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247 Update on Admin Changes

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Cribby said:
Theres such strong opinions about a guy that hasn’t been hired , or knowing his role or the future of the football dept. Mario ( if hired ) would be making in the 7-8 million range , Zo (if hired) would be nowhere in that stratosphere. So I think we know who has the power there. Nobody has ever said the Ad wouldn’t be above Zo and has no control over football.

How about we wait and see if he’s actually hired , see the plan of the program going forward before having such opinions.
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If I'm Mario's agent I just point to Mel Tucker's new contract. He might have just got even more expensive.
 
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Empirical Cane said:
- Does Miami have the money to go get a Mario Cristobal? The constant message from people around this decision making process continues to be: “money is not an issue.” The U-Health healthcare system in South Florida makes a ton of money for the university and the UM leadership is finally willing to dip into those coffers to provide resources for the football program. We will see if UM puts the money up at the end of the day.

-- From the Podcast Golden Cane reiterated $$$ isn't a concern to do what is necessary. Where he departed from what has been reported elsewhere is the SOURCE of said funds. Yes, U Health has somewhat righted the ship, but he very strongly stated "Miami will call the Golden Canes and say pay for this..." He mentioned Soffer specifically in this regard.


- It is hard to ignore the potential Columbus High School connection to the program moving forward…Jose Mas is a Board of Trustees member that deeply cares about UM athletics. He also attended Columbus with Mario Cristobal. Marcus Lemonis is a booster that also attended Columbus. Alonzo Highsmith is a Columbus alum. Cristobal’s right hand man, offensive line coach Alex Mirabal, also attended Columbus. These connection points are interesting.

-- From the podcast...Le Batard and This Golden Cane cat both stressed an uneasiness the Columbus crowd is essentially moving out and taking charge. Highsmith and Mario might be the right choices, but lets make them not because they are connected via Columbus.
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Having obsessively read / watched / listened to everything I can about this over the last few days, these two points were the most pertinent to me.

This is a coup by, what I'm dubbing, the Columbus Crew who have had enough of Miami football specifically (but athletics in general) being mediocre. The vibe of this is just way different to the Uni President saying "we need a change". I think he's just along for the ride.

Cristobal is their #1 target with a bullet, but I don't think they pull their support if Mario says no - they're not spending this kind of money just to get their mate a job at the U. I also don't think the Golden Canes will be asked to pay for this - these guys seem to be fronting the money, which is why they're calling the shots.
 
TheOriginalCane said:
Had a bunch of classes with him, lived in the same dorm, ate in the same cafeteria, worked on The Miami Hurricane with him.

He made everything about him. Got suspended from the school newspaper for publishing Lou Holtz's home phone number. Got suspended at nearly every print job he's worked at. PLUS he snitched.

For the record...setting aside the ridiculous Tony Russell stuff, which was valid and valuable reporting...nearly everything LeBastard disclosed was personal information with which he was entrusted by players. Minor stuff. Those poor players trusted LeBastard and he screwed them over (though he had the "decency" to do so AFTER they graduated, what a prince he was).

Look, I could tell you plenty of damaging stories about the late 1980s Hurricane football players, and some of it is WAY worse than what LeBastard printed...but I would never do so, even if I could cash in. It's just not in my character to take anyone else's life stories and traffic in them for my gain/their loss.

Fvck that guy...I can respect his talent and accomplishments...while still acknowledging that he built his empire by ******** over everyone that trusted him.

The funny thing is...if you listen to that podcast...you recognize that LeBastard now has NO INFORMATION. No connections. No sources. He makes some "poor, poor, pitiful me" comments about how he didn't WANT to compete with other journalists who broke news stories...while ignoring that he made his bones BREAKING A SCANDALOUS STORY...and then you realize that nobody gives him information anymore...so his entire career, for the past 20+ years, is all about being a "shock jock" dealing in sports opinion and sports gossip, but NEVER in actual sports journalism. All of the so-called information that came out of that podcast came from Mike Ryan, not Dan LeBastard.

I just steer clear of him whenever I see him at UM events (not very frequently). I'm not afraid to be honest and shoot off my own mouth at him, so I try not to cause trouble.
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My little cousin works for ESPN. He’s on the NBA production team for all West Coast games. He’s met pretty much every anchor, host at ESPN in his brief stint there. Let’s just say he’s not a fan of Dan. There’s several he mentioned, and I didn’t even prompt him. I didn’t share my feelings on him, but yeah, he’s not a fan.
 
OldhamA said:
He's 65.

He's obviously not the guy for the next decade, but you could bring him in to set things right and start grooming a successor. I don't think any other candidate has anything like his success and experience.
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My bad...
 
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Rellyrell said:
On the WC, it’s late not early. Lol.

Short story: We’ve been f’ing up on the field!!!

Detailed Story:

Nike provided us w/ new unis in 2014, new design, & tech, just off strength. The 2014 season happened & instead of firing Golden after the entire off season & on-field debacle, we kept him. Nike, seeing our lack of commitment, made us an offer based upon the market tier we placed ourselves in from 2005-2015. Blake felt it was low and went into a bidding war between Adidas & UA. Adidas, desperate to rebrand itself, as well, decided to make us a lucrative offer, in which Nike refused to match.

Adidas gambled on us, thinking they attached themselves to a power, just like the ACC strategically placed us in The Coastal, & FSU vouched for us. We were supposed to be the crown jewel of the ACC and Adidas, just like we used to be Nike’s crown jewel.

We’ve literally let all of our suitors down, just collecting checks, which is y Adidas turned its attention to Washington, and went on record calling them it’s flagship school. Adidas biggest priority will now be Texas A&M starting next yr, especially what Jimbo has cooking. Why? B/c Adidas has been searching to have a P5 school that’s a force. All of the CFB powers r brand Nike. Adidas has by far & wide been a G5 sponsor. With that being said, Miami was supposed to be that for Adidas. They took a financial gamble on us from a brand & marketing standpoint.

7 yrs later & we’re collecting their checks & that’s bout it. Our merch has been dropping in price & not moving. U can find our latest “team shoe” on ****’s Sporting Goods from size 6.5 - 14 at a price at $130 instead of the original $180. We’ve not held up our end from an overall product standpoint, but still collecting their $. Part of Merch problems could be on Adidas’ failings as well, but we’re not helping them w/ our own perception.
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Yup, that sounds about right. Just collecting checks baby. It’s disgraceful.
 
OldhamA said:
Having obsessively read / watched / listened to everything I can about this over the last few days, these two points were the most pertinent to me.

This is a coup by, what I'm dubbing, the Columbus Crew who have had enough of Miami football specifically (but athletics in general) being mediocre. The vibe of this is just way different to the Uni President saying "we need a change". I think he's just along for the ride.

Cristobal is their #1 target with a bullet, but I don't think they pull their support if Mario says no - they're not spending this kind of money just to get their mate a job at the U. I also don't think the Golden Canes will be asked to pay for this - these guys seem to be fronting the money, which is why they're calling the shots.
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Again, don't know if the interviewee is who he says as a Golden Cane (couldn't care less), but IF accurate, several items of overlap keep coming from different sources.

If you are an observant one, between a few BoT members public statements (cryptic as they might be) and various other tea leaves here and there, the train appears to be engineered by the Columbus Crew, for now at least. Doesn't mean they reach their station though. Also, the people memtioned in the podcast are, by definition, Golden Canes.


The info is right in front of us if we know how to put the pieces together...

@Cribby excellent telegraphs on possible futures... keep them coming!!

My guess is a debate will be had amongst the power brokers (seems like some on BoT are sheep) of Highsmith vs Other Candidate(s). They also have in mind whoever the AD is, their top three HC candidates MUST be able to work with AD.
 
OldhamA said:
He's 65.

He's obviously not the guy for the next decade, but you could bring him in to set things right and start grooming a successor. I don't think any other candidate has anything like his success and experience.
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Pipe dream. 65 year old energy coming into this nuclear wasteland
 
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AUcane said:
That plus the rumored Riley 12m deal drove up Mario's price considerably.
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Yeah that Mel tucker deal screwed us. He completely reset the market. Riley is proven. But tucker has one good year and gets that much? No way man. If tucker gets 9 Mario deserves 11 realistically based on merit in comparison. It suck’s but it’s the lay of the land
 
305407cane said:
Yeah that Mel tucker deal screwed us. He completely reset the market. Riley is proven. But tucker has one good year and gets that much? No way man. If tucker gets 9 Mario deserves 11 realistically based on merit in comparison. It suck’s but it’s the lay of the land
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MSU runs a high risk of buyer's remorse.
 
Allabouttheu_3 said:
Per David Lake

- On the front end, let me get this out of the way. The decision to separate from Blake James was a strong one by the UM administration and it should be commended. If you read the tea leaves, it is pretty clear that a change at head football coach is likely at the end of the season as well. With that being said, however, Manny Diaz still has key Board of Trustees members in his corner and they are willing to fight and continue to back him. It is not necessarily a forgone conclusion that Miami will move on from Diaz.

- With that being said, however, it is hard to ignore the strong message that the UM administration sent across the country to Eugene, Oregon. It is well known in UM circles that Mario Cristobal and Blake James do not like each other and that James would never be able to hire the coach of the No. 3 overall program in the country. Separating from James was a MAJOR first step to making a run at Cristobal.

- Why would Cristobal leave Oregon for Miami? Two reasons: Miami is home and being the head coach at UM has always been his dream job. Outsiders don’t fully grasp how much pull the University of Miami has with Cristobal in this regard, but people around the program know how much Cristobal loves UM and the city of Miami. IF the university were to come at him with the acceptable amount of resources and a vision from leadership for the future of the athletic department and football program, there is a belief that it would be very difficult for Cristobal to turn down the opportunity. A commitment, both in resources and vision, will be needed to make a run at Cristobal.

- Does Miami have the money to go get a Mario Cristobal? The constant message from people around this decision making process continues to be: “money is not an issue.” The U-Health healthcare system in South Florida makes a ton of money for the university and the UM leadership is finally willing to dip into those coffers to provide resources for the football program. We will see if UM puts the money up at the end of the day.

- There is a sense around Cristobal, however, that if Oregon keeps winning and makes the College Football Playoff, the chances of UM luring him away would be quite slim.

- What would be the biggest reason that Cristobal stays at Oregon beyond a College Football Playoff run? Cristobal is fiercely loyal and grateful to Nike CEO Phil Knight, who of course is Oregon’s top booster. It was Knight who gave Cristobal another chance at being a head coach and that is something Cristobal doesn’t take lightly.

- There are three deep pocket boosters/board of trustees members that are believed to be pushing for a run at Cristobal: Jose Mas, Marcus Lemons, and attorney John Ruiz.

- In terms of what Miami is now looking for in an athletic director, I have been told ‘somebody who understands how to lead athletics.’ Blake James was respected for his ability to fundraise, but he did not understand how to hold coaches accountable for middling performances. Loyalty to a coach is important, but at some point hard decisions have to be made.

Now onto some athletic director names that are worth knowing at this early stage…

- Tony Hernandez: Hernandez worked his way up the athletic department when Paul Dee was the athletic director. People around the UM program respect Hernandez for being highly intelligent and he knows what a successful football program is supposed to look like. He is currently the Deputy Director of Athletics at Texas Tech under former UM athletic director Kirby Hocutt. He served as Miami’s interim athletic director when Hocutt left for Texas Tech.

- Tom Jurich: You won’t find a potential candidate with a better resume of success than Jurich, who pushed Louisville’s athletic department to new heights. Jurich was Louisville’s athletic director from 1997-2017 and during his time he hired Rick Pitino as the basketball coach and played a big part in the football program getting to the ACC and making hires like Bobby Petrino and Charlie Strong. Louisville’s baseball program also took a step forward with his leadership. Jurich also vastly improved Louisville’s facilities during his time there. Jurich was placed on unpaid leave in 2017 after the Louisville basketball program was implicated in a FBI investigation. On May 18, 2018 the board of trustees agreed to a $4.5 million settlement with Jurich that cleared him of any wrong doing and phrased his termination as "retirement".

- Pat Chun: Chun hired Lane Kiffin as the athletic director at FAU, which is an interesting connection point. He is now the athletic director at Washington State. Chun worked his way up the ranks in the Ohio State athletic department, working 15 yards in Columbus, Ohio. He understands what a successful athletic department is supposed to look like.

- Jeff Purinton: Currently the Executive Deputy Athletics Director at Alabama. He is essentially No. 2 man to athletic director Greg Byrne. Purinton currently serves as the sports administrator for Alabama’s football team as well as men’s and women’s golf. He previously oversaw Alabama basketball. At one point, Purinton was believed to be in the mix for the FSU athletic director job.

- Alonzo Highsmith: The former UM running back has worked in NFL front offices and understands the business side of sports in addition to how to run athletics. Highsmith would understand what a winning football program looks like. Whether or not Highsmith is hired as the athletic director, there is a belief that he should be working within the UM athletic department as someone that oversees the football program.

- Gino Torretta: The former Heisman Trophy winner would check two boxes for the athletic director position: 1.) He understands the athletics side of leading an athletic department and specifically what a winning football program is supposed to look like. 2.) He understands the financial side of running an operation. Torretta’s post football career has centered around finances and asset management.

- It is hard to ignore the potential Columbus High School connection to the program moving forward…Jose Mas is a Board of Trustees member that deeply cares about UM athletics. He also attended Columbus with Mario Cristobal. Marcus Lemonis is a booster that also attended Columbus. Alonzo Highsmith is a Columbus alum. Cristobal’s right hand man, offensive line coach Alex Mirabal, also attended Columbus. These connection points are interesting.
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Toretta is my choice (if it mattered, lol) But I would also love to see Highsmith involved in some way.
 
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