Thoughts on the end of the Golden era

Thoughts on the end of the Golden era

DMoney
DMoney
I believed in Golden. He was the type of guy we wanted so bad during the Shannon and Coker years. He had all the qualities they lacked: charisma, ambition and an obsessive work ethic.

But he failed. Spectacularly. And it really came down to three things: 1) he wasn’t a big-time coach; 2) he didn’t understand Miami football; and 3) his defenses were a national embarrassment.

The first and third speak for themselves. The second is something I should’ve noticed sooner. When Golden was cobbling his initial class together, he wanted to drop Denzel Perryman. He thought he was too small. Barrow had to convince him otherwise. Golden famously said, “The days of the 205-pound linebacker at Miami are over.” Five years later, his best linebacker weighs 205 pounds.

Golden never understood the Miami player, physically or mentally. The list of ballers that we turned away is too long to list. You know the names. The most telling thing to me is the futility of the return units. They are horrible, even though half of the returners in the NFL come from South Florida. Golden never saw these athletes in Boston College and Virginia.

His Tony Robbins-style motivation tactics always fell flat. I’ve read the Cane Code. It is hundreds of pages, and every page is filled to the brim with quotes, newspaper stories and graphs. There are chapters on everything from nutrition to sexual discipline. It is an incredibly detailed document, and there is zero chance any Miami player would ever read it.

By 2013, a lot of the players disliked him. These weren’t knuckleheads, but pure football guys like Duke Johnson and Ereck Flowers. Guys who are easy to inspire. They saw through the tactics, and once the losses piled up, everyone else did, too. This wasn't the Coker Country Club. Golden worked these guys to the bone, whether it was the weight room, the practice field or the community. But when you don't see results, you start to resent it.

The biggest problem with the defensive scheme is that it required eleven D’Onofrio’s. It's not unlike what happened with Shannon. He recruited clones of himself like Glenn Cook. I don't want a coach trying to recreate his glory days. I want a coach trying to recreate Miami's glory days.

South Florida players know football. They’ve been playing it at a high level since they were 6. But you need to let them trust their instincts and play fast. These have been the slowest Canes defenses I’ve ever seen.

The moment I lost faith was Virginia Tech 2013. We had a full house, a clear road in the Coastal, a starting lineup full of NFL players, and we still got smashed. The obvious time to fire Golden was after Pittsburgh in 2014. I’ve heard from good sources that Miami gave him the fifth year because they didn’t disclose the Shapiro scandal. Maybe it was guilt, maybe it was fear of legal liability. But it leaves us in a very awkward place right now.

Not everything Golden did was negative. He revitalized the strength and conditioning program. The players really did get bigger and stronger, as guys like Flowers and Linder proved at the combine. His PR skills were invaluable during the Shapiro scandal. He hired some good assistants. And even though he wasn’t a great recruiter, he worked so hard that he was able to stockpike a solid amount of talent.

The best thing we can do now is support Larry Scott and the players like crazy. Many people said they were boycotting the program because of Golden. No need to boycott now. Show the country that we will support Miami football. “The Coastal” doesn’t need to be a dirty word anymore.

This is a turnkey operation for a good coach. Kaaya is an elite, first-round quarterback. The defensive line is loaded with talent. Dabo wasn’t lying when he called Chad Thomas and AQM future superstars, and Kendrick Norton and RJ McIntosh are the most talented pair of defensive tackles Miami has signed in years. If you are good at quarterback and defensive line, you can win championships. Nothing else, except coaching, is more important.

Now it’s time to find the guy. This is the program that won national championships with four different coaches. This is the program that sent four coaches in a row to the pros. Other programs build statues of coaches. This program builds coaches.

But you can’t just plug anyone in, as we’ve learned. This is three failed regimes in a row. USC went through it, Alabama went through it, and now Miami is going through it.

There is a reason we all keep obsessing over this team. It's because we know what happens when we find the right guy. They make movies about it. Hopefully, today will be the first scene in Part 3.
 

Comments (170)

Not beating a top 25 team ever says it all, doesn't it?

I've said it repeatedly for three years; you can't plug South Florida kids into a defense that doesn't showcase their best abilities. Never understood it then; don't understand it now.

No more BS. Miami has money, and getting the right coach is a great investment that will pay huge dividends. Hiring Schnelly in '78 was the last hurrah.

No more ******** around. Make Miami great again.
 
Spot on DMoney. Thanks!

Now it's time to pick that home run hitting coach that makes other teams fear game day when they face us.
 
What's the word on Hue Jackson D$? Is he still interested in the job? Is the school interested in him? According to someone here I forget who, Hue contacted the school. Any new updates on that.

What about all the Cristobal talk? What are his chances. Hopefully as close to zero as possible
 
Any information on how much pulling the trigger mid-season cost the university financially, and whether it will affect how much we can spend on the next coach?
 
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I finished reading this and it was like a summary of everything we've discussed over the years and sat through the FAU game discussing. Down to the Denzyl Perryman story that a guy like Tano and I talked about in detail once. It freaked me out then. It freaks me out now.

As I finished reading your post, a clear image of Butch Davis or Chuck Pagano came to my mind. I'm not really sure why other than it's time to take a step forward that isn't completely reactionary. Both involve some level of risk. But, I think either would succeed here almost immediately. You know the other two (or three) guys I'm curious about, but there are more variables there.

Tiny bit of hope is at least flickering now.
 
What's the word on Hue Jackson D$? Is he still interested in the job? Is the school interested in him? According to someone here I forget who, Hue contacted the school. Any new updates on that.

What about all the Cristobal talk? What are his chances. Hopefully as close to zero as possible

Hue contacted us. But I worry that he may have coached his way into NFL head coaching opportunities. That's tough to overcome. I do think he has a college personality and would be intriguing as **** here.
 
What's the word on Hue Jackson D$? Is he still interested in the job? Is the school interested in him? According to someone here I forget who, Hue contacted the school. Any new updates on that.

What about all the Cristobal talk? What are his chances. Hopefully as close to zero as possible

Hue contacted us. But I worry that he may have coached his way into NFL head coaching opportunities. That's tough to overcome. I do think he has a college personality and would be intriguing as **** here.

I remember getting clowned for posting he contacted UM. The fat face guy had some cute jokes

As for Hue, I'm scared we blew our chance . He's a hot commodity now.

Hopefully he just wanted to comeback to college
 
excellent write up, DMoney would you go Offensive or defensive head coach?
 
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What's the word on Hue Jackson D$? Is he still interested in the job? Is the school interested in him? According to someone here I forget who, Hue contacted the school. Any new updates on that.

What about all the Cristobal talk? What are his chances. Hopefully as close to zero as possible

Hue contacted us. But I worry that he may have coached his way into NFL head coaching opportunities. That's tough to overcome. I do think he has a college personality and would be intriguing as **** here.

That's pretty much exactly how I feel. Intrigued is the perfect word.

I'm sure with the continual improvement in Dalton's game along with their general success on that side of the ball that you are right in saying he will get some NFL looks.
 
Mr. DMoney sir, What are the reasons for all the no Butch leaks so soon in the process?
 
I'll definitely go to the remaining home games now...but until I see who they finally name as successor I'm pumping the brakes on getting too excited.

This administration is littered with apathy and incompetence. I pray to God I'm proven wrong and they go out and make a good, inspired, well thought out hire....but I have serious doubts they have the capacity or willingness to do it.

The next 3 months are going to tell us everything we need to know about the Canes going forward into the future. If they make a lazy hire it pretty much affirms what many of us have been fearing is the REAL problem with this program....that the people in the position to make decisions don't give a **** about football.

I'm hoping for the best...but I need to see it to believe it.
 
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excellent write up, DMoney would you go Offensive or defensive head coach?

Offensive coaches can have great defenses and vise versa. So it just needs to be the right guy.

I will say this. The most important thing to this program is building back the defense. We are a joke right now. Nobody respects us. That needs to change immediately. Kaaya gives you the opportunity to play for championships within two years if you build a great defense.
 
Good read. Only thing I disagree is that Kaaya is a first-round material
 
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excellent write up, DMoney would you go Offensive or defensive head coach?

Offensive coaches can have great defenses and vise versa. So it just needs to be the right guy.

I will say this. The most important thing to this program is building back the defense. We are a joke right now. Nobody respects us. That needs to change immediately. Kaaya gives you the opportunity to play for championships within two years if you build a great defense.

I want an aggressive D . One that let's the DL loose like crazed dogs, db's that jam and have hands on wr's, daring the refs to throw a flag .

This is what miami defense was built on, playing aggressive and down hill. Not sitting back and letting the offense dictate the action.
 
It became clear by his second year that Golden's preferred defensive style was disliked by the fans ,potential recruits and the players themselves.AFTER YEAR TWO HE WAS HIS OWN CLOUD. You have heard great pregame speeches by Jimmy and Butch pregame and listened to Golden try to numb guys down before a game.
Golden and Donofrio coached like they were so scared to fail abruptly they would rather die by a thousand cuts. In the end everyone quit on he and his buddy ,the fans then the defensive assistants and then the administration itself.
Its time to put the S Fla mindset back into the Hurricanes.the next coach should understand that as his firt priority.
 
What's the word on Hue Jackson D$? Is he still interested in the job? Is the school interested in him? According to someone here I forget who, Hue contacted the school. Any new updates on that.

What about all the Cristobal talk? What are his chances. Hopefully as close to zero as possible

Hue contacted us. But I worry that he may have coached his way into NFL head coaching opportunities. That's tough to overcome. I do think he has a college personality and would be intriguing as **** here.

I think u may be right on that one. We would be **** lucky to get that guy. A modern pro style offensive guru coaching a young future pro QB in Kayaa?!?! Wow! I'm pretty sure he has connections from the pro game, to be able to get a good staff as well.
 
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