“We at UM have been driving this same car 30-something years since I left” Alonzo said, “Now the tires are all flat. Now the paint is gone. But yet we keep putting new drivers in the same car — Al Golden, Randy Shannon — and expecting it to go the same 200 mph of old glory. That's like Richard Petty trying to win with race cars he ran 30 years ago. You can't do it."
“Northwestern, TCU, Baylor — they're all investing,'' Highsmith says. "I just sat for two hours with Howard Schnellenberger going over what [Florida Atlantic] is doing with facilities. They're passing us by.”
Sit down,
Hurricane fans. Shut up. Listen good.
Because Alonzo Highsmith is going to give you the goods on your athletic program. He's lived it forever. He has a first championship ring. He, “bleeds orange and green,” he says, and is as disappointed as anyone in this 6-6 football season.
But the Green Bay Packers' scout just came from Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops' office where they discussed the school's $400 million improvement of the stadium. He just came from Texas A&M, where they have $500 million to upgrade facilities.
“Sometimes I think maybe the administration doesn't want football to get back to the national brand,” he said. “We're where we want to be academically, climbing higher and higher. We don't want football to be at the forefront. Let's give them the minimal amount to play and put them in [Sun Life Stadium] on Saturday.”
“But we're not playing on the same level that all the teams in the playoff right now. We're a lower-tier college trying to play big-boy football in the year 2014. That's why I'm not dumping on Al Golden. I know, yeah, we're never happy with 6-6. Never. ”
“That's why I'm not dumping on Al Golden. I know, yeah, we're never happy with 6-6. Never. But we're not playing on the same level that all the teams in the playoff right now. We're a lower-tier college trying to play big-boy football in the year 2014.”
Last spring, Highsmith visited his old school for the pro scouting day and it was like entering a time warp. So little had changed. The weight room was bigger. The coaches' offices were better. But it was 1983 all over again from most views.
“I had [fellow scouts] coming up to me, saying, 'This is the worst practice field I've seen,' ” he said. “That's been fixed since then. But you get the idea.”
The best part of this is Highsmith is acting on his concerns. “Building The U” is a plan to raise money to help the leakiest parts of the athletic program. The financial paperwork is still in the works, but the early response has been, “overwhelming.” Fans. Donors. Former players.
“Ray Lewis is on board!” he tweeted this week.
Already in the plans is a golf tournament covering the football greats from all Miami generations. The help would stretch to every corner of the athletic department.
“I'd love to hand that women's golf coach a $100,000 check,” Highsmith said. “The women's basketball coach needs $200,000? Al Golden, you need practice fields? Here's a check. That's my idea.”
Raising $25 million might be unrealistic, he admits. But then he comes from a time when Schnellenberger took over a program that the school considered killing and within a few years won a national title.
“Al Golden is the least of our problems right now,” Highsmith says. “Our problem is the foundation and the direction of the program. Are we going to reinvest in it? Don't tell me this bull crap about, 'We won like this in the past.' You can't do it.”
“If we don't fix what's ailing this program right now, 10 years from now, we could be where FIU and those programs are,” he said. “If we don't fix this foundation, it won't matter who's coaching, and the best coaches won’t want to come here.”
He thinks of a “60 Minutes” piece with a General Motors executive. When they were on top, the executive said, they fell asleep at the wheel. They didn't keep up. They didn't re-invest in fresh ideas.[/FONT]
“Northwestern, TCU, Baylor — they're all investing,'' Highsmith says. "I just sat for two hours with Howard Schnellenberger going over what [Florida Atlantic] is doing with facilities. They're passing us by.”
Sit down,
Hurricane fans. Shut up. Listen good.
Because Alonzo Highsmith is going to give you the goods on your athletic program. He's lived it forever. He has a first championship ring. He, “bleeds orange and green,” he says, and is as disappointed as anyone in this 6-6 football season.
But the Green Bay Packers' scout just came from Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops' office where they discussed the school's $400 million improvement of the stadium. He just came from Texas A&M, where they have $500 million to upgrade facilities.
“Sometimes I think maybe the administration doesn't want football to get back to the national brand,” he said. “We're where we want to be academically, climbing higher and higher. We don't want football to be at the forefront. Let's give them the minimal amount to play and put them in [Sun Life Stadium] on Saturday.”
“But we're not playing on the same level that all the teams in the playoff right now. We're a lower-tier college trying to play big-boy football in the year 2014. That's why I'm not dumping on Al Golden. I know, yeah, we're never happy with 6-6. Never. ”
“That's why I'm not dumping on Al Golden. I know, yeah, we're never happy with 6-6. Never. But we're not playing on the same level that all the teams in the playoff right now. We're a lower-tier college trying to play big-boy football in the year 2014.”
Last spring, Highsmith visited his old school for the pro scouting day and it was like entering a time warp. So little had changed. The weight room was bigger. The coaches' offices were better. But it was 1983 all over again from most views.
“I had [fellow scouts] coming up to me, saying, 'This is the worst practice field I've seen,' ” he said. “That's been fixed since then. But you get the idea.”
The best part of this is Highsmith is acting on his concerns. “Building The U” is a plan to raise money to help the leakiest parts of the athletic program. The financial paperwork is still in the works, but the early response has been, “overwhelming.” Fans. Donors. Former players.
“Ray Lewis is on board!” he tweeted this week.
Already in the plans is a golf tournament covering the football greats from all Miami generations. The help would stretch to every corner of the athletic department.
“I'd love to hand that women's golf coach a $100,000 check,” Highsmith said. “The women's basketball coach needs $200,000? Al Golden, you need practice fields? Here's a check. That's my idea.”
Raising $25 million might be unrealistic, he admits. But then he comes from a time when Schnellenberger took over a program that the school considered killing and within a few years won a national title.
“Al Golden is the least of our problems right now,” Highsmith says. “Our problem is the foundation and the direction of the program. Are we going to reinvest in it? Don't tell me this bull crap about, 'We won like this in the past.' You can't do it.”
“If we don't fix what's ailing this program right now, 10 years from now, we could be where FIU and those programs are,” he said. “If we don't fix this foundation, it won't matter who's coaching, and the best coaches won’t want to come here.”
He thinks of a “60 Minutes” piece with a General Motors executive. When they were on top, the executive said, they fell asleep at the wheel. They didn't keep up. They didn't re-invest in fresh ideas.[/FONT]
