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Marshall Faulk and the U

CaneFan954 said:
Curtis Johnson, a fellow New Orleans native, was the one who got him to San Diego State. They told him he could play RB there.
Faulk wanted to come to Miami as a RB but Erickson and Co wanted him as a DB here.

Curtis Johnson would three years later end up at Miami, where, all of a sudden Miami found quality Louisiana talent in Ed Reed and Reggie Wayne.

Curtis Johnson has always been one of my favorite Canes coaches, knew him from personally recruiting a relative of mine to UM. He's a good dude.
I wish we could've got him back here when we had openings, but he's doing pretty good for himself in the NFL with a 2nd stint as the Saints WR coach.

As for Louisiana, we should've gotten Marshal Faulk, Ed Reed, Reggie Wayne AND Odell Beckham Jr. (we were his only other finalist with LSU).
Kids in the Boot seem to like what they see from Miami. Let's try and crank that pipeline back up.
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Correct.

In 1989 I was a NYC contact person for the Hurricane Club. Then-Associate Athletic Director Carl Myer (a terrific guy and very good administrator) set up a weekend conference at the U for the regional contacts around the country. It was the weekend of the San Diego State game.

We won. After the game we were invited to the VIP Box (Golden Cane level contributors ordinarily) for a buffet.

I ended up chatting with Bob Bratkowski and Curtis Johnson. Bob was our OC and CJ was an SDSU assistant. We talked for a while. Curtis was an Erickson guy, I believe played for him at a school in the Pacific Northwest and maybe coached for him.

Very nice, down-to-earth guy. He did end up on our staff a few years later and probably was one of our best WR coaches ever. Key to our recruiting success in Louisiana. After he left, we haven't regained it.

I can't remember which school he went to for college, but he was a NOLA native who went to the Northwest.

One thing I remember from the conversation was that Curtis commented on how impressed the SDSU coaches were during pre-game prep with the play of Maurice Crum. They watched Miami films and it sounded like their reaction to Mo was his play was jaw-dropping.

Shame Mo couldn't have a pro career but I guess size was a problem. Hated seeing his son go to ND but maybe we were higher on other prospects.

And of course, Curtis was the guy who got Faulk to SDSU. The story about us wanting him for DB was what I heard. So Faulk spurned us.

Similar to the story of how Spurrier wanted Portis to UF as a DB, so he spurned them for us.

Ironic that Duke Johnson said recently that DB might be a better way to go if you want career longevity.
 
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I don't blame anyone in finding interest in these tales but there really should just be one big thread about "NFL Greats That Almost Came To Miami (Or Were Canes Superfans Growing Up)". We rehash all of these on like a 6 month basis. I personally have probably even contributed to the redundancy by thinking I was the first person to say that Lavar Arrington reallllly wanted to come here- not that he ended up as an all-time NFL great.
 
Yep! They wanted him to play cornerback, and he wanted to play running back (which workout pretty well for him lol) I remember him tell the story in “A football life” documentary.
 
CaneFan954 said:
Curtis Johnson, a fellow New Orleans native, was the one who got him to San Diego State. They told him he could play RB there.
Faulk wanted to come to Miami as a RB but Erickson and Co wanted him as a DB here.
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THIS^^^

As for "what could've been"—Faulk would've been a true freshman in 1991 when Miami won the national title. Not sure how much of a difference he'd have made alone in the Sugar Bowl the next year as the Canes' offensive line took a big step back in 1992, manhandled by Alabama, 34-13.

Could've used Faulk in 1993 and that 9-3 season. Wouldn't have made much of a difference against Florida State during their championship run that year, but could've beaten #9 West Virginia in their house late November, falling 17-14. Regardless, Erickson lost that team that year—as proven by all the weed smoking and mailing it in for the Fiesta Bowl against Arizona, 29-0. #DesertSwarm
 
CaneFan954 said:
Curtis Johnson, a fellow New Orleans native, was the one who got him to San Diego State. They told him he could play RB there.
Faulk wanted to come to Miami as a RB but Erickson and Co wanted him as a DB here.

Curtis Johnson would three years later end up at Miami, where, all of a sudden Miami found quality Louisiana talent in Ed Reed and Reggie Wayne.

Curtis Johnson has always been one of my favorite Canes coaches, knew him from personally recruiting a relative of mine to UM. He's a good dude.
I wish we could've got him back here when we had openings, but he's doing pretty good for himself in the NFL with a 2nd stint as the Saints WR coach.

As for Louisiana, we should've gotten Marshal Faulk, Ed Reed, Reggie Wayne AND Odell Beckham Jr. (we were his only other finalist with LSU).
Kids in the Boot seem to like what they see from Miami. Let's try and crank that pipeline back up.
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I used to Kick it with CJ all the time in the 90s....
 
Tad Footeball said:
I don't blame anyone in finding interest in these tales but there really should just be one big thread about "NFL Greats That Almost Came To Miami (Or Were Canes Superfans Growing Up)". We rehash all of these on like a 6 month basis. I personally have probably even contributed to the redundancy by thinking I was the first person to say that Lavar Arrington reallllly wanted to come here- not that he ended up as an all-time NFL great.
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I personally don't like threads with multiple subtopics. You get messages crossing multiple topics and they become harder to follow. That's what would happen with one big all-inclusive thread.
 
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TheMatador said:
I personally don't like threads with multiple subtopics. You get messages crossing multiple topics and they become harder to follow. That's what would happen with one big all-inclusive thread.
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Fair enough. I just thought that a master list on this front might be overall more efficient instead of rehashing these same stories all the time but you're probably right. And in the end redundancy is probably almost as much a lifeblood for college football forums as baseless speculation.
 
CaniacOnTheDanceFloor said:
Never knew he wanted to come here ....wow. Imagine what could’ve been.

7:33
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I can tell you what would have happened at the very least. Dude would have been a huge help and weapon in that 92 title game against Baga. Maybe we still loose that game but it sure as heck wouldn’t have been a blow out with Faulk in our backfield.
 
CaneFan954 said:
Same with JJ Watt:
“I hate to admit it, but I was a huge Miami Hurricanes fan growing up,” Watt told SportsCenter at midnight with Scott Van Pelt. “I had Miami bed sheets and Miami players on my wall.”

While Watt did at one time dream about playing for the Hurricanes, he says he is now all about Wisconsin.
“It is Badgers all day,” Watt said. “Ever since Larry Coker didn’t return my recruiting questionnaire, it has been all Badgers.”

Link: Wisconsin Alum J.J. Watt Admits He Grew Up A Miami Fan
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Larry Coker. The beginning of the decline of a dynasty.
 
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rustywalkedaway said:
Right. Butch would have targeted a two star from rural Wisconsin.

Butch was a great talent evaluator, but I doubt he even hears about JJ Watt in high school.
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could you imagine the kvetching on this board if Miami offered a scholarship to a skinny 2-star recruit from bumblefukk Wisconsin?
 
Just another reason why I love the fact these coaches are prioritizing South Florida starting with middle schoolers, but they have the staff and desire to also look nationally at kids who indicate an interest in the program. We're always going to miss a guy here or there. But there are 100x the chances we won't the way the current staff is approaching recruiting.
 
Hurricane23 said:
Yep! They wanted him to play cornerback, and he wanted to play running back (which workout pretty well for him lol) I remember him tell the story in “A football life” documentary.
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Sounds like what happened with Clinton Portis and the Gaytors, they wanted him as DB but he wanted to play RB
 
When people complain about national recruiting this is a reminder that cane fans and talent exists outside of Florida
 
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skeeter said:
I remember the story...Curtis Johnson was on him heavy, but I believe wanted him as DB? Something to that effect.
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Yes, there were a bunch of schools that wanted Marshall to play DB. Only a handful wanted him a RB which is why he wound up at San Diego St.
 
Wasnt Adrian Peterson nearly a Cane? Thought I remember hearing he almost chose us after his OV or something.

I’ve heard about the Faulk think before. OBJ I read about on here recently. We all know about Patrick Peterson/Johnson, would’ve gotten us countless top DBs in later years. Amari Cooper, which likely would’ve gotten us Ridley and Jeudy among others. Golden and the Quincy Wilson debacle, likely gets us Marco Wilson. Skai Moore at LB.

Who am I forgetting?
 
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