Ole Miss Rebels, Baylor Bears don't want good times to end
21 (tie). Miami, ACC
Current head coach: Mark Richt (first year)
2015 rank: 23 | 2015 record: 8-5
Many coaches and agents brought up this program as the most intriguing on the board. "It's not a top-15 job," one agent told Insider, "but it might be in a couple of years." There's a national curiosity in Mark Richt's return to his alma mater. If he wins anywhere near the 9.7 victories per season he averaged in 15 years at Georgia, he'll end up with a statue in Coral Gables.
The bright side: The recruiting in its backyard is the clear No. 1 reason for Miami's promise. The program could field solely South Florida high school products and win the ACC Coastal going away. Also, support is noticeably trending up. Many questions about institutional commitment, which had hovered for years, were answered in the past hiring process. Granted he had just been let go at Georgia, but Richt is the most accomplished coach Miami has ever hired. Even Jimmy Johnson had a 29-25-3 record at Oklahoma State when he came on board. On-campus facilities, including a planned indoor facility, are progressing. Miami is as serious about football as anyone associated with the school can recall.
The challenge: The chief drawback is without question the game-day experience. Photos of sparsely-attended Hurricanes games have become requisite inclusions from Sun Life Stadium, which is 30 to 60 minutes from campus by car, depending on traffic. Talking with Insider in December, AD Blake James was candid about the stadium atmosphere. But he countered that attendance had waned while the Hurricanes had fielded mostly middling teams. Miami hasn't won 10-plus games since it joined the ACC in 2004; Richt, meanwhile, had seven 10-plus-win seasons at Georgia during the same span. James said if attendance issues persist with the team winning "10 or 11 games" and regularly contending for titles, as he hopes will be the case with Richt, then he'll have a new level of concern for Sun Life Stadium's viability. He did not comment directly on reports that David Beckham is looking into building an MLS stadium near the site of the old Orange Bowl, which is much closer to campus, but James did say that, in general, he's always examining options for the program. If the Canes start filling more seats in the current stadium or at a new one, the agent's thought on Miami rebounding into the top 15 might be a conservative one.
21 (tie). Miami, ACC
Current head coach: Mark Richt (first year)
2015 rank: 23 | 2015 record: 8-5
Many coaches and agents brought up this program as the most intriguing on the board. "It's not a top-15 job," one agent told Insider, "but it might be in a couple of years." There's a national curiosity in Mark Richt's return to his alma mater. If he wins anywhere near the 9.7 victories per season he averaged in 15 years at Georgia, he'll end up with a statue in Coral Gables.
The bright side: The recruiting in its backyard is the clear No. 1 reason for Miami's promise. The program could field solely South Florida high school products and win the ACC Coastal going away. Also, support is noticeably trending up. Many questions about institutional commitment, which had hovered for years, were answered in the past hiring process. Granted he had just been let go at Georgia, but Richt is the most accomplished coach Miami has ever hired. Even Jimmy Johnson had a 29-25-3 record at Oklahoma State when he came on board. On-campus facilities, including a planned indoor facility, are progressing. Miami is as serious about football as anyone associated with the school can recall.
The challenge: The chief drawback is without question the game-day experience. Photos of sparsely-attended Hurricanes games have become requisite inclusions from Sun Life Stadium, which is 30 to 60 minutes from campus by car, depending on traffic. Talking with Insider in December, AD Blake James was candid about the stadium atmosphere. But he countered that attendance had waned while the Hurricanes had fielded mostly middling teams. Miami hasn't won 10-plus games since it joined the ACC in 2004; Richt, meanwhile, had seven 10-plus-win seasons at Georgia during the same span. James said if attendance issues persist with the team winning "10 or 11 games" and regularly contending for titles, as he hopes will be the case with Richt, then he'll have a new level of concern for Sun Life Stadium's viability. He did not comment directly on reports that David Beckham is looking into building an MLS stadium near the site of the old Orange Bowl, which is much closer to campus, but James did say that, in general, he's always examining options for the program. If the Canes start filling more seats in the current stadium or at a new one, the agent's thought on Miami rebounding into the top 15 might be a conservative one.
