As people know I don’t call myself an insider but I do know some high ups and high up adjacent people at UM (they’re just not always involved in athletics). Miami started talking about Mario, internally, in early 2021. The way the 2020 season ended, there were doubts about manny in 2021. The blowouts to Bama and Michigan State all but sealed it, with the close loss to UVA being the coup de grâce.
Remember, Miami at this point had been embarrassed on the field and in CFB media. Admin was desperate. Unlike in 2010 and 2015, this time, Mario had all the leverage. All his demands were met: fire Blake James before the end of the season, New AD, and unparalleled investment in program. It’s not inaccurate to say by the start of November, Mario to Miami was very locked in. Nothing inked of course, but there were agreed upon terms. The late season rally by Manny didn’t matter. I do think they should’ve just fired him and not strung him along, as it was a bad look for us.
Also, Mario’s demand that Blake James be fired was essential. Part of the reason why our 2018 search was so quick, is because Blake James (out of self preservation) needed to hire an ally and do it quickly. There was a contingent on the BOT at the time that Blake empowered and which empowered him in return. Much was said about this group during the Manny hire and after he was fired. The job was barely open a day, but make no mistake, Mario’s people communicated to UM that they were very interested in the job. The longer that job would’ve stayed open, the better the chance Mario would’ve gotten it. He didn’t have enough time to rally his support or the leverage to stall.
Also, some other notes on UM internal dynamics and politics that I’ve heard over the past few weeks:
-Back in June 2024, Rudy Fernandez was at the height of is power/influence inside the school. Over the course of his time with Julio Frenk, he continued to amass more and more portfolios and areas of responsibility within the school. That’s no longer the case. Slowly, but surely, those portfolios are being taken away and reassigned. With Frenk, in the last few years, he was a mostly disempowered president with little BOT backing. That’s not the case with Joe E whatsoever. I’m not saying Rudy’s on the way out or anything like that, only that his Star and power are diminishing.
-I’ve never heard of so many polar opposite opinions of a guy than Joe E. There’s no middle, you either love him or hate him. He has got some buy in from faculty due to solving some longstanding but minor issues early in his tenure. But the other higher ups are a bit more uncomfortable. He’s brought in the Deloitte model and applied it to UM. There is a very clear hierarchy. This isn’t a guy with an open door policy to say the least. Just to give you an idea of his personality, when game-day was in town for the UF game and the crew were going around UM and filing, Pat McAfee had awkward interaction with Joe E. McAfee, not realizing who Joe was (he was wearing his UM blazer), said something to the tune of “what’s up suits” when introducing himself. Joe E. Had a weird reaction and complained afterwards. All in all, not a chill executive. Expects a certain type and level of interaction with him.
-Putting aside the other factors, this is ultimately a FB board, and Joe E. is definitely the most pro-UM football president we’ve ever had. He is a naturally and highly competitive guy. You don’t get to be CEO of the political machine that is Deloitte without being a good knife fighter. Regarding football investment and conference realignment, I have zero concerns with this guy at the helm (the rest TBD).
