Went to the elite camp Saturday.
First and foremost...
Completely different energy around the program right now.
Some notes...
1. Elite prospects all over. I think we all knew that, but to see all these kids in person is a different ballgame. First thing Miami did after having kids/family sign in, is measure every prospects's height and weight. You had to do that before you even entered the building. I made the coaches do me, and after measuring in at 6'2" 307lbs they asked if I had any eligibility left to add to the DT depth. So if you guys see an unknown walk-on on the roster this spring, or a player on the sideline eating lemon pepper wings between possessions, you'll know who it is. I'm trying my best to get jersey #69.
2. We are no longer fvckin' around. There will be no more excuses. There is full investment and we are finally trying to play with the big boys. Mario revealed the plans for a completely new football building/facility. Mario requested no pics/videos so we weren't able to get shots of it...but it's serious. Bama level facilities. He said the building will likely be 4/5 stories high. THE BEST OF THE BEST. No stone unturned. Massive weight room with 20 built-in platforms and the entire wall will be made of glass, with a full view of the practice field. A ridiculous student lounge with the latest technology and videos games. A cafe that seats 150 people. The list goes on and on. It's simply much easier to just describe it as BEST OF THE BEST. Nobody will have the facility advantage on us anymore, including Bama.
3. I was told by Salavea and Stroud that we will be running a 4-front. It'll be a 4-2-5 structure. We we not be basing out of an Odd front, so we can throw those speculations out of the window. It's still possible that we could get Dorlus from Oregon. He will play mainly DE here. Salavea is not allowed to communicate with him any longer, so the ball is in Dorlus' court. We'd all love to see him come home, but Oregon is negative recruiting Miami and talking about how we don't even have a DC yet. I know Dorlus is tired of playing inside (DT) so much, but he kinda had to at Oregon. What he might fail to understand is, if he stays at Oregon he'll continue to play inside. Lanning is a 3-4 guy. At Miami he'll play outside. Salavea is pumped about the young talent at DT here, and really NEEDS Dorlus at DE. Let's hope the kid comes home. Salavea said he's an early round draft pick.
4. ENERGY, ENERGY, ENERGY! Everybody Mario has brought so far has big energy. Salavea gets pumped the **** up when he speaks about ball, very animated. Can't say whether he's better or worse than Simpson, but he's DIFFERENT. Simpson doesn't give you the feeling that he would ring your neck or that he could still suit up if he had to. Salavea, on the other hand, might walk into a kid's living room and scare him into signing with Miami.
Feld is a certified lunatic. When we arrived to the event, he had a group of players in the weight room lifting so we got to watch him in action. When we spoke in front of the crowd, he was the only one who declined to use a microphone. Dude would rather shout. He talked about neck strength, which was interesting, and placing an emphasis on core. Doesn't care to have a roster full of guys who can squat 600lbs but can't play ball and/or stay healthy or be explosive/flexible. One of the players I spoke to likes Feld much better than the last guy. He said the last guy was all about "punishing" players, and just working them, instead of being more focused on actual goals. (not verbatim, but that was the gist) He just said that Feld is more detailed. Words used to describe him were "lit" and "beast".
5. You can see how/why Mario's staff recruits well. Mirabal, Mario and Salavea are all very personable, humble and people oriented. None of that pompous/nerd energy that Manny and some of the former guys oozed from their skin. We literally had a discussion at the event about this issue. (a few HS guys and I) Mario gives off a much more genuine and personable energy. Even one of the position coaches kinda eluded to this. He also said that under Manny we were "figuring stuff out", like on the fly. Mario is like 'boom, boom, boom' this is WTF is going on. This is what happens when you hire an experienced/qualified guy.
6. THERE ARE NO MORE EXCUSES!!! Whatever resource Miami doesn't have, it's coming. We've got big-time people backing Mario. We've got money. We will soon have EVERYTHING the big dawg programs have. All the same toys. We also have a local 7-on-7 team full of elite talent that is funded/sponsored by Ruiz. That's a massive resource that many programs do not have. It's about to get A LOT harder for other schools to come down here and snatch our kids. AND IT'S ABOUT TO BECOME IMPOSSIBLE TO NEGATIVE-RECRUIT AGAINST MIAMI. They won't be able to point at our lack of resources, point at our facilities, point at our staff, etc. Plus we're fvckin' located in a world renowned city.
IF MARIO CAN'T DO THIS, PACK UP THE PROGRAM!!!
Because we're about to have everything we need. If the play-calling/coaching is halfway decent WE BACK.
