This was the worst season ever. That’s true both in a vacuum and in context. We spent Alabama money for FIU results. Every week was worse than the last. We’ve hit more rock bottoms than The Rock at Wrestlemania 19. It’s a relief to be done with the season, and that’s a strange feeling.
What went wrong?
The offense- No need to bury the lede. Josh Gattis was a catastrophic hire. We went from scoring 31 ppg to scoring 19 ppg. We were 113th in the nation with an NFL-caliber QB and a veteran offensive line. We were pass-happy (100th in rush play percentage) with no explosive passing (95th in yards per pass) and no ability to protect the passer (114th in sacks per game). Everything sucked.
I wasn’t too surprised we were boring. Anybody who listened to the podcast knew this offense struggled to make explosive plays throughout camp. But the total collapse of our quarterbacks was shocking to me and set the tone for this disastrous season.
I spoke with an FBS defensive coach who told me that our offense has no identity. We just run plays. Everything looked hard and everything was a struggle. Last year, there were numerous layups every game, both because of pace and scheme. We didn’t waste the entire clock trying to make the perfect playcall against the defense. The story of this season was congestion.
An offense this bad doesn’t just hurt your ability to score points. It also poisons the morale of the team. Which leads to point two:
Morale- The team and the staff were miserable all year. Anybody who watched the sidelines could see that. Mario sets an incredibly demanding tone with his work ethic. But if you’re a player, how do you buy into a hellacious process when the coaches can’t put you in position to succeed? On top of that, Mario consistently buried the talent while treating Gattis with kid gloves. I understand why he had to do that as a professional, but it would infuriate me as a player.
Some kids are just lost causes. That’s normal for any coaching transition. Some kids, like Restrepo, will go balls-to-the-wall for anybody. It’s the kids in the middle that matter. They will buy in if you give them a reason. Mario gave them nothing.
Staff cohesion- These are the two most glaring stats of the season for me- we ranked 8th nationally in sacks per game and 117th in the nation in pass efficiency defense. It’s almost impossible to be that bad against the pass with an elite front four pass rush. And it’s not like we lacked talent. The secondary was filled with experienced blue-chippers, several of whom will get looks on Sundays.
The lesson? Hiring all-star coaches does not guarantee an all-star staff. Kevin Steele had killer defenses at Auburn. Addae had elite secondaries at WVU and Georgia. But they could not get on the same page. Every game had multiple coverage busts that cost us games.
This board killed Banda and Rumph because of their resumes. But they were on the same page with the defensive coordinator. The result was consistently good pass defense and players getting better. Look at our pass efficiency defense ranks during the Rumph/Banda/Manny as DC years:
2016- 12th
2017- 20th
2018- 4th
We dropped to the 30s when Baker replaced Manny, dropped to 42nd with TRob and totally bottomed out with Addae. The lesson is that we need to prioritize chemistry and cohesion with the next staff, on both sides of the ball.
Injuries- If Mario is assessing every aspect of the program, he needs to start with our very expensive sports science program. This is more than just bad luck. We lost Arroyo, Zion, Citizen, Chaney, Justice, Denis and Chase Smith for the year along with TVD, Restrepo and Jalen Rivers for extended stretches. Everybody who visited Greentree noticed the extreme physicality of the practices. That style can be risky. We ended up with the worst of both of worlds- a beat-up team that wasn’t tough. Injuries were a problem with Cristobal at Oregon and the issue has continued at Miami.
Talent deterioration- There was a significant talent drop-off after the early 2000s. But even through the Shannon and Golden eras, Miami continued to produce NFL players at a Top 5-10 rate. That fell of completely with Richt and Diaz. We’re down to 11 total NFL players, tied for 21st with Tennessee, Ole Miss and Virginia Tech. Three transition classes in seven years along with disappointing classes in 2018 and 2020 put us in a hole.
Misses in the transfer portal- While Mario spent three months building a staff, we were falling behind at key positions in the Portal. Tyler Steen (Miami native) ended up as the starting LT for Alabama. Juice Wells, a stud WR from James Madison, went to South Carolina. We struck out at corner and linebacker. Mario said he regretted not taking more players from the Portal. The effects were felt on the field.
No discipline- When Mario replaced Manny, we heard a lot about how Manny didn’t hold his players accountable. If anything changed, it hasn’t shown up on film yet. Miami was 108th in penalties per game and 123rd in giveaways. The film needs to start matching the talk.
Put it all together, and you have the worst team our lives. What’s next? You can find that thread here. But for now, let’s hope Mario remembers the lessons of this season while the rest of us try to forget it.
What went wrong?
The offense- No need to bury the lede. Josh Gattis was a catastrophic hire. We went from scoring 31 ppg to scoring 19 ppg. We were 113th in the nation with an NFL-caliber QB and a veteran offensive line. We were pass-happy (100th in rush play percentage) with no explosive passing (95th in yards per pass) and no ability to protect the passer (114th in sacks per game). Everything sucked.
I wasn’t too surprised we were boring. Anybody who listened to the podcast knew this offense struggled to make explosive plays throughout camp. But the total collapse of our quarterbacks was shocking to me and set the tone for this disastrous season.
I spoke with an FBS defensive coach who told me that our offense has no identity. We just run plays. Everything looked hard and everything was a struggle. Last year, there were numerous layups every game, both because of pace and scheme. We didn’t waste the entire clock trying to make the perfect playcall against the defense. The story of this season was congestion.
An offense this bad doesn’t just hurt your ability to score points. It also poisons the morale of the team. Which leads to point two:
Morale- The team and the staff were miserable all year. Anybody who watched the sidelines could see that. Mario sets an incredibly demanding tone with his work ethic. But if you’re a player, how do you buy into a hellacious process when the coaches can’t put you in position to succeed? On top of that, Mario consistently buried the talent while treating Gattis with kid gloves. I understand why he had to do that as a professional, but it would infuriate me as a player.
Some kids are just lost causes. That’s normal for any coaching transition. Some kids, like Restrepo, will go balls-to-the-wall for anybody. It’s the kids in the middle that matter. They will buy in if you give them a reason. Mario gave them nothing.
Staff cohesion- These are the two most glaring stats of the season for me- we ranked 8th nationally in sacks per game and 117th in the nation in pass efficiency defense. It’s almost impossible to be that bad against the pass with an elite front four pass rush. And it’s not like we lacked talent. The secondary was filled with experienced blue-chippers, several of whom will get looks on Sundays.
The lesson? Hiring all-star coaches does not guarantee an all-star staff. Kevin Steele had killer defenses at Auburn. Addae had elite secondaries at WVU and Georgia. But they could not get on the same page. Every game had multiple coverage busts that cost us games.
This board killed Banda and Rumph because of their resumes. But they were on the same page with the defensive coordinator. The result was consistently good pass defense and players getting better. Look at our pass efficiency defense ranks during the Rumph/Banda/Manny as DC years:
2016- 12th
2017- 20th
2018- 4th
We dropped to the 30s when Baker replaced Manny, dropped to 42nd with TRob and totally bottomed out with Addae. The lesson is that we need to prioritize chemistry and cohesion with the next staff, on both sides of the ball.
Injuries- If Mario is assessing every aspect of the program, he needs to start with our very expensive sports science program. This is more than just bad luck. We lost Arroyo, Zion, Citizen, Chaney, Justice, Denis and Chase Smith for the year along with TVD, Restrepo and Jalen Rivers for extended stretches. Everybody who visited Greentree noticed the extreme physicality of the practices. That style can be risky. We ended up with the worst of both of worlds- a beat-up team that wasn’t tough. Injuries were a problem with Cristobal at Oregon and the issue has continued at Miami.
Talent deterioration- There was a significant talent drop-off after the early 2000s. But even through the Shannon and Golden eras, Miami continued to produce NFL players at a Top 5-10 rate. That fell of completely with Richt and Diaz. We’re down to 11 total NFL players, tied for 21st with Tennessee, Ole Miss and Virginia Tech. Three transition classes in seven years along with disappointing classes in 2018 and 2020 put us in a hole.
Misses in the transfer portal- While Mario spent three months building a staff, we were falling behind at key positions in the Portal. Tyler Steen (Miami native) ended up as the starting LT for Alabama. Juice Wells, a stud WR from James Madison, went to South Carolina. We struck out at corner and linebacker. Mario said he regretted not taking more players from the Portal. The effects were felt on the field.
No discipline- When Mario replaced Manny, we heard a lot about how Manny didn’t hold his players accountable. If anything changed, it hasn’t shown up on film yet. Miami was 108th in penalties per game and 123rd in giveaways. The film needs to start matching the talk.
Put it all together, and you have the worst team our lives. What’s next? You can find that thread here. But for now, let’s hope Mario remembers the lessons of this season while the rest of us try to forget it.
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