How to correctly move past it

El Orange

Freshman
Joined
Dec 8, 2025
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112
Corny title but I am in my feelings. This is as painful as any loss, different from 2002 which was pure rage, or 1992 which i was 9 years old for. As a Mets fan I have learned that next year is NEVER guaranteed, and you have to strike while the iron is hot, which is why I think I'm extra depressed.

But for those who are feeling like dog ****, the first ******* thing I did this AM was give the money I would have spent on a reasonable ticket (not the $5500 plus flight and hotels), and all the money I made betting this year back to the program. It ain't moving the needle, and we are lucky to have some very generous billionaires.

But if you are feeling like dog **** as I am, first step forward isn't to bemoan the coaching or that virgin homo QB's blatant autism, or Dawson, or our zone defense. First thing to get right is give back.

This year proved beyond a doubt that A) Miami is and never was "poor" as decades of idiots proclaimed and B) when Miami makes an effort, we can be elite. So make the effort, you'll feel (a little) better.
 
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****ed and disappointed--I slept it off. Got up this morning and ate a good animal-based breakfast and then went to the secluded part of my property and chopped up two cords of wood to prepare for the ice storm we're getting this weekend in North Georgia.

While swinging the axe, my thoughts started softening that disappointment into appreciation for what the Canes did this year. Started thinking how Y-o-Y we went:

2022: 5-7
2023: 7-6 Pintripe Bowl loss
2024: 10-3 Poptarts Bowl loss
2025: 13-3 First Round Win, Cotton Bowl Win, Fiesta Bowl Win; beat all Florida schools, and ND.

Just started thinking big picture about how big of a leap we've made from the Ward season to the Beck season because of defensive coordinator upgrades. We've got our head coach--he's dispelled this myth (at least to me) that he's not a gameday coach. We've got a solid foundation of returning players to build around. We've got some up-and-coming star Freshmen-turned-sophomores that can absolutely get starting reps.

The message today on these boards and the media is dour about what happened yesterday but everyone seems to be in agreement that Miami will be back to the CFP next year or very close to it. Cristobal will reload, slide the rack back and re-**** it. I have no doubt about that. The CFP is a data point but I am more interested in trends. I feel very good about where the program is going and that has made me feel somewhat better despite such a disappointing end.
 
Fun Drinking GIF by Stan.
 
One thing I have ALWAYS said since forever was put a good product on the field and you create a wave, then you hit on a couple players and then you start winning big. We have not had the city buzzing like this in the entire time I have been an adult.

Cam started with putting an exciting brand on display, last year we made many new fans, but this season and THIS RUN is something we have not seen, SOOOO MANY young fans have been created. FIRST real run in social media era, Miami has sooooo many HOF charismatic intellectual properties and personalities at its disposal, we almost are wasting them but we have to continually capitalize which will be hard.

The 12 team playoffs seem like an incredible GRIND. I know why they want to extend it but doesnt make sense. Like OP mentioned it sucks to get soo close because it doesnt guarantee anything, just as much as we can be here in next few seasons, we might not get a shot in next 20+ years like last time.
 
I slept half the day, im proud how far this team made it, and how hard they fought. Im just disappointed we didn’t win it, it hurts, real bad. Then most people wanted to see us lose, mannn fvck!! It’s hard to get back to this point, but I think we can do it again.
 
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One thing I have ALWAYS said since forever was put a good product on the field and you create a wave, then you hit on a couple players and then you start winning big. We have not had the city buzzing like this in the entire time I have been an adult.

Cam started with putting an exciting brand on display, last year we made many new fans, but this season and THIS RUN is something we have not seen, SOOOO MANY young fans have been created. FIRST real run in social media era, Miami has sooooo many HOF charismatic intellectual properties and personalities at its disposal, we almost are wasting them but we have to continually capitalize which will be hard.

The 12 team playoffs seem like an incredible GRIND. I know why they want to extend it but doesnt make sense. Like OP mentioned it sucks to get soo close because it doesnt guarantee anything, just as much as we can be here in next few seasons, we might not get a shot in next 20+ years like last time.
No one has done more in less time than Cam Ward. Period. Full stop.

NFL players literally doing his celebration. His social media prowess. His play of course.

He made it cool to be a Cane again when we needed it most.

I was concerned we wasted that momentum after SMU but wow did we flip that. Small picture the loss sucks. Big picture this is probably the most solid the program has been in my lifetime.
 
We are a better team this year than last year. That is my metric.

Plus that tailgate was epic from first beer to the gestapo from M-D threatening the yellow lot. Epic I say. 🤠
 
No one has done more in less time than Cam Ward. Period. Full stop.

NFL players literally doing his celebration. His social media prowess. His play of course.

He made it cool to be a Cane again when we needed it most.

I was concerned we wasted that momentum after SMU but wow did we flip that. Small picture the loss sucks. Big picture this is probably the most solid the program has been in my lifetime.
This is it right here. The old way of giving up when a little adversity hit is completely gone. Now the fight is there until the last second ticks off the clock.
 
I couldn't sleep the night of the OSU debacle in 03 and caught 3 Snook early the next morning, which eased the sting.

I took yesterday off work and took my son fishing. We caught a few, nothing crazy, but I feel a little better.

Mostly sad now that the run is over. What a blast.
 
It's difficult, but try to look big picture. We have a foaming at the mouth, psychotic, rabid lunatic for a head coach, and he has a war chest at his ****nal.

Obviously there's no guarantee we ever get back to or win a Natty, we all know that. So this one should hurt. It should sting. If you give a ****, you're hurt as ****. But try to understand nobody on this planet, not me nor anyone on this board, has a bigger burning hole in their chest right now than the head man in charge.

IMO the floor is very, very raised on this program. Higher than it's been in 30 years. So we're going to be in the mix consistently going forward. This is not 2023 Washington. This is not 2022 TCU. This is not 2013 Auburn.

We are in a very good spot with a man who doesn't even know how to rest. We're going to continue to stack talent and improve the roster. We are an industry leader in NIL activities. We have support for days. I genuinely believe this is one of the 10 best programs in the country, both currently and how they're set up for the foreseeable future.

It's time to get back to work.
 
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It's difficult, but try to look big picture. We have a foaming at the mouth, psychotic, rabid lunatic for a head coach, and he has a war chest at his ****nal.

Obviously there's no guarantee we ever get back to or win a Natty, we all know that. So this one should hurt. It should sting. If you give a ****, you're hurt as ****. But try to understand nobody on this planet, not me nor anyone on this board, has a bigger burning hole in their chest right now than the head man in charge.

IMO the floor is very, very raised on this program. Higher than it's been in 30 years. So we're going to be in the mix consistently going forward. This is not 2023 Washington. This is not 2022 TCU. This is not 2013 Auburn.

We are in a very good spot with a man who doesn't even know how to rest. We're going to continue to stack talent and improve the roster. We are an industry leader in NIL activities. We have support for days. I genuinely believe this is one of the 10 best programs in the country, both currently and how they're set up for the foreseeable future.

It's time to get back to work.

Lots of people said we would take a step back after losing Ward. How do replace a generational talent at QB?

Well, turns out you can go pretty far by just running the ball and playing good defense with a game manager QB. But one thing that held us back was that Beck could never consistently hit deep passes so we couldn’t stress the defense.

Mensah + Toney + Fletcher + additional pieces of offense should give us a top 10 offense (my guess is we do even better than that).

Defense requires a similar philosophical change as the offense did this year with a different QB. Indiana didn’t have a Bain or Mesidor, instead they generated pressure almost purely through scheme, constantly confusing QBs and OLs by changing pre snap and post snap coverage. Miami has much better athletes. I think we could have defense just as good- if not better- through scheme. Heatherman had an embarrassment of riches and didn’t need to do anything fancy because Miami could rush 4 and it was almost unstoppable. Next year might require a bit more thinking but he has the chops to get it done.

Much better offense + equally as effective defense = chance at another championship 1 year from now
 
I am just worried about how we shore up the OL and DL with all the departures--feels like there's a lot to replace! I am sure Mario has a plan though and I trust him as he's continually proven himself.
 
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