After the Storm: Duke

[SSCane]

Getting paid $4 million/year, this admin ain't dumb. That's a lot of money with minimal results.

Oh yes, this admin in very dumb and have zero foresight or vision. They are academic bureaucrats that haven’t the slightest clue on how to develop a winning organization. You don’t have to look further then the hires they have made over the last 2 decades. The have not made a single successful coaching hire since 1995, when they hired Butch. Think about that for a sec, that almost 25 years ago since they got a hire right. This administration is not the solution but rather the problem. They are more likely to extend Richt than fire him! Fuqin morons, all of them!

 

[HighSeas]

I don't see how a firing is off the table if this team tanks the rest of the season scoring under 17 pts a game and misses a bowl game - which seems the likely scenario right now. Charlie Strong only lasted 3 years at Texas going 5-7 the last year with an inferior roster and a tougher schedule.

What's the sense in delaying a firing when you know a coach is not the guy? We saw this unfold with Golden and it was a total fiasco that embarrassed every stakeholder in and around the program.

Once a corch always a corch. Delaying the inevitable would be an extremely short-sighted move. Don't try me with the finances excuse either because it's a sunk cost fallacy. Eat a short-term loss for long-term gain.

 

[Brains]

"Because, no matter how untouchable someone might seem, the truth always has a way of catching up with you. "

Yes. Sir.

 

[LustNCanes]

The hard truth is that for many on our staff their best isn't good enough.

The staph that we have arent qualified to be at Miami... MAYBE High School, but not here. We need a major overhaul and quick. Because times a wasting.

 

[NVA CANE]

richt was extended to 2023. Richt isn’t going anywhere for another couple years.

 

[Seeker]

Keeping Richt beyond this year will only make things more difficult for whoever eventually replaces him. The lifeblood of the program (recruiting) is dead under him. It was already difficult to get the elite kids to take us seriously. Even more so now.
What elite recruit would really think it's in his best interest to come here? As long as he's here our classes will be built on players that none of the top programs really want, which creates problems now and into the future.

 

[Dude]

Keeping Richt beyond this year will only make things more difficult for whoever eventually replaces him. The lifeblood of the program (recruiting) is dead under him. It was already difficult to get the elite kids to take us seriously. Even more so now.
What elite recruit would really think it's in his best interest to come here? As long as he's here our classes will be built on players that none of the top programs really want, which creates problems now and into the future.

I dont think that's necessarily true. It would be advisable to prop him up with an excellent, and perhaps expensive staff. Maybe the OC could be given all of the power on O, and Diaz all power on D. Phase him out like FSU did Bowden, they seemed to be in a good place after that situation. The worst thing to do imo, is let the whole thing sink into the abyss... again... for the 3rd time in a row. We need elite recruiters, and elite coordinators right now. Not saying we have to have a Bama staff, but certainly a staff much, much better than any in the Coastal. Winning the Coastal is not hard, Miami just makes it seem so.

 

[Seeker]

I dont think that's necessarily true. It would be advisable to prop him up with an excellent, and perhaps expensive staff. Maybe the OC could be given all of the power on O, and Diaz all power on D. Phase him out like FSU did Bowden, they seemed to be in a good place after that situation. The worst thing to do imo, is let the whole thing sink into the abyss... again... for the 3rd time in a row. We need elite recruiters, and elite coordinators right now. Not saying we have to have a Bama staff, but certainly a staff much, much better than any in the Coastal. Winning the Coastal is not hard, Miami just makes it seem so.

Uga tried to do something similar. How did that go? As long as James is AD and/or Richt is HC, any other change will be futile.

 

[mdpcane]

Riddle me this ........ UM is supposedly wanting to project an image and wanting to be a top tier ivy league-class academic institution, yet our AD and BOT can't make obvious decisions about the football program that a retarded rhesus monkey could handle.

 

[mirvin88]

The hard truth is that for many on our staff their best isn't good enough.

Starting with Frenk. Is he all in here and willing to fire James and hire someone competent to fix this ****? Will he kick Richts *** himself down bird road?

 

[Handsome Squidbum]

How about baby steps- just addressing special teams? Imagine the difference if we had a punter who could kick it 50 yards instead of 20. Or players who knew how to block on kickoffs? We have one of the most explosive players in Thomas and every time he has a decent return it gets called back.

You want to know the saddest thing? It is a 100% established fact that Rick has never cared much about special teams. It was one of the biggest complaints at UGA. Football is a tough sport. You can't leave points on the field. His teams have done that his whole career and he never adequately addressed it. You simply cannot be successful with a coach who knows his team will miss out on 150+ easy yards (between KR/PR returns and punts ) a game and doesn't fix it.

 

[Dwinstitles]

Done watching this team im nit getting emotionally invested anynore in recruiting. Wake me when there fired.

 

[LustNCanes]

Done watching this team im nit getting emotionally invested anynore in recruiting. Wake me when there fired.

I don’t even follow recruiting anymore. It’s a waste with the bags being dropped these days, I rather be surprised on nsd.

 

[1mg of Epi]

Stef, can you give a logical argument for why Richt should remain the coach beyond this season? Has any coach gone from a #2 late season ranking to similar depths such as this and then successfully negotiated a turn around the next season and eventually won anything of significance at that program?

We keep hearing this argument that Richt won’t be let go, but I haven’t heard any rational basis for this position other than money (not a logical reason to continue failing), and power/aka donations (again, also not a logical reason to continue failing).

Giving in to this logical fallacy and not challenging it on a rational basis is nonsense imho.

You say you believe a coach should get 4 years, barring extreme circumstances. Would you not count current circumstances as extreme? This team has lost all of its prestige, mojo, momentum, credibility, and is going to lose an entire class worth of recruits, something that takes 3-4 years to patch over. Waiting for things to get worse and lowering the bar of expectations just does not seem like a viable option. This roster has talent now. How attractive will this job be in another year or two? Simply put, while separating from Richt may be expensive, not to do so would be far more so.

I don’t think we need to look further than money. That buyout is prohibitive.

 

[Earnest T. Bass]

Great write up; however @Stefan Adams I must point out that this version we’re seeing of Richt has been his last 10 yrs, including at UGA. For inexplicable reasons, no matter how talented UGA was as opposed to their opponents, the would lose these games that were head scratching. For 4 of his last 7 yrs at UGA they finished outside the top 25 DESPITE top ranked classes.

Here’s the difference: Richt had big booster money behind him. That’s why UGA could consistently land in the top 15 of their classes. He has no such back up plan here, so how is he really getting “his players” when the players they identified are beginning to bail?

Keeping him 4 yrs literally does nothing for us.

Please be specific about "Richt had big booster money behind him".

 

[Earnest T. Bass]

Great write up; however @Stefan Adams I must point out that this version we’re seeing of Richt has been his last 10 yrs, including at UGA. For inexplicable reasons, no matter how talented UGA was as opposed to their opponents, the would lose these games that were head scratching. For 4 of his last 7 yrs at UGA they finished outside the top 25 DESPITE top ranked classes.

Here’s the difference: Richt had big booster money behind him. That’s why UGA could consistently land in the top 15 of their classes. He has no such back up plan here, so how is he really getting “his players” when the players they identified are beginning to bail?

Keeping him 4 yrs literally does nothing for us.

Georgia’s recruiting and lack of spending: Start with the lack of an indoor facility, which was a big deal and put Richt and his coaches far behind the top SEC programs. When UGA finally increased the recruiting budget to more than $1.3 million – Georgia’s main recruiting rivals were all spending significantly more in their recruiting efforts. A big portion of that goes to off-field staffers who do a lot of the tedious recruiting work, allowing the full-time coaches more time for evaluation and in-person recruiting. The Georgia administration finally agreed to raise their recruiting funding to a higher level, but by then it was too late for Richt.

Richt was 145-51 at Georgia, a .7398 winning percentage that is the best ever for a Bulldogs football coach.

Only Bob Stoops and Barry Switzer at Oklahoma and Tom Osborne at Nebraska won as many games in the first 15 years as a head coach, according to NCAA records.

As I posted in another thread: Dabo Swinney took over the Clemson Tigers during the 2008 season with 7 games remaining and won 4 of those game while losing 3. In his 2nd year, he led the Tigers to a 9 and 4 regular season. But, in his 3rd year, his record was 6 wins and 7 losses. During his first 4 years, he lost 3 of 4 bowl games. The usual suspects were screaming that Swinney be fired immediately and listed a mountain of reasons why he is such a terrible coach. Yet, today, Swinney is considered a God-like figure in Tiger land.

Mark Richt is a top flight human being and the same can be said of him as a head football coach. No one knows better than Coach Richt that significant change will be required over the offseason. Sometimes it is not the play (or scheme), but the actors (players). Yet, when one fairly grades the current QB’s and offensive line it doesn’t seem that to greatly improve the football team will require a Stephen Hawking type of solution.

My bet is on Mark Richt…a true Cane

 

[Dwinstitles]

I don’t even follow recruiting anymore. It’s a waste with the bags being dropped these days, I rather be surprised on nsd.

Not watching not anything im done i will be on eye in the sky.....knock out one more vid and its over its done. This is who we are now and we cant compete in this era and i cannot watch a non dominant miami i just cant. Its been 15 plus years its over. While bama build the greatest empire of nfl lineage and teams we have ever seen since the canes its just no fun no more. Its a monopoly and im not putting myself through it anymore. Hopefully this mean eventually be done period with all of it....cant root for a miami team whos higher ups just care about academics and paper football and swimming and medical bs. Theres my vent but im going to do my best to fulfill this cause they hurting me too much.

I know imma bytch when it comes to losing i dont like it

 

[orange&green84]

Thanks Stefan. Great write up. Much appreciated.
So to summarize; this program is a roaring dumpster fire that is falling faster than a meteor, with a no hope of turning around with current staff. We might not even get bowl eligible while playing in the ****** ACC costal and a lousy recruiting class on the verge of further collapse.
Can some please explain to me why Richt hasn’t been fired yet?

Because the administration just extended him and put way too much stock in some of the lucky bounces we got last year.

 

[deleted7012]

I’ve only been covering the Hurricanes for two seasons now, but this was easily the hardest article I’ve ever had to write in that time.

You will hear many debates over the coming days, trying to pin blame on whose fault it is that the program is backsliding in Year 3 of the Mark Richt era.

“It’s the coaching.”

“It’s the scheme.”

“It’s the play-calling.”

“It’s the players.”

“It’s the athletic department.”

What’s the truth? I don’t have all the answers. In all honesty, it’s probably some mix of all of the above.

The one thing I do know: this isn’t Miami Hurricanes football, nor should it ever be accepted as Miami Hurricanes football.

This ain’t it, folks. Not even close.

There are some hard truths that everyone involved with this program needs to confront today, as soon as possible. Can anyone really look in the mirror and say they are honestly doing their absolute best to make this program succeed?

After yet another game where the offense and special teams failed this program, here’s another truth: big-time college football is a bottom-line, “what have you done for me lately” business. You’re either a winner or a loser.

How do you know which one you are?

Don’t worry, when that clock hits zero and you look up at that scoreboard, you’ll know for sure. There’s nothing more finite, more simple as a metric or a reality. It reveals all, and there is no hiding from it or glossing it over without sounding like an excuse-machine.

There is plenty of glory to be had when you win, but when you’re being paid millions of dollars to coach a game, there has to be some level of criticism and accountability when you lose.

For a while under Richt, Miami was the winner. For 15 straight games to be exact. And they got all that praise that came along with it.

But, the bottom-line for Richt and his Miami Hurricanes in Year 3 right now? In just three short weeks, it feels like everything Richt has been building towards the past two and a half years is gone, mangled beyond recognition after three straight losses to inferior opponents. Anyone with eyeballs in their sockets can see that this program is on the downswing.

The raw numbers: UM is 5-7 in their last 12 games, 2-7 vs. Power 5 opponents.

That’s the cold, hard reality of where Miami is at right now.

What has happened to the team that blew out Notre Dame last season? The same core of a Notre Dame team that is currently undefeated and on the doorstep of a College Football Playoff berth.

Nobody was expecting a national title in year 3. Most weren’t even realistically expecting a conference title considering the level at which Clemson is playing right now.

But consecutive losses to middling conference opponents Virginia, Boston College, and then Duke at home? Miami hasn’t lost to the Blue Devils at home in over 40 years.

That’s not good enough.

There are major issues on this team, many of which should be, at best, minor issues in Year 3. The offense has declined each season. The handling of the QB position has been a disaster, all the way from recruiting and development, to practice and gameday. The offensive line has shown no pulse for three seasons now. The special teams unit is considered one of the worst in country and it’s gotten to the point that every time you watch them, you’re expecting some type of miscue.

Through nine games in 2018, Miami is 81st in the nation in offensive efficiency and 126th in special teams efficiency. Those numbers are both worse than Miami of Ohio. I assure you the Canes haven’t switched rosters with the RedHawks, even though it may feel like it sometimes.

Truth bomb: many fans and coaches dismiss special teams or don’t place enough emphasis on what is essentially a third of the game, feeling it doesn’t have true impact. That’s true a lot of the time, because special teams should really be a “gimme”, something that you execute easily and move on with the game. Except special teams has its greatest impact when it is terrible.

Take for instance Todd Hartley’s special teams unit contributing to leaving at least 5 points on the field last night due to botched holds and missed blocking assignments. It effected the game so much that instead of being able to line-up for a game tying field goal late in the 4th quarter, Miami had to try hail-mary’s from Duke’s 28 yard line just to have a hope of being able to attempt a two-point conversion to even the score.

The Canes are also continually inept at flipping the field in the punting game, which was extremely tilted in Duke’s favor and had an even bigger impact than normal considering it was a game with poor field conditions. Duke’s own QB was more competent on pooch punts than either of Miami’s punters. Miami was routinely starting from inside their own ten yard line, while Duke routinely started around midfield. The exact numbers: Duke’s average starting position was their own 42, while Miami’s was their own 19. I don’t have to tell you the play calls available to a team are much more limited when backed up in the shadow of their own endzone as opposed to around midfield.

Mistakes and bad games happen and can be anomalies. This is not that; these are trends.

Here are some more trends: Miami has now failed to score in the second half in two straight weeks. They have also failed to top more than 14 points during their three game losing streak.

If that wasn’t enough, Miami managed the entire game against Duke with an overly conservative mindset that may have had you thinking they were up 3 scores. Coming out of halftime up five? Three straight runs, the last of which came on third and 8.

On the final drive of the game with 4 minutes and 15 seconds and two timeouts, down eight? Miami was moving the ball, but ran out of time with some seriously bad clock management and a lack of urgency. At one point, UM ran the ball four straight times, the last of which came as the clock ran under 1 minute with the team still around midfield. On the drive, players lined up incorrectly or were celebrating a play while time was ticking away, with N’Kosi Perry constantly looking over to the sidelines and standing there to take in the play call with valuable seconds disappearing. Complete chaos.

Who are the leaders on offense right now that will step up and say this will not stand, the equivalent of Jaquan Johnson or Shaq Quarterman from the defense? I don't see any.

That’s not going to get it done.

With the way this team is playing, Miami at 5-4 is actually in danger of missing a bowl game, which would be a fitting end to what is turning into a nightmare of a season. Does anyone have confidence that they can go on the road and beat a Power 5 opponent like GT or VT? That just leaves a toss-up game at home in the season finale against Pitt, who had the Canes’ number last season.

And don’t kid yourself, this will have huge reverberations in recruiting. We’ve already seen the beginnings of it. Kids aren’t blind.

So, how do we get back to Miami Hurricanes football?

I’ve always believed, outside of extreme circumstances, a coach should realistically always get 4 years to prove his worth, and especially so when considerable resources are invested in him. 4 recruiting classes, all your players; make it happen in 4 years or your time is up.

Coming into this season, Richt felt like Al Capone. No, Richt is not getting fired after this season. But his seat is a heck of a lot warmer going into 2019.

The proof is there that some type of change is needed. It’s no longer a question of “if”. I argued for a change at offensive coordinator after the UVA game, and that notion has only been reinforced in the two games since.

It’s time for some honest self-evaluation from Richt and it will be simple: he will either make the necessary changes, or he won’t and will end up with a similar fate of Miami’s past three coaches.

Because, no matter how untouchable someone might seem, the truth always has a way of catching up with you.

Your best article yet pal. Keep it up and thanks for your hard work!

 

[g8rh8rMD]

I don’t think we need to look further than money. That buyout is prohibitive.

What are the buyout terms? Is it less costly to continue to lose, have a lost recruiting class, and play in front of half empty stadiums for a season?

IF what you are saying is true, then the person/people responsible for granting this extension with its “prohibitive” buyout should be gone immediately.

You don’t regain a sunk cost by doubling down on stupid. If they gave him a guaranteed contract, that money has already been spent. You aren’t “saving” anything by continuing to fail.