Did people in 2001-2002 like Coker

[Ethnicsands]

He was was at UTSA for like 10 years. Coker was extremely likable and was a decent coach. IMO, recruiting hurt him. Specifically he needed to recruit the **** out of the QB and RB positions and he failed. Signed a lot of 4/5 star kids who all sucked at RB, and amazingly he and Butch failed miserably at the QB position.

My friend 3fw and i havent agreed on this since coker Was at um.

Coker was awful. You could feel it. You could see it in recruiting. He was in WAY over his head

LOL. I do agree. He was a likable guy though.

Everything that you liked about him brought out dislike in me. His dumb happy grin was infuriating because you knew he was incompetent and was failing the kids and the program. He had no leadership strength, either. It's hard to like someone you don't respect and hard to respect a spineless and clueless leader. I think he is probably a nice guy to his grand kids, but so many people are. I don't give him any professional credit for that, though.

 

[Miami82]

I feel like anyone claiming they were against Larry in '02 are either full of s**t or way too critical. There really wasn't any reason to think he couldn't do the job at that point. Team played for back to back championships and won one(both). In the end, he screwed us, but don't pretend like it's anything other than hindsight to say you knew he had to go that early.

There were red flags noticed by a few posters back in the grassy days in the 02 season. There were games that were close that shouldn't have been. 03 was the season it was more obvious and the country club atmosphere started showing.

There are always games that are closer than they should be. At some point, you're just b**ching to b**ch. Or trying to be the first one to call the downward slide. Seriously, if you can't sit back and enjoy a run like that, what's the point of being a fan?

Playing down to your competition is never a good thing. It wasn't as if we were playing teams that were good and it was a competitive game.

I didn't expect you to acknowledge that you were probably one of the ones holding on well passed when it was obvious that he was in over his head. Thats the typical mantra from the clueless (wanting to be first one to call a downward slide) stating this crap. I saw your type do this with Coker/Shannon/Golden. At some point you have to acknowledge you're a fan of the coach and not the U and just don't understand what a good HC looks like.

 

[Cane1996]

Miami vs. Rutgers 2002 was the very beginning of the end for Coker. I believe Rutgers had the lead going into the 4th quarter. Miami vs. Tennessee 2003 was a big red flag. Miami had no business losing that game.

Yeah, something seemed off beginning with the BC game early in the year too. Ended up winning 38-6 but game was inexplicably close entering the 4th quarter till Vilma's 4 yard Int return TD. In 2001, team would blow everyone out in first half then coast. Then in 2002, sleepwalk till the end of games.

Historically, Miami struggles at BC and I understand that you're not going to dominate every game. Plus, BC is a respectable program. Rutgers in 2002 was just ridiculous. Miami had no business losing going into the 4th.

The 2002 game against BC was in the Orange Bowl. Additionally, it was a night game.

 

[Cane1996]

The internet wasn't around for guys to whine about every position coach back then but I remember having mixed feelings. I was mad Butch left and didn't want another coach but I also knew the team was good enough regardless. Winning 35 straight sure fooled me about Coker though. Who knew the team was that talented to do all that without a good coach.

Lulz. Seems I'm not the only one who was on grassy.
Regarding Coker, I don't think (initially at least) that anyone was Very skeptical or critical. After all the fire Butch stuff , things seemed to calm down while the team rolled to a championship + an attempt to repeat. It was in 2003 when the losses began that posters questioned everything. If I remember correctly, the knocks on him were questions on talent level and his recruiting.

People were also questioning his refusal to put Berlin into a position to succeed (I.e. putting him in the shotgun offense that had allowed for the huge comeback against UF). Instead, they stubbornly left Berlin under center, and the offense was downright terrible most of the year. (2003 season)

 

[kryptonite]

I feel like anyone claiming they were against Larry in '02 are either full of s**t or way too critical. There really wasn't any reason to think he couldn't do the job at that point. Team played for back to back championships and won one(both). In the end, he screwed us, but don't pretend like it's anything other than hindsight to say you knew he had to go that early.

There were red flags noticed by a few posters back in the grassy days in the 02 season. There were games that were close that shouldn't have been. 03 was the season it was more obvious and the country club atmosphere started showing.

There are always games that are closer than they should be. At some point, you're just b**ching to b**ch. Or trying to be the first one to call the downward slide. Seriously, if you can't sit back and enjoy a run like that, what's the point of being a fan?

Playing down to your competition is never a good thing. It wasn't as if we were playing teams that were good and it was a competitive game.

I didn't expect you to acknowledge that you were probably one of the ones holding on well passed when it was obvious that he was in over his head. Thats the typical mantra from the clueless (wanting to be first one to call a downward slide) stating this crap. I saw your type do this with Coker/Shannon/Golden. At some point you have to acknowledge you're a fan of the coach and not the U and just don't understand what a good HC looks like.

I have never been a fan of coaches, largely because I don't feel qualified to judge their every move. It takes me a few seasons to be sure if a guy is doing his job or not. Al had a point when he said we had problems because we were starting too many freshmen. Bravo to those who realized, in year one, that our problems went deeper.

What gets me is that no matter how much you win, somebody is always complaining about the exact manner in which you do it. I have no doubt that, had he stayed, fans would have turned on butch and driven him out if he hadn't won a second championship by 2004. I'm all for high expectations, but for some people's are unreachable.

 

[Ethnicsands]

I feel like anyone claiming they were against Larry in '02 are either full of s**t or way too critical. There really wasn't any reason to think he couldn't do the job at that point. Team played for back to back championships and won one(both). In the end, he screwed us, but don't pretend like it's anything other than hindsight to say you knew he had to go that early.

There were red flags noticed by a few posters back in the grassy days in the 02 season. There were games that were close that shouldn't have been. 03 was the season it was more obvious and the country club atmosphere started showing.

There are always games that are closer than they should be. At some point, you're just b**ching to b**ch. Or trying to be the first one to call the downward slide. Seriously, if you can't sit back and enjoy a run like that, what's the point of being a fan?

Are you seriously trying to defend Coker? Wow.

Your post is insane. *****ing about how you win may or may not be legit. But when you know for certain the folks pointing out the problems were spot on, then they weren't just *****ing, they were diagnosing. Correctly. The things people pointed to about Coker were real symptoms of a real disease, and we still ain't recovered.

 

[JefeGringo]

We declined in winning total and relevance every year. Early warning flags was Richt of all people came down to Miami and grabbed a couple of guys after we won a championship. At first we were winning, then winning by a little, then barely winning (WVU, Louisville because we had Hester, Rutgers), then the losses started piling on and things got bad for ole LLLLLarry. The giant red flag that always stuck out to me was the Fiasco Bowl when Terry Porter threw the flag. Every other coach in the world would have lost their collective **** and at the very least got the game delayed so we could get our players calmed down and focused. For Christ sake, Sean Taylor's helmet was missing, the confetti was still shooting in the air ole dumpy just sitting there with a stupid "awe shucks" look on his retarded, bald mug.

And lol at the comments about the internet not being what it was. Sure there is social media now, but grassy had a couple thousand members and K9 had enough pull to reach out and do interviews with alumni and coaches etc. Grassy was pretty divided about Coker as a coach from the * loss on and the anti-Coker crowd gained steam each year.

Where Coker really, really died was the 2004 recruiting class. LSU used Coker's chin as a speed bag, so sure, we got a decent class on paper led by Willy Williams, but it completely disintegrated over by 2006 and the **** show known as Miami football began in earnest. Coker scapegoating and firing all those coaches earlier didn't help either.

If you told me Coker was going to be as good it got from 2006 to now, I would never have believed you. Ever. You have to try to be as bad as we are at football given he talent in South Florida and Florida in general.

 

[kryptonite]

Yes, I'm defending Coker. I believe he was one of if not the best coach Miami ever had. I would take him back in a heartbeat. Not sure how I could make it any clearer. He's the bestest? Does that do it? Not only the best since sliced bread, but even better. He's like 10(saban+urban)/.5