- Joined
- Jan 21, 2013
- Messages
- 4,195
I know it is long, but it's worth reading and sending one of your own.
Here it is:
Good afternoon Mr. James,
Happy New Year!
I know this is long, but please read.
My name is William Herrera, and I am a current student at the University of Miami, about to finish my Senior year at the U. I have tweeted at you before, and I have been told you are aware of who I am. I don't know if that is true, but in the case it is, I understand it was not the most professional way to reach you or discuss this with you, and I apologize.
With that said, I want you to please understand the level of frustration that our fan base is feeling. I am what you call a "Cane Lifer": I grew up loving the U and falling in love with the football program. One of my first sports memories is winning the 2001 national championship. The first time I cried over sports was when they robbed us of the championship the next year. I truly bleed orange and green- it's not just some gimmicky thing to say. I have seen us at the top, but that was so long ago. I am now a student, at my dream school, preparing to graduate. I have one semester left in my undergrad career. As a student, athletics is a big part of student life- that is undeniable. As a fan, I have invested so much into this school. Today, was not my breaking point, that was the night we were embarrassed by Pitt. Today was just the day that I convinced myself that an email might be listened to.
Mr. Golden needs to go. It is not a matter of waiting and seeing anymore. Today we lost our highest ranked committed player. Recruiting is something I know you are too busy to follow in depth, but up to this point we now have 12 decommitments. The product on the field is unacceptable. Of the 7 losses we had this year alone, only one team has out-recruited us in each of the last 4 years, and that is FSU. I will graduate never having seen us beat them. The recruiting situation is only going to get worse, and keeping Mr. Golden another year will only make it harder for the next coach to try and build this program back to where its supposed to be- competing for National Titles. Mr. Golden is not going to succeed here- that's not an opinion anymore, its backed by enough statistical data to support. This year alone we had the all time leading rusher in our program's history, the runner up for the Butkus Award, one of the best tightends in the country and in our program's history, a Freshman All American quarterback, 2 potential NFL first round draft picks, and 10 total potential drafts picks (the only school with more potential picks is FSU)- and with all of this, we not only managed to lose more games than we won, but also finished last in our division. This is unacceptable. This is not year 1, this is year 4. The "cloud" as you all call it did not affect recruiting as much as Mr. Golden has led people to believe. In fact, as mentioned before, no team on this years schedule, except FSU, has recruited better than us each of the last 3 years.
You have repeatedly said that we have "made progress", and at the beginning of this season you said "we will be a better team at the end of the year than we are now, and we will be a better team than we were last year". Mr. James, if you sit down and examine all the numbers, you know very well that neither of those two statements are true at this point. I'm not saying you lied to us, I understand you had to make those statements and you believed in the, and the team, at the time. We actually SHOULD have been better. You were right. You're expectations were not met unfortunately, and neither were the expectations of our fans. Sir, please don't continue to force feed us this terrible football product the staff has put together. Please don't continue to hurt the athletes who have been poorly developed. Please don't let the U fall like this. Our program is on the edge. You may no see it, but that is a reality. The local community no longer cares to send their kids to play at the U. They don't trust Mr. Golden or his staff. This is the home of some of the best players in the country. If you watched the playoffs, you couldn't watch without seeing a local south Florida kid making plays for their team. We need someone who can bring back the local community, get the kids on board, develop them, and win National Championships. The only real option for our next coach is Butch Davis. You have recruits, parents, high school coaches, and fans saying it, and calling for him to be brought back. All of those groups' opinions actually matter because those are the next generation of potential Canes to take us back to the top, and the people who will pay to watch them, and donate to the athletic program.
Mr. James, I have read a lot of your responses to fans with similar emails. Please don't continue to laugh at us with the same responses and no actions. You may not intend to be doing that, but each day Mr. Golden is here, that's what it feels like. I want to purchase season tickets, and I will, as long as Mr. Golden is not the coach.
Thank you for your time,
William Herrera
Cane Lifer
University of Miami
Class of 2015
Here it is:
Good afternoon Mr. James,
Happy New Year!
I know this is long, but please read.
My name is William Herrera, and I am a current student at the University of Miami, about to finish my Senior year at the U. I have tweeted at you before, and I have been told you are aware of who I am. I don't know if that is true, but in the case it is, I understand it was not the most professional way to reach you or discuss this with you, and I apologize.
With that said, I want you to please understand the level of frustration that our fan base is feeling. I am what you call a "Cane Lifer": I grew up loving the U and falling in love with the football program. One of my first sports memories is winning the 2001 national championship. The first time I cried over sports was when they robbed us of the championship the next year. I truly bleed orange and green- it's not just some gimmicky thing to say. I have seen us at the top, but that was so long ago. I am now a student, at my dream school, preparing to graduate. I have one semester left in my undergrad career. As a student, athletics is a big part of student life- that is undeniable. As a fan, I have invested so much into this school. Today, was not my breaking point, that was the night we were embarrassed by Pitt. Today was just the day that I convinced myself that an email might be listened to.
Mr. Golden needs to go. It is not a matter of waiting and seeing anymore. Today we lost our highest ranked committed player. Recruiting is something I know you are too busy to follow in depth, but up to this point we now have 12 decommitments. The product on the field is unacceptable. Of the 7 losses we had this year alone, only one team has out-recruited us in each of the last 4 years, and that is FSU. I will graduate never having seen us beat them. The recruiting situation is only going to get worse, and keeping Mr. Golden another year will only make it harder for the next coach to try and build this program back to where its supposed to be- competing for National Titles. Mr. Golden is not going to succeed here- that's not an opinion anymore, its backed by enough statistical data to support. This year alone we had the all time leading rusher in our program's history, the runner up for the Butkus Award, one of the best tightends in the country and in our program's history, a Freshman All American quarterback, 2 potential NFL first round draft picks, and 10 total potential drafts picks (the only school with more potential picks is FSU)- and with all of this, we not only managed to lose more games than we won, but also finished last in our division. This is unacceptable. This is not year 1, this is year 4. The "cloud" as you all call it did not affect recruiting as much as Mr. Golden has led people to believe. In fact, as mentioned before, no team on this years schedule, except FSU, has recruited better than us each of the last 3 years.
You have repeatedly said that we have "made progress", and at the beginning of this season you said "we will be a better team at the end of the year than we are now, and we will be a better team than we were last year". Mr. James, if you sit down and examine all the numbers, you know very well that neither of those two statements are true at this point. I'm not saying you lied to us, I understand you had to make those statements and you believed in the, and the team, at the time. We actually SHOULD have been better. You were right. You're expectations were not met unfortunately, and neither were the expectations of our fans. Sir, please don't continue to force feed us this terrible football product the staff has put together. Please don't continue to hurt the athletes who have been poorly developed. Please don't let the U fall like this. Our program is on the edge. You may no see it, but that is a reality. The local community no longer cares to send their kids to play at the U. They don't trust Mr. Golden or his staff. This is the home of some of the best players in the country. If you watched the playoffs, you couldn't watch without seeing a local south Florida kid making plays for their team. We need someone who can bring back the local community, get the kids on board, develop them, and win National Championships. The only real option for our next coach is Butch Davis. You have recruits, parents, high school coaches, and fans saying it, and calling for him to be brought back. All of those groups' opinions actually matter because those are the next generation of potential Canes to take us back to the top, and the people who will pay to watch them, and donate to the athletic program.
Mr. James, I have read a lot of your responses to fans with similar emails. Please don't continue to laugh at us with the same responses and no actions. You may not intend to be doing that, but each day Mr. Golden is here, that's what it feels like. I want to purchase season tickets, and I will, as long as Mr. Golden is not the coach.
Thank you for your time,
William Herrera
Cane Lifer
University of Miami
Class of 2015
