Is this the biggest transformation of a program?

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Hate to bring his name up again but I think Kirby overhauled Georgia as well but not to the extent that Saban did with Bama and Mario will do with us. Mark Richt ran a good program but I still think Kirby came in and overhauled a lot.

I know everyone tired of talking about these two programs but they are the standard at the moment.
Agree. Kirby brought the way bama does things, both on the field and bag-wise to an already good program. Maybe it wasn't the same type of top to bottom overhaul, but it took that team from consistently good to a crazy talented machine. As we've seen all these years, that's not easy to do.
 
LMAO at the hyperbole from some of you guys. How about we wait until we see some results before getting too far out over our skis.
Yeah, I'm trying not to fall into the mope category, but it's getting tedious reading how amazing we are now. As if we haven't spouted the same stuff after every coaching change. I'm NOT saying Mario won't get us there, but folks can't wait to be the first to claim we're back. The voices saying this will be a multi-year rebuild are already fading, replaced by a bunch of talk about how we should not only beat everybody in the coastal, but Clem and ATM aren't really that much better and maybe we should beat them too. I'm just saying maybe we can slow down on the predictions and just see how it plays out.
 
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I have to agree with this. Miami came within a hillbilly's heartbeat of dropping football before he got here. Would have had a perfect season in his 3rd season I believe if it werent for two horrible calls vs Texas and Miss State.
Wonder why you'll never see any video of either the Texas or MSU games. The evidence was destroyed!
 
It’s been done a few times, but I honestly don’t think what Nickie did in Tuscaloosa is as impressive as what’s going on at Miami right now. Even with the overhaul playing out in front of the College Football world, what’s been more impressive to me is the fact that Mario’s talent acquisitions are top notch even with a complete overhaul taking place.

That’s fckn impressive ladies and gentlemen.
lol jesus
 
While these are prior to the hiring of Saban at Alabama, two of the greatest transformations are:

1) Schnellenberger: he took a woefully underperforming program and transformed it by (among other things): (1) recruiting the best talent from the State of Miami (including the less beaten paths) and (2) utilizing a pro style passing attack. It's actually amazing that he connected so well with his recruits. He also completely transformed the way CFB is played (with greater emphasis on the passing game). The Canes took CFB by storm & will forever be one of the greatest stories in all of sports. No-one (not even Bama) does it with quite the flair & swag as the Canes when they are in full flight.

2) Butch Davis: he took a program from the ashes to the absolute pinnacle (the greatest CFB team ever). The degree of difficulty on that task is off the charts. He had to hit on virtually every eval with limited schollys. To sell big time recruits on his vision (with a big black cloud of issues as the backdrop) was amazing. To assemble that staff (which was unbelievably good) while the U was still being pretty darn frugal was a tremendous feat. To recruit that many 1st round picks, NFL HOFers, CFB HOFers (including some players that are among the best ever at their position) and package that into a dynamic & super fast team that ended up destroying highly ranked opponents by 2001 is astoundingly good. His teams were also disciplined & appeared to win with class. Even though his departure was not ideal, he should be revered forever by Canes fans for that body of work. He had almost nothing to work with (program on life support, limited schollys, limited budget, brutal backdrop of prior issues etc) except some very fertile recruiting grounds & brand that still had some national cache.

In terms of more recent transformations:

1) Mario: It appears that he basically insisted on gutting the place before signing on the dotted line (which was very intelligent). Everything has changed or is changing, including but not limited to:

  • AD (from incredibly mediocre to now having someone that knows what a winning organization looks like & the significant support that requires)
  • level of support from the Admin & Golden Canes (what a difference this is already making)
  • strong staff both on-field and off-field (the current # of off field positions likely dwarf the prior #....and that's huge). I don't know if we do it, but I'd love Mario to have a staff dedicated to breaking down every opponent's tendencies on every single type of play (over the last 2-3 seasons with emphasis on years the opponent's current QB, HC, OC & DC were involved in) & then distilling that into simple-to-follow presentations for the coaches & players
  • intense focus on recruiting (with all coaches expected to be strong recruiters). This should supplement intense film study by the coaches & players
  • expansion of our recruiting territories (yes, we've been a national recruiter for over 40 years but we've undeniably gotten stronger on the West Coast with Mario & the coaches he retained from Oregon and in the Midwest with Gattis). The implications of this are huge for the program going forward. We should always make dominating the State of Miami our #1 priority but some of our best teams had great players from TX, LA & CA.
  • significant emphasis on the trenches
  • S&C
  • work ethic
  • culture.

2) Wake Forest: from cellar dweller to ACC contender.

3) USC: they've been a powerhouse program for much of their history but Riley is going to take a woefully underperforming program & re-invigorate it. They've been flat out mediocre for the most part since old Petey hightailed it out of there (when it was about to became apparent that his alleged "che@ting" was going to come to light).

4) MSU: most of their turnaround seems attributable to some strong work in the Portal last off-season. Not sure what other elements of the program changed.

Not that impressed with their turnarounds:

1) Texas A&M:
Jimbo is winning at about the same rate (very slightly better) than his predecessor and he's been there 4 years. Losing 4-5 games a year just ain't that impressive. He strained relationships at FSU by relentlessly asking for money from mostly mom & pop type boosters. He's received tremendous financial support at A&M and produced nothing special of note yet. Consistent 4-5 loss seasons ain't good. Maybe he's now b@ught his way (allegedly) to some incremental success but if he doesn't start winning at a higher rate soon his a@@ will be gr@$$ because he demands tremendous financial support from the Admin & boosters.

2) UGA: winning the MNC was a great achievement but UGA had pretty much everything you would want in a powerhouse program before Kirby. They had elite recruiting classes every year long before he arrived. His changes were more subtle & I think of him more as putting spinners on a Bentley. :)
Great write up.
 
A case of major transformation not working out/what might have been, but that one year Lane had in Tennessee was pretty wild. There was all kinds of hype around it. The staff he brought in was pretty nuts as well.

Lane - HC
Jim Chaney - OC/OL
David Reaves - QB
Eddie Gran - RB/ST
Frank Wilson - WR
James Cregg - TE/Tackles
Monte Kiffin - DC
Ed Orgeron - DL
Lance Thompson - LB
Willie Mack Garza - DB

Garza is the "weakest link" on that staff. Reaves left coaching because of a Dewey he got at Oregon. Everyone else is pretty nice.

Lane inherited a 5-7 team, no portal, and went 7-6. This team was in every game but 2 that they played, including a 10 point loss at #3 UiF and a 2 point loss at eventual BCS champ Bama. Two years later Urban had "health issues." If Lane had just stayed in Knoxville...
 
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While these are prior to the hiring of Saban at Alabama, two of the greatest transformations are:

1) Schnellenberger: he took a woefully underperforming program and transformed it by (among other things): (1) recruiting the best talent from the State of Miami (including the less beaten paths) and (2) utilizing a pro style passing attack. It's actually amazing that he connected so well with his recruits. He also completely transformed the way CFB is played (with greater emphasis on the passing game). The Canes took CFB by storm & will forever be one of the greatest stories in all of sports. No-one (not even Bama) does it with quite the flair & swag as the Canes when they are in full flight.

2) Butch Davis: he took a program from the ashes to the absolute pinnacle (the greatest CFB team ever). The degree of difficulty on that task is off the charts. He had to hit on virtually every eval with limited schollys. To sell big time recruits on his vision (with a big black cloud of issues as the backdrop) was amazing. To assemble that staff (which was unbelievably good) while the U was still being pretty darn frugal was a tremendous feat. To recruit that many 1st round picks, NFL HOFers, CFB HOFers (including some players that are among the best ever at their position) and package that into a dynamic & super fast team that ended up destroying highly ranked opponents by 2001 is astoundingly good. His teams were also disciplined & appeared to win with class. Even though his departure was not ideal, he should be revered forever by Canes fans for that body of work. He had almost nothing to work with (program on life support, limited schollys, limited budget, brutal backdrop of prior issues etc) except some very fertile recruiting grounds & brand that still had some national cache.

In terms of more recent transformations:

1) Mario: It appears that he basically insisted on gutting the place before signing on the dotted line (which was very intelligent). Everything has changed or is changing, including but not limited to:

  • AD (from incredibly mediocre to now having someone that knows what a winning organization looks like & the significant support that requires)
  • level of support from the Admin & Golden Canes (what a difference this is already making)
  • strong staff both on-field and off-field (the current # of off field positions likely dwarf the prior #....and that's huge). I don't know if we do it, but I'd love Mario to have a staff dedicated to breaking down every opponent's tendencies on every single type of play (over the last 2-3 seasons with emphasis on years the opponent's current QB, HC, OC & DC were involved in) & then distilling that into simple-to-follow presentations for the coaches & players
  • intense focus on recruiting (with all coaches expected to be strong recruiters). This should supplement intense film study by the coaches & players
  • expansion of our recruiting territories (yes, we've been a national recruiter for over 40 years but we've undeniably gotten stronger on the West Coast with Mario & the coaches he retained from Oregon and in the Midwest with Gattis). The implications of this are huge for the program going forward. We should always make dominating the State of Miami our #1 priority but some of our best teams had great players from TX, LA & CA.
  • significant emphasis on the trenches
  • S&C
  • work ethic
  • culture.

2) Wake Forest: from cellar dweller to ACC contender.

3) USC: they've been a powerhouse program for much of their history but Riley is going to take a woefully underperforming program & re-invigorate it. They've been flat out mediocre for the most part since old Petey hightailed it out of there (when it was about to became apparent that his alleged "che@ting" was going to come to light).

4) MSU: most of their turnaround seems attributable to some strong work in the Portal last off-season. Not sure what other elements of the program changed.

Not that impressed with their turnarounds:

1) Texas A&M:
Jimbo is winning at about the same rate (very slightly better) than his predecessor and he's been there 4 years. Losing 4-5 games a year just ain't that impressive. He strained relationships at FSU by relentlessly asking for money from mostly mom & pop type boosters. He's received tremendous financial support at A&M and produced nothing special of note yet. Consistent 4-5 loss seasons ain't good. Maybe he's now b@ught his way (allegedly) to some incremental success but if he doesn't start winning at a higher rate soon his a@@ will be gr@$$ because he demands tremendous financial support from the Admin & boosters.

2) UGA: winning the MNC was a great achievement but UGA had pretty much everything you would want in a powerhouse program before Kirby. They had elite recruiting classes every year long before he arrived. His changes were more subtle & I think of him more as putting spinners on a Bentley. :)
Excellent post!
 
It will be a great one but Bama was bigger. Remember they had barely escaped the death penalty and lost 21 scholarship 5 years before Saban got there. He had a winning season a few years back and many years past all the Shapiro stuff. What I want to be bigger is the run of success that's more important.
 
I put biggest transformations as:

1. Dwins
2. Bama
3. UGA
4. Us (only because we haven’t played yet)
Well then it’s definitely Mario because he has Dwins going from SEC love fest to moonwalking through Coral Gables
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It’s been done a few times, but I honestly don’t think what Nickie did in Tuscaloosa is as impressive as what’s going on at Miami right now. Even with the overhaul playing out in front of the College Football world, what’s been more impressive to me is the fact that Mario’s talent acquisitions are top notch even with a complete overhaul taking place.

That’s fckn impressive ladies and gentlemen.
Alabama's issues didn't extend into management of the athletic department. Ours is a commitment not just to the football progrum, but the entire department. I'm not aware of any with that wide of a scope.
 
It’s too premature to definitively say yay or nay...

But I’d definitely say Miami & USC’s new financial investment into their programs is shaping up to pay big dividends in the future & redistribute the power structure over the landscape of college football.

Even in USC’s hay day when they were winning, they weren’t spending a lot of money, they won their titles off talent & coaching, same thing with Miami in the 80-00’s, talent & coaching.

Where the two programs got lapped is they refused to invest in the program & got caught by a tidal wave of the economic boom that cratered college football & the programs that took advantage of it, (Bama, Clemson, UGA, OH ST) all have benefitted greatly with long sustained winning & National title bids for the greater part of the last decade plus.

What Schnelly & Jimmy Johnson did took the college football world by storm, it was so monumental that it took years for the rest of Nation to catch up, but by the time they did, we had gotten so relaxed & complacent that we allowed nearly every other program to pass us up & they did so by miles. The refusal to financially invest in the program is at the crux of why we’ve been destitute for the last 20 years, so in theory with the new reprisal of financial investment & competence we could very well be on the precipice of our next Dynastic run...

However, the biggest hurdle we’ll have to face is the “Good Ol’ Boy” network; they hold the keys to who wins & who profits the most in college football & make no mistake about, all these Deep South Confederate schools having all the rules bent in their favor, being allowed to openly cheat, hoard all the talent & winning the championship every year is not by accident.
This right here and couldn’t have said it better. I think our transformation so far along with USCw has been very impressive. Just need to show results on the field to make it all count for something.

But make no mistake though - we are in a great spot. I’ve been a Cane fan since 1983, and I’ve never seen all facets of our institution working in lockstep the way it’s setup now. Literally everything you could want infrastructure wise is in place now. Again though, we just need to erase our 20-year stigma and not just get squeak by wins but get dominating, crushing wins. We need to make a statement next season.

But at the end of the day, LCE is 100. Those blue blood programs are NOT about to concede to us. They are going to do whatever they can to try to hold us back. It will be tough, but I think the resilience of Mario, Radakovich and Ruiz will pay off.
 
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Didn't read every page, but Pete Carroll's transformation of USC from 20 years of average to dominant nationally was impressive. 6-6 in Year 1, then a great run until his last season and return to the NFL.

And USC quickly tanked after Pete left.
They quickly tanked because they got put on massive sanctions for buying players from coast to coast that were the reason for his turnaround. That's why he left when he did.
 
A case of major transformation not working out/what might have been, but that one year Lane had in Tennessee was pretty wild. There was all kinds of hype around it. The staff he brought in was pretty nuts as well.

Lane - HC
Jim Chaney - OC/OL
David Reaves - QB
Eddie Gran - RB/ST
Frank Wilson - WR
James Cregg - TE/Tackles
Monte Kiffin - DC
Ed Orgeron - DL
Lance Thompson - LB
Willie Mack Garza - DB

Garza is the "weakest link" on that staff. Reaves left coaching because of a Dewey he got at Oregon. Everyone else is pretty nice.

Lane inherited a 5-7 team, no portal, and went 7-6. This team was in every game but 2 that they played, including a 10 point loss at #3 UiF and a 2 point loss at eventual BCS champ Bama. Two years later Urban had "health issues." If Lane had just stayed in Knoxville...
Lane should of never left there. He went to USC thinking they were committed and they weren't
 
It’s too premature to definitively say yay or nay...

But I’d definitely say Miami & USC’s new financial investment into their programs is shaping up to pay big dividends in the future & redistribute the power structure over the landscape of college football.

Even in USC’s hay day when they were winning, they weren’t spending a lot of money, they won their titles off talent & coaching, same thing with Miami in the 80-00’s, talent & coaching.

Where the two programs got lapped is they refused to invest in the program & got caught by a tidal wave of the economic boom that cratered college football & the programs that took advantage of it, (Bama, Clemson, UGA, OH ST) all have benefitted greatly with long sustained winning & National title bids for the greater part of the last decade plus.

What Schnelly & Jimmy Johnson did took the college football world by storm, it was so monumental that it took years for the rest of Nation to catch up, but by the time they did, we had gotten so relaxed & complacent that we allowed nearly every other program to pass us up & they did so by miles. The refusal to financially invest in the program is at the crux of why we’ve been destitute for the last 20 years, so in theory with the new reprisal of financial investment & competence we could very well be on the precipice of our next Dynastic run...

However, the biggest hurdle we’ll have to face is the “Good Ol’ Boy” network; they hold the keys to who wins & who profits the most in college football & make no mistake about, all these Deep South Confederate schools having all the rules bent in their favor, being allowed to openly cheat, hoard all the talent & winning the championship every year is not by accident.
I can't wait to **** off the status quo again
 
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