He didn’t win a **** thing while he had them. He was average to awful until he had a full roster.
You were there, you know how much kids loved the U back then. He wasn’t trying to rebuild at UConn.
What don’t you get?
You're god**** right I was there. "How much kids loved the U back then"? Like when LaVar Arrington was scared out of picking Miami by Chuckie Amato's secret FedEx package of articles related to the Marlin Barnes murder?
Look, man, I try to be respectful of your opinions, I know you are a fan. But you are mixing and matching metaphors. You are trying to empty your bowels on Butch's COACHING by acting like his RECRUITING was some incredibly easy job.
But break this down into parts. Recruiting is not just about "convincing a guy to pick your college". If that was the case, then Eric "Otter" Stratton would have been the best football coach ever. Butch had to make the most out of his limited scholarships, which meant nailing a "hit rate" on his recruits that was almost unprecedented. I don't know how many millions of times it needs to be repeated, but the system that Butch and Pete developed to scout, compile information, and track recruits across multiple years was unbelievably successful and fruitful. And the DEVELOPMENT of those players followed. You MISTAKENLY try to compress and minimize all of those efforts into one word, "recruiting", and then dismiss it all because "kids loved the U back then".
As for Butch's COACHING, which had its strengths and weaknesses, you act as if "coaching" cannot (or should not) be impacted by a less-than-full roster. So, as I have previously challenged, feel free to name any college coach who is FINE with a partial roster. Who relishes practicing and playing games with a partial roster. Who is not disproportionately impacted by injuries when playing with a partial roster. The reality is that Butch was doing a GREAT job of coaching and developing the players he had for ALL years he led Miami, but the OUTCOME OF GAMES was certainly pre-ordained when you play 11 to 12 games WITH A PARTIAL ROSTER.
But I'll set aside all of your incorrect OPINIONS if you would just be honest ON THE FACTS.
"He didn’t win a **** thing while he had them. He was average to awful until he had a full roster."
UNTRUE.
In 1995, we finished TIED FOR FIRST IN THE BIG EAST. Self-bowl-ban.
In 1996, we finished TIED FOR FIRST IN THE BIG EAST.
In 1998, we finished TIED FOR SECOND IN THE BIG EAST.
In 1999, we finished SECOND IN THE BIG EAST.
In 2000, we finished FIRST IN THE BIG EAST.
That means, in 5 of 6 years that Butch coached, Miami finished first or second in the Big East.
Pretty good. Pretty, pretty good.
And, YES, I would have preferred to beat East Carolina twice instead of losing twice. I would have wanted to have scored one extra TD against VaTech in 1995 and 1998. Everyone already knows how I feel about the Chafie Fields game, and I would have loved it if we had a couple of extra minutes on the game clock against Washington in 2000.
But 3 firsts and 2 seconds in 6 years is pretty impressive, when weighed against 31 lost scholarships.
