An evaluation the staff may have hit on..

[Hurracanes]

Why do you think he hasn’t prioritized the position? Miami went hard (pause) for David Stone, even thought we had him until Oklahoma snuck in at the last second. Mario flipped five star recruit Justin Scott from Ohio State.

I don’t think Mario has deemphasized any position. Miami’s reputation for poor defense has hurt recruiting on defense. Does any player look at Miami and say “that’s the place to get developed?”. Players make business decisions.

Mario needs to hit on players like Scott and Blount and Wiley and Lowe and OJ and others, and even more hope the new defensive coordinator and staff are the real deal.

And it certainly doesn’t help being in the ACC.

Miami’s defense has struggled because of bad coaching hires. It’s year 4 and we are already on our 3rd DC. That is a red flag. So far, every DC has missed the mark, and most of the position coaches cannot recruit. Recruiting has been weak because of poor evaluations and the continued hiring of assistants that top recruits have little to no interest in playing for. Will Harris is one of the few exceptions and the results speak for themselves.

This has to get fixed or Mario is going to end up known as the defensive killer instead of the QB killer. Personally, I would not bet my career on Hetherman turning things around, especially with some of the names that were in the mix for that important role before the hire. I don’t understand what Mario is doing but that’s why he gets paid the big bucks and I don’t.

Funny how Miami doesn’t struggle recruiting offensive talent playing in the ACC..

 

[Cribby]

More concerned with DB last year or DT and/or LB this year?

The feeling I have is similar. I said last offseason the cb was very concerning but I figured the De’s would help them out with less time to cover. Boy I was off on the pass rush. We better pray Blay translates and Scott makes a big jump. Moten I do like and expect him to be a solid to good player. The overall depth is pathetic.

 

[Combo]

Miami’s defense has struggled because of bad coaching hires. It’s year 4 and we are already on our 3rd DC. That is a red flag. So far, every DC has missed the mark, and most of the position coaches cannot recruit. Recruiting has been weak because of poor evaluations and the continued hiring of assistants that top recruits have little to no interest in playing for. Will Harris is one of the few exceptions and the results speak for themselves.

This has to get fixed or Mario is going to end up known as the defensive killer instead of the QB killer. Personally, I would not bet my career on Hetherman turning things around, especially with some of the names that were in the mix for that important role before the hire. I don’t understand what Mario is doing but that’s why he gets paid the big bucks and I don’t.

Funny how Miami doesn’t struggle recruiting offensive talent playing in the ACC..

Heatherman is pretty highly regarded. That's no guarantee he'll succeed, but the guy has done well in previous stops.

The talent in our secondary last year was very subpar. I don't think any coach could have done well with what we had.

 

[Gables Cane]

Not liking how our LB recruitment has started as Griffen seems to be less and less likely. Our DC, who is responsible for LB’s, isn’t exactly a good recruiter.

Problematic for this class, but that gets negated quickly if he develops players and shows production on the field. You combine that with one or two other staff members that can recruit and we should have no problem landing stud linebackers. However, without tangible on the field results, we got nothing and nobody to sell.

 

[Hurracanes]

Heatherman is pretty highly regarded. That's no guarantee he'll succeed, but the guy has done well in previous stops.

The talent in our secondary last year was very subpar. I don't think any coach could have done well with what we had.

Hetherman’s “success” is too small of a sample size for me. It’s year 4, it’s our 3rd DC under Mario, and if I were Mario, I wouldn’t risk Miami’s season (or future) on someone who has “buzz” or “hype.” It’s too risky. Mario needed to make a HR hire that was a sure thing. Plus, you don’t really upgrade the LB and DL room’s, it’s too risky in my opinion.

Mario had the opportunity to hire HR coaches with better resumes and experience but Mario passed or went a different direction because of stubbornness. It’s very frustrating.

 

[NicKane]

How Mario doesn’t prioritize the DT position more is beyond me. My expectations on this DT room are low. Ridiculous we are going into year 4 with this lack of depth and experience.

Don’t get me started on the LB’s.

I think you’re really underselling our defensive tackle room. I think all three of our top guys there have the ability to be studs. Of course we will find out this fall, but every one of them has the tools to get it done at a high-level.

 

[Hurracanes]

Problematic for this class, but that gets negated quickly if he develops players and shows production on the field. You combine that with one or two other staff members that can recruit and we should have no problem landing stud linebackers. However, without tangible on the field results, we got nothing and nobody to sell.

I understand your point but it’s Mario’s 3rd DC. We needed someone kids are excited to play for with a resume that is established. Someone who can actually recruit the LB position and has sent kids to the league. Hetherman isn’t exactly what I had in mind. This LB room recruiting class is going to be interesting because we need to improve that room. It’s starting to look like our secondary recruiting the last several years.

 

[GrozDozer]

I understand your point but it’s Mario’s 3rd DC. We needed someone kids are excited to play for with a resume that is established. Someone who can actually recruit the LB position and has sent kids to the league. Hetherman isn’t exactly what I had in mind. This LB room recruiting class is going to be interesting because we need to improve that room. It’s starting to look like our secondary recruiting the last several years.

Like Charlie Strong?

 

[Hurracanes]

I think you’re really underselling our defensive tackle room. I think all three of our top guys there have the ability to be studs. Of course we will find out this fall, but every one of them has the tools to get it done at a high-level.

“Ability to be studs” is over selling it to me. I hope you’re right, though.

 

[GrozDozer]

Or maybe a smaller school guy with big success with recruiting ties to SEC country? Who was the DC at Marshall a few years ago?

 

[Canes Legacy]

This is year 4, we’ll learn all we need to regarding development within Mario’s program.

The talent acquisition has been there, time for the next step.

 

[CANEFAN83]

I don’t know much about playing DT but even I’ve been saying he was criminally underrated for about a year now. Not sure where his ceiling is but the kid was CLEARLY way better than his ranking to me

Newton as well

Maybe simpson can push for a starting job.

 

[JHallCanes]

Maybe simpson can push for a starting job.

No offense to the kid but man I hope not

Scott has to be the guy and Blay should lock it down. Moten next up.

If Simpson is beating those guys out that might be a big problem

 

[CANEFAN83]

I don’t know much about playing DT but even I’ve been saying he was criminally underrated for about a year now. Not sure where his ceiling is but the kid was CLEARLY way better than his ranking to me

Newton as well

Maybe

No offense to the kid but man I hope not

Scott has to be the guy and Blay should lock it down. Moten next up.

If Simpson is beating those guys out that might be a big problem

I guess I meant if he is maybe it means our depth is even better than we thought. I agree, scott and blay are likely starters.

 

[Hegemon]

No one ran on us last year. They won't this year either.

It is what it is.

 

[ColdCane]

I’m curious to how ND approaches running the ball on us …. Do they stretch or go straight at our DT’s . Their OTs have been reported to be small for the position. Hopefully Bain and mesidor setting the edge and down the middle is gonna be a collective effort

 

[TemplarCane]

Miami’s defense has struggled because of bad coaching hires. It’s year 4 and we are already on our 3rd DC. That is a red flag. So far, every DC has missed the mark, and most of the position coaches cannot recruit. Recruiting has been weak because of poor evaluations and the continued hiring of assistants that top recruits have little to no interest in playing for. Will Harris is one of the few exceptions and the results speak for themselves.

This has to get fixed or Mario is going to end up known as the defensive killer instead of the QB killer. Personally, I would not bet my career on Hetherman turning things around, especially with some of the names that were in the mix for that important role before the hire. I don’t understand what Mario is doing but that’s why he gets paid the big bucks and I don’t.

Funny how Miami doesn’t struggle recruiting offensive talent playing in the ACC..

I agree recruiting has been subpar on defense. And the revolving door and the coaching staff has hurt. Mario’s tenure has suffered from poor coaching staff evaluations as much as many poor recruiting evaluations.

The first recruiting class was pretty much a wash. Mario only had a few weeks, so it is what it is. I will add while Mario may be a great recruiter, building relationships and attracting players, too many evaluations have been off. Especially on defense. No argument from me.

I think there fewer elite defensive players than offensive players coming out of high school. Positions like defensive tackle and lockdown corner are few and far between. And fewer have been local. One lockdown corner Mario did recruit, Cormani, flipped to Colorado at the last minute and flamed out. Now he is a Gator and we’ll see what happens.

No doubt our roster is far more talented than it was when Mario walked in the door, but the defense continues to need an overhaul and I’m hoping the new coach and staff will finally hit the mark. I can only look forward. Looking back won’t change a thing so it’s time to move on.

Have a blessed long weekend!

 

[grover]

Like Charlie Strong?

Or maybe a smaller school guy with big success with recruiting ties to SEC country? Who was the DC at Marshall a few years ago?

Agree. Mario went with A+ experience in Steele and Strong at DC, and wiley/scrappy street-smarts in Guidry. Neither worked. So he fell back on what he believed is a high-floor/high-ceiling guy in Heatherman who comes from the Schiano coaching tree. Given the previous two/three misses, I think the rationale is as sound as it gets.

 

[Bird4um]

I literally said your last sentence to a friend yesterday. If all the question marks and players needing to bounce back all hit then 10-11 is possible. If not god have mercy.

The kicker alone is an enormous question mark and we lost Mr automatic. Kickers can be head cases and Auburn has been all over the place the last two years . Two extremes. Just like the season could be. Nothing with this roster would surprise me . Which is new , I usually have a pretty decent idea where a team is headed. So many uncertainties with this squad.

The OL is the one big positive for me.

Both sides of the ball should fall back to the mean. Better defense, worse offense. Should be pretty close to last year.

 

[grover]

The feeling I have is similar. I said last offseason the cb was very concerning but I figured the De’s would help them out with less time to cover. Boy I was off on the pass rush. We better pray Blay translates and Scott makes a big jump. Moten I do like and expect him to be a solid to good player. The overall depth is pathetic.

DT is criminally thin for year 4 of Mario. I expect Scott to take a step but not be dominant yet, and I expect Moten to continue to improve to the point he'll be roughly All ACC 3rd Team level but also not be dominant. It all comes down to Blay and Jones in my opinion. If they can play at least as well as the other two, we have enough rotation to be okay in the first half of the season.

I worry bigtime about how we hold up, especially during season end. Praying the injury bug skips that position group entirely (well all groups, but especially DT).