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2 Years in With Mario: An In-Depth Approach

WeBallinBoyz

WeBallinBoyz

Whisper "It Just Means More" Again Daddy
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Nov 24, 2015
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I’ll apologize in advance for the length of this post. If you want to scroll to the bottom and read the TLDR version, be my guest. For the Cristobal Crusaders that will surely have their feathers ruffled by what’s just the flat-out truth (numbers never lie), fly away and seek shelter in the recruiting threads.

Ripping the bandaid right off, a sub .500 record through two seasons is unacceptable at the University of Miami…no matter who the coach is. I’m afraid a lot of you that err on the side of hope (not to be misconstrued with peacocking) continue to point towards the recruiting classes as evidence that if the roster is loaded, there’s no way Mario can ***** it up. But before we get into that by comparing him to a former Miami coach, let’s analyze the actual concrete results we as fans have had to endure these last two years. This includes:

  • A blowout loss to Middle Tennessee St.
  • One of the most boneheaded losses in college football history to Georgia Tech by refusing to take a knee
  • Winless against Florida State and UNC
  • First ever defeat to Rutgers
  • 12-13 record overall
  • 6-10 in conference play
  • 7-8 at home
  • 5-5 on the road

So that’s…not great. Really there’s no argument against it being utterly bewildering. We’ve seen his numbers compared to other coaches in Year 2, and he’s just ahead of Sunbelt Billy in terms of success from a win-loss perspective. But - let’s keep trudging along.

@Suhrthing made a great thread regarding recruiting not being enough to deem a coach as successful. Roster makeup and talent absolutely matters, but wins and losses matter 10x more. I urge many of you to look back on former Cane-turned rat Randy Shannon and his first two seasons at the University of Miami.

Shannon:

Yr 1: 5-7
Yr 2: 7-6 (6th loss came on 12/27/08 Emerald Bowl by 7 pts)

Cristobal:

Yr 1: 5-7
Yr 2: 7-6 (6th loss came on 12/28/23 Pinstripe Bowl by 7 pts)

Remember, Shannon was (and still is) heralded as an elite recruiter that would build a fence around South Florida and bring in elite talent. I mean he did bring in the number one class in 2008 and a top ten class in 2009. And yet, Shannon didn’t bring any advantage when it came to game days.

Which brings me to my next point. What disconsernible advantage does Mario bring other than in the high school talent acquisition department? On game days, he’s arguably a net negative. Is there anything positive that he brings regarding schematics, prepping, clock management, adjustments, key decision-making, etc?

I can’t even give him flowers for portal recruiting. What is the ratio of unquestioned, game-changing additions compared to flat-out Jags and/or non-impact players in two cycles?

I’ll give you Lee, Cohen, Kiko, Porter. Two are gone now.

I question a whooooole lot more than that. Seriously, who else made you go “wow, that dude is a game-changer. He’s one of our best players.”

The facts are the facts, and a lot of the angst towards people that question where this ship is going is predicated on a fear that this is the program’s last shot at relevancy. Mario is basically Ed Orgeron, except Orgeron sat in the corner on game day, acquired elite talent through recruiting + the portal, and hired an innovative OC (or OC’s if you want to play the two-headed game).

This portal cycle is going to be massive for this program. As much as we want to believe and rationalize our lack of success in 2022 and 2023, the fact is three consecutive underwhelming seasons at Miami got Manny fired and got people to turn on Golden and Shannon. Why would Mario be any different should this occur?

It’s not just me or CIS that realizes this. Mario is getting DRAGGED on social media. Feel free to search yourselves, but here’s a few examples that don’t even include the laughingstock he caused from the GT game.



YIKES.



That’s a pretty big account. Here’s #3



Blue bloods is a joke, but let’s not deny they have 17.5K followers that see this kind of propaganda.



I haven’t even gotten to the glaring holes in the roster that need to be addressed, and this is TWO YEARS into the regime.


TLDR: The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting a different result. Something has to change on game day, or we will be having the same discussions next season. I don’t care how well you recruit, at some point you have to prove it on the field. These first two seasons were an unmitigated disaster, and Mario has to fix it asap.
 
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CBurrr93 said:
Program is a circus. I watch other teams and they look like a team. As if they’ve actually seen a football before. There’s no coming back. But we all hope and pray. It’s all moot.
Click to expand...
I still have hope, maybe I’m insane. I probably am.

But man, show me something on game day. Some adaptation, something different. It’s just pathetically redundant and predictable.
 
WeBallinBoyz said:
I’ll apologize in advance for the length of this post. If you want to scroll to the bottom and read the TLDR version, be my guest. For the Cristobal Crusaders that will surely have their feathers ruffled by what’s just the flat-out truth (numbers never lie), fly away and seek shelter in the recruiting threads.

Ripping the bandaid right off, a sub .500 record through two seasons is unacceptable at the University of Miami…no matter who the coach is. I’m afraid a lot of you that err on the side of hope (not to be misconstrued with peacocking) continue to point towards the recruiting classes as evidence that if the roster is loaded, there’s no way Mario can ***** it up. But before we get into that by comparing him to a former Miami coach, let’s analyze the actual concrete results we as fans have had to endure these last two years. This includes:

  • A blowout loss to Middle Tennessee St.
  • One of the most boneheaded losses in college football history to Georgia Tech by refusing to take a knee
  • Winless against Florida State and UNC
  • First ever defeat to Rutgers
  • 12-13 record overall
  • 6-10 in conference play
  • 7-8 at home
  • 5-5 on the road

So that’s…not great. Really there’s no argument against it being utterly bewildering. We’ve seen his numbers compared to other coaches in Year 2, and he’s just ahead of Sunbelt Billy in terms of success from a win-loss perspective. But - let’s keep trudging along.

@Suhrthing made a great thread regarding recruiting not being enough to deem a coach as successful. Roster makeup and talent absolutely matters, but wins and losses matter 10x more. I urge many of you to look back on former Cane-turned rat Randy Shannon and his first two seasons at the University of Miami.

Shannon:

Yr 1: 5-7
Yr 2: 7-6 (6th loss came on 12/27/08 Emerald Bowl by 7 pts)

Cristobal:

Yr 1: 5-7
Yr 2: 7-6 (6th loss came on 12/28/23 Pinstripe Bowl by 7 pts)

Remember, Shannon was (and still is) heralded as an elite recruiter that would build a fence around South Florida and bring in elite talent. I mean he did bring in the number one class in 2008 and a top ten class in 2009. And yet, Shannon didn’t bring any advantage when it came to game days.

Which brings me to my next point. What disconsernible advantage does Mario bring other than in the high school talent acquisition department? On game days, he’s arguably a net negative. Is there anything positive that he brings regarding schematics, prepping, clock management, adjustments, key decision-making, etc?

I can’t even give him flowers for portal recruiting. What is the ratio of unquestioned, game-changing additions compared to flat-out Jags and/or non-impact players in two cycles?

I’ll give you Lee, Cohen, Kiko, Porter. Two are gone now.

I question a whooooole lot more than that. Seriously, who else made you go “wow, that dude is a game-changer. He’s one of our best players.”

The facts are the facts, and a lot of the angst towards people that question where this ship is going is predicated on a fear that this is the program’s last shot at relevancy. Mario is basically Ed Orgeron, except Orgeron sat in the corner on game day, acquired elite talent through recruiting + the portal, and hired an innovative OC (or OC’s if you want to play the two-headed game).

This portal cycle is going to be massive for this program. As much as we want to believe and rationalize our lack of success in 2022 and 2023, the fact is three consecutive underwhelming seasons at Miami got Manny fired and got people to turn on Golden and Shannon. Why would Mario be any different should this occur?

It’s not just me or CIS that realizes this. Mario is getting DRAGGED on social media. Feel free to search yourselves, but here’s a few examples that don’t even include the laughingstock he caused from the GT game.



YIKES.



That’s a pretty big account. Here’s #3



Blue bloods is a joke, but let’s not deny they have 17.5K followers that see this kind of propaganda.



I haven’t even gotten to the glaring holes in the roster that need to be addressed, and this is TWO YEARS into the regime.


TLDR: The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting a different result. Something has to change on game day, or we will be having the same discussions next season. I don’t care how well you recruit, at some point you have to prove it on the field. These first two seasons were an unmitigated disaster, and Mario has to fix it asap.
Click to expand...

Fair enough and balanced post. Year three should crystalize everything.

That being said - **** those those twitter talking heads who don't need an excuse to **** on this []_[].
 
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X7Cane said:
Yes, let's blame all those missed tackles on Mario. Lets blame the interception, blocked punt and Georges atrocious penalties on Mario
Click to expand...
So we went 7-6 because of today? We went 5-7 last year because of today?

Or maybe, just connect the dots and the similarities between today’s performance, and past performances…we lost to a team that attempted 15 passes. We were only missing one guy in the front 7 due to opt outs (LT). Flagg is trash, right? He doesn’t count CIS said. Deen played. Wayne played a lot (and was not very good tbh). Wes was atrocious. Hunte played.

We had a 17-14 lead and went into a shell on offense…have we seen that before previously?

Maybe, just maybe…there’s a theme here. It’s the same things that have plagued Mario’s Miami teams, and some of his Oregon teams.
 
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Gables Cane said:
Riddle me this CIS:

What does Mario contribute to this team on game days?

Absolutely nothing.
Click to expand...

Like I said, Cristobal can still earn a statue of himself on campus if he acknowledges his own shortcomings. He is the CEO. He can watch games from the box. Bring in a COO to do everything else - timeouts, key decisions like punt or go for it on 4th down, etc on gameday. He could hire someone to be less than a HC but more than an OC. Perhaps that was the plan all along with Candle...

The Daily Show Wow GIF by The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
 
WeBallinBoyz said:
I’ll apologize in advance for the length of this post. If you want to scroll to the bottom and read the TLDR version, be my guest. For the Cristobal Crusaders that will surely have their feathers ruffled by what’s just the flat-out truth (numbers never lie), fly away and seek shelter in the recruiting threads.

Ripping the bandaid right off, a sub .500 record through two seasons is unacceptable at the University of Miami…no matter who the coach is. I’m afraid a lot of you that err on the side of hope (not to be misconstrued with peacocking) continue to point towards the recruiting classes as evidence that if the roster is loaded, there’s no way Mario can ***** it up. But before we get into that by comparing him to a former Miami coach, let’s analyze the actual concrete results we as fans have had to endure these last two years. This includes:

  • A blowout loss to Middle Tennessee St.
  • One of the most boneheaded losses in college football history to Georgia Tech by refusing to take a knee
  • Winless against Florida State and UNC
  • First ever defeat to Rutgers
  • 12-13 record overall
  • 6-10 in conference play
  • 7-8 at home
  • 5-5 on the road

So that’s…not great. Really there’s no argument against it being utterly bewildering. We’ve seen his numbers compared to other coaches in Year 2, and he’s just ahead of Sunbelt Billy in terms of success from a win-loss perspective. But - let’s keep trudging along.

@Suhrthing made a great thread regarding recruiting not being enough to deem a coach as successful. Roster makeup and talent absolutely matters, but wins and losses matter 10x more. I urge many of you to look back on former Cane-turned rat Randy Shannon and his first two seasons at the University of Miami.

Shannon:

Yr 1: 5-7
Yr 2: 7-6 (6th loss came on 12/27/08 Emerald Bowl by 7 pts)

Cristobal:

Yr 1: 5-7
Yr 2: 7-6 (6th loss came on 12/28/23 Pinstripe Bowl by 7 pts)

Remember, Shannon was (and still is) heralded as an elite recruiter that would build a fence around South Florida and bring in elite talent. I mean he did bring in the number one class in 2008 and a top ten class in 2009. And yet, Shannon didn’t bring any advantage when it came to game days.

Which brings me to my next point. What disconsernible advantage does Mario bring other than in the high school talent acquisition department? On game days, he’s arguably a net negative. Is there anything positive that he brings regarding schematics, prepping, clock management, adjustments, key decision-making, etc?

I can’t even give him flowers for portal recruiting. What is the ratio of unquestioned, game-changing additions compared to flat-out Jags and/or non-impact players in two cycles?

I’ll give you Lee, Cohen, Kiko, Porter. Two are gone now.

I question a whooooole lot more than that. Seriously, who else made you go “wow, that dude is a game-changer. He’s one of our best players.”

The facts are the facts, and a lot of the angst towards people that question where this ship is going is predicated on a fear that this is the program’s last shot at relevancy. Mario is basically Ed Orgeron, except Orgeron sat in the corner on game day, acquired elite talent through recruiting + the portal, and hired an innovative OC (or OC’s if you want to play the two-headed game).

This portal cycle is going to be massive for this program. As much as we want to believe and rationalize our lack of success in 2022 and 2023, the fact is three consecutive underwhelming seasons at Miami got Manny fired and got people to turn on Golden and Shannon. Why would Mario be any different should this occur?

It’s not just me or CIS that realizes this. Mario is getting DRAGGED on social media. Feel free to search yourselves, but here’s a few examples that don’t even include the laughingstock he caused from the GT game.



YIKES.



That’s a pretty big account. Here’s #3



Blue bloods is a joke, but let’s not deny they have 17.5K followers that see this kind of propaganda.



I haven’t even gotten to the glaring holes in the roster that need to be addressed, and this is TWO YEARS into the regime.


TLDR: The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting a different result. Something has to change on game day, or we will be having the same discussions next season. I don’t care how well you recruit, at some point you have to prove it on the field. These first two seasons were an unmitigated disaster, and Mario has to fix it asap.
Click to expand...

caveman spear GIF by Aardman Animations
 
Handsome Squidbum said:
Like I said, Cristobal can still earn a statue of himself on campus if he acknowledges his own shortcomings. He is the CEO. He can watch games from the box. Bring in a COO to do everything else - timeouts, key decisions like punt or go for it on 4th down, etc on gameday. He could hire someone to be less than a HC but more than an OC. Perhaps that was the plan all along with Candle...

The Daily Show Wow GIF by The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
Click to expand...
Offensive game planning before Saturday is suspect IMO.
 
Can’t disagree. Numbers are damning. He can’t get out of his own way. And the kids he is recruiting will take a couple of years to be contributors. That being said, those early recruits are becoming contributors. Not every recruit is Mauigoa. Most need to get up to the speed of playing football with grown men. The sad part will be when he is average with too 10 classes. And the worst part heading into next year is that we are trying to figure out who is going to be the most important offensive player, so what do we have to hang our hopes on?

But us diehards have held onto blind faith for 20 years and unfortunately, we can’t rely on anymore right now. They are not dropping him with $64MM remaining on his contract and getting top rated classes. He does need to be more successful in the portal but that would probably hurt his HS recruiting. He did recruit this year’s DLine, overhauled last year’s OLine and has changed the LB room. This doesn’t fix stupid decision making vs. GT, but it does provide a platform for being a 9-10 win team, which would make you a fringe playoff team in the acc with the expanded playoffs. And in speaking with a former player tied to the program, Manny left the cupboard bare (think everywhere except the safeties and TEs).

But we are stuck with him. I would rather remain hopeful until it can make sense to move on. And perhaps he can turn in a solid season here and there to build on. Remember, we need him to bring us back to relevance if he cannot take us all of the way to the promise land. Keep getting talented teams, then we can find the next guy willing to step into his shoes with a stacked roster.
 
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WeBallinBoyz said:
So we went 7-6 because of today? We went 5-7 last year because of today?

Or maybe, just connect the dots and the similarities between today’s performance, and past performances…we lost to a team that attempted 15 passes. We were only missing one guy in the front 7 due to opt outs (LT). Flagg is trash, right? He doesn’t count CIS said. Deen played. Wayne played a lot (and was not very good tbh). Wes was atrocious. Hunte played.

We had a 17-14 lead and went into a shell on offense…have we seen that before previously?

Maybe, just maybe…there’s a theme here.
Click to expand...
You proved my point lol. All of that has nothing to do with clock management. We're an extremely undisciplined team that makes a lot of mental mistakes. People act like Harbough, Kirby Smart and Day are these coaching geniuses. Those programs win because they are extremely talented and they play smart/disciplined football
 
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Mario is the problem no doubt. The defensive staff is fine. Good hires imo. Taylor has to be wondering wtf Mario is doing and won’t be here long. Which stinks cause he’s doing a great job for not having much experience.

Offensive coaches in ok w too. I don’t k ow what to make of Dawson. I’m not sure if it’s him or Mario or a combination of the two. I’m more inclined to think it’s Mario meddling w the offense and trying to run the a gap all day for some sort of personal high.

Mario needs to step aside and let his offense open it up. You can still run the ball for Christ sake. Why do we always have issues making this game harder than it needs to be

Remember when we used to use our speed to our advantage? Me too. I was in grade school and fell in love w Miami as they smoked teams. Now it’s like watching the big ten from 1995 all over again and again and again
 
X7Cane said:
You proved my point lol. All of that has nothing to do with clock management. We're an extremely undisciplined team that makes a lot of mental mistakes. People act like Harbough, Kirby Smart and Day are these coaching geniuses. Those programs win because they are extremely talented and they play smart/disciplined football
Click to expand...
Actually I think you just proved my point.

re: clock management - what if Mario doesn’t take his two timeouts to Cancun, and uses them either on Rutgers’s last drive or on our last TD drive? Maybe we have more than 22 seconds to get into the end zone.

I mean cmon man. We sound like a broken record on here complaining and highlighting the same things that drive us bonkers and hold the program back. It’s all self-inflicted.
 
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