That right before things go up they hit rock bottom, right before a stock rises it plummets, before you reach the top of a mountain you’re at the bottom, maybe just maybe this was rock bottom for Mario and Miami. However you look at it it’s not always pretty and sometimes in order to rebuild something properly it has to be broken all the way down. Conference play coming up.
Yeah, but Miami has been circling the drain and feels like we've been saying this in some way, shape or form for the past 16 years.
Honestly, the biggest takeaway from that MTSU debacle was a reminder that bringing in Mario and some new staff wasn't some just-add-water solution.
Look at the players' quotes; despite coaches being up their *** after aTm, these kids still expected to just waltz in and half-*** it against Middle Tennessee State en route to a victory—which is living proof there's a culture issue that needs fixing.
It also crushed the fantasy and honeymoon with Mario in the process; all these fan screaming about "15-0!" and talking about winning the Coastal and the ACC, or back-dooring into the Playoffs (we had some fans worried about losing to the Aggies as it could hurt "Playoff chances" for a program that's 0-for-18 in ACC tiles since 2004.)
This season is going to be a bunch of one-game mini seasons, as even a win over North Carolina doesn't mean Miami "turned the corner"—a new challenge next week with a road trip to Virginia Tech (Hokies aren't good, but will bring their best for Miami and Lane Stadium will be rocking.)
It's pretty much always three years for new coaches to build their teams, to weed out dead weight and to fill a roster with "their" kids. Especially a program that just went 7-5 and still has a handful of kids here who were around for 2019 and that brutal stretch of losing to Florida International, falling by double-digits at Duke and getting shutout against Louisiana Tech in a scrub bowl game.
Show up mad tomorrow, play smart and hard and beat the elitist Tar Heels—and then we'll talk about next week, next week.