The fact that our fanbase still thinks that the academic side is the problem is beyond insane and shows that this fanbase will embrace narratives, facts and logic be damned. Unlike the typical football factory school, where the typical fan is an alum, or at least, a fan that has spent time around alumni or has a relationship with the University, the typical Miami fan has never been on campus, and likely has had minimal interaction with alumni. Why is that a problem? Maybe, not just maybe if more of our fans understood how the University operated, they wouldn't embrace these inaccurate and dangerous narratives. I'll never understand why our fanbase can't get it through their heads that the UNIVERSITY of Miami exists as an institution of higher learning and not a football vocational school. Miami can and should have a world class, competitive athletic department, but that doesn't mean we should sacrifice academic excellence in order to do so, like a fair number of schools.
The Miami football program had a great run, spearheaded by competent ADs making outstanding hires, taking advantage of unique circumstances, leading to an outlier run of dominance. Unfortunately, nothing lasts forever and the athletic administration did a TERRIBLE job of adjusting to a changing college athletics environment. When the arms race kicked into high gear, Paul Dee and the boosters didn't act and thought that Miami could continue to win on a shoestring budget. If you are going to try to win that way, it's extremely important that you make inspired hires, because you won't be able to throw money at the problem. Instead, Miami hired guys like Larry Coker, Randy Shannon and Manny Diaz, guys with high failure probabilities. That's why it fell apart. Simple, and to the point.
You can argue the only two coaches that Miami has hired that were anywhere near inspired were Al Golden(A guy that found success at a historical loser) and Mario Cristobal(A coach that won at a P5 school). That's a terrible track record over the last 20 years. Mark Richt was a guy on the downside of his career, so I don't find him to be a particularly inspiring hire. In other words, the athletic department and the people responsible for holding it accountable(The Boosters/Donors) did a TERRIBLE job of staffing the program and giving said staff the resources they need to succeed. The part of the University that could and should have done something didn't, they sat on their hands. I'm referring to the BOT, who has the ultimate say in everything that happens on campus. That has NOTHING to do with the academic side. That had NOTHING to do with Donna Shalala, who wasn't in position to manage the department.
There will always be a divide between the academic side and the athletic department, and for good reason. This isn't a huge state school, no matter how much our fanbase wants it to be, and as a result, we have to approach things from a rational perspective. The intellectuals at LSU don't have a voice, because the boosters run that school, and they've made the decision to be a mediocre(at best) academic institution that dominates on the field. Alabama is the same way, same with a ton of other schools. There are few and I mean few Michigan, Ohio State, Texas type schools out there that are committed to both. If our boosters are doing their job and we have a competent AD, Miami athletics will be fine. That said, this school will never be managed like LSU, and for good reason. Good luck getting families to spend 200k for an undergraduate education at a glorified JUCO. Not happening.
