year before with added experience and depth. They started out 7-0 and ranked #7 in the nation going into the matchup with FSU. The young Miami was no match for the eventually national champs and lost their best player Duke Johnson for the rest of the season. The banged up Hurricanes would go on to lose their next 2 games to a tough VT (8-5) team and the eventual ACC Coastal division champs in Duke (10-4). The Canes closed out the regular season win 2 wins over Virginia and Pitt. For the first time in 3 years Miami was going bowling. Without Duke and Dorset and a hobbled Morris and Hurns, they were dominated by a 12-1 Louisville team lead by their senior QB Teddy Bridgewater.
2014: (6-4)
Recruiting:
This class of 26 signees is as solid as they come. 20 of them have already played in games this season, with 8 of them either starting games or fighting for starting positions (Kaya, Berrios, Linder, Darling, Jenkins, Heurtelou, Wyche, Owens).
Season:
Losing 17 players with starting experience at Miami was a challenge that this 2014 team had to face. Projected starting QB Ryan Williams was injured during the spring forcing Brad Kaya to start as a true freshman. This team is 6-4 so far losing 3 tough games on the road and 1 to defending champs FSU. The offense is finally clicking and the defense looks much improved from 2013. I’m looking forward to seeing how this team continues to grow and finish the season.
2015
Recruiting:
Currently ranking #14 in the nation according to Rivals and #16 according to scout with 19 oral commitments.
Outlook:
The 2014 graduating class has only 21 seniors on the entire roster. 8 of the 21 are walk-ons, 1 might be back with a medical redshirt (Scott), and 2 (Williams, Heaps) are back-up QBs. The remaining 10 are all starters, 4 (Dorsett, Walford, Feliciano, McDermont ) on offense and 6 on Defense (Chickillo, Perryman, Gunter, Armbrister, Pierre, Fentress). Although 4 year starters like Perryman, Chickillo and McDermont are hard to replace, there is enough depth and talent behind them to win. With the depth finally building up at most positions and talent level rising, this team is definitely headed in the right direction.
Oh yeah, did I mention we currently have the #1 ranked recruiting
class for 2016?
