My thoughts on the class (long)

[DMoney]

CaneSB,
Good stuff. A couple of things I wanted to touch on.

1. Quincy Wilson - We all certainly understand the "politics" that permeate South Florida football. Your analysis of his recruitment might be correct (talent evaluation) however in my opinion, the staff viewed his potential character flaws as a risk that outweighed the rewards, in the short and long run.

There seem to be a couple misconceptions about Wilson's recruitment. Some say that the staff wanted him at safety instead of corner. Others say we dropped him because of character. The truth is the staff just didn't like him as a player. And I get it-- Wilson is a flawed prospect. But what perplexes me is that the staff ignored even more flaws for Ryan Mayes and missed the opportunity to have a vocal Miami advocate on a SFE team filled with All-Americans every year. The cost-benefit analysis there does not make sense.

4. QB - again, not sure how you can characterize their recruiting at the QB position as "clumsy." They got their guy in Kaaya and it most likely that all of their tactics were guided by not losing him. Perhaps offering Treon early may have led to Kaaya's departure and it wasn't until the end that they felt Kaaya was in the bank and that Treon was ripe for taking. Further, Rosier came down to camp and they offered him very early and he committed. It seems like there QB recruiting was very calculated and the least bit "clumsy." It is fair to disagree with their evaluations but unfair to characterize their process as you did.

The staff offered Eduoard as a QB, took his commit, changed their minds and dropped him. They didn't offer Treon as a QB, realized their mistake with a month left before NSD and offered him. That strikes me as clumsy. They had two other quarterbacks committed during Kaaya's recruitment, so I don't see how refusing to offer Treon as a QB had anything to do with scaring off Kaaya.

2. Stubborn on Size - every year there a handful of kids who go elsewhere that you can make a case they should have been recruited. How come we didn't take McKenzie and Dowels when we signed Berrios? I don't think Golden has a moratorium on size but when you are not ELITE (i.e. Duke Johnson, Joe Yearby, Corn Elder), the risk increases significantly with average measurables (height and speed being the most critical) and you have to be selective.

As discussed above, we initially refused to offer Berrios and would have lost him if he wasn't such a die-hard Cane. And a stubborn devotion to size is the only way to rationalize Mayes over Dowels. Mayes isn't even physical-- his own coach called him soft. As for McKenzie, we had enough room to take him and Berrios. It's not against the rules to have two under 6' receivers. The Patriots won Super Bowls that way. When McKenzie is on SportsCenter changing games, it will reflect poorly on the staff.

6. Defensive Scheme - We signed Demetrius Jackson, Chad Thomas and Anthony Moten. 3 of the top defensive players in south Florida. Valentine was the only local defensive player (off the top of my head) that we recruited heavily that didn't sign with us. This defensive scheme is hurting recruiting mantra is BS.

Most of this class was signed up before the defense collapsed. Rival coaches started using the defensive scheme against us at the end of the year. Alabama used that pitch on Chad Thomas heavily, which is why we were sweating. Chad even said that Alabama was the better football opportunity, but Miami gave him options after football. Valentine was a very vocal critic of the scheme. Someone fed him that line, but the fact that the defense was atrocious made us vulnerable to that approach. This will hurt us even more next year.

Finally, you list several big-time prospects that left South Florida in the past. But if you'll notice, very few of the guys you listed are from the 99-01 era. That's because Butch cemented a national championship by locking down the area with a string of bonanza classes. That's what many were hoping for this year, and they didn't get it. I hope those classes are yet to come.

 

[SA Cane]

Class could have been much better but we were 9-4 and got killed by Teddy and Co
However if u look at the major problem at the end of the year that prevented us from being 11-3 it is the injury to Duke his loss destroyed our entire offense

The way I look at the class is did we improve our roster and the easy answe is **** yes

Kaaya > Morris
Yearby > Clements
Berrios/Brady/Langham > Hurns
Herndon/Njoku > Cleveland
McDermott > Henderson
Darling > Linder
Linder > Wheeler
Thomas > Green. Lol
Moten > Robinson
Jenkins > Renfrow
Young > Gaines
Owens > Cornelius
Hester > Highsmith
Gayot > Rodgers
Smith > Cain
Juco Dts > Porter
Jackson > Gilbert

Add
Rosier
Harris
Mayes ???
McCray

 

[JerzeyCane32]

It was and exceptional class especially considering the circumstances ... Handcuffs are off now full speed ahead

 

[hoover437]

Heritage is one of the best private schools in South Florida. The staff isn't "steering clear" of anything there. It's a phenomenal academic school and a great football program.

People claim that's Dorito's responsibility, so that could explain it.

didn't we take a kid from there last year no one wanted? Mike was all smiles...

 

[hoover437]

There are two schools of thought with this recruiting class.

One group is disappointed because they know what this class could have been. These fans have lost faith in the staff’s ability to coach, so they believe we need superstar classes to compete with the big boys.

The second group is happy about the kids we actually signed and doesn’t worry about the misses. These fans have full faith in Golden and believe it’s only a matter of time before Miami is back on top.

The truth, as always, is somewhere in the middle.

It’s impossible to ignore the mistakes that kept us from capitalizing on South Florida’s bumper crop. We lost head-to-head battles for Valentine, Sony, Cook, Dixon and Rudolph. Everybody has heard the money rumors, and there may be some truth there. But more often than not, these rumors come from highly competitive coaches who can’t admit defeat. We got beat on these guys.

We’re still stubborn on size. I thought we were done with this crap when Golden came in and offered Dallas Crawford. But this year, we turned down Juwon Dowels and Isaiah McKenzie simply because they were too small. That’s disappointing.

Brandon Powell’s defection was a total ***** up. No other way to put it.

We were clumsy in our QB recruiting after Kaaya. Before the season, I advocated offering Kaaya, Treon Harris and Winky Flowers. We ended up doing exactly that, except we waited too long to offer Treon and offered a similar out-of-state player (Rosier) instead of Winky. If we followed the right blueprint, we could’ve signed two of the best athletes in Miami.

We offered Ryan Mayes instead of taking a similar player (Quincy Wilson) with Canes blood and extensive connections to the local football community. Wilson is by no means a perfect prospect, but this move revealed two flaws in our approach: an inability to think big-picture and an overemphasis on the Golden Camp. We make too many decisions based on workouts in shirts and shorts.

Finally, the defensive scheme is the new “cloud.” High school coaches are talking about it and college coaches are using it against us. If the results don’t change, this will do even more damage than the NCAA ever could.

But even with all of these issues, I feel the same way that Coach Golden felt in his NSD press conference: confident and comfortable.

The word to describe this class is “healthy.” There is balance across the board. The two most important positions in football—quarterback and defensive line—are the strongest positions in the class. Kaaya is our biggest coup in years. We’ve accumulated a stable of talented and hungry pass-rushers. The offensive line is in terrific shape. Kiy Hester will provide safety depth right away, and Berrios will emerge as a Shockey-type fan favorite.

If Golden is the man for the job, he has enough to win with. If he’s not, the next guy will have a balanced roster without the gaping holes that Coker and Shannon left behind.

More than anything, I just love seeing kids like Demetrius Jackson and Trayon Gray shed tears for the colors. I don’t care if it’s corny. Last year was the roughest NSD in ages, but we will always remember Stacy Coley putting on the Swag hat. These guys will represent the Canes for the next few years and maybe the next decade in the pros. Forget about the coaches. That’s what this day is about.

Welcome to Miami, fellas. Let’s go get number six.

All great thoughts although I do disagree with some of your comments.

1. Quincy Wilson - We all certainly understand the "politics" that permeate South Florida football. Your analysis of his recruitment might be correct (talent evaluation) however in my opinion, the staff viewed his potential character flaws as a risk that outweighed the rewards, in the short and long run. The irony is that in the end, his minion of Lane, Cook, and Lammons all ended up at different schools than him so I question his center of influence. In the long run, there was no bigger public fallout than the situation at Booker T last year and we still landed 2 of their top players this year. I strongly disagree that Quincy going elsewhere will impact any guys in the future...there are far greater influences that are pulling kids in a different direction.

2. Stubborn on Size - every year there a handful of kids who go elsewhere that you can make a case they should have been recruited. How come we didn't take McKenzie and Dowels when we signed Berrios? I don't think Golden has a moratorium on size but when you are not ELITE (i.e. Duke Johnson, Joe Yearby, Corn Elder), the risk increases significantly with average measurables (height and speed being the most critical) and you have to be selective. What was very clear throughout this recruiting season that Golden wanted to add height at the WR position. I think it is a stretch to equate passing on these two kids as any mandate on size and more likely wanting to add size based on the current roster and the staff thinking Berrios is better than the 2 you mentioned.

3. Brandon Powell - don't know what happened so can't comment.

4. QB - again, not sure how you can characterize their recruiting at the QB position as "clumsy." They got their guy in Kaaya and it most likely that all of their tactics were guided by not losing him. Perhaps offering Treon early may have led to Kaaya's departure and it wasn't until the end that they felt Kaaya was in the bank and that Treon was ripe for taking. Further, Rosier came down to camp and they offered him very early and he committed. It seems like there QB recruiting was very calculated and the least bit "clumsy." It is fair to disagree with their evaluations but unfair to characterize their process as you did.

5. Head to Head Battles - Yes, we lost out on Sony, Lane, Cook, Dixon and Valentine. I think Dixon and Rudolph were the biggest loses in terms of straight up fair battles. What I find more interesting than losing Rudolph is that Golden and Co. identified him very early and was first to offer. Keeping him is another thing but this isnt the first time Golden has made moves on a kid who was unknown and eventually blew up. Everyone knows that Valentine and Sony had influences unfavorable to UM. I don't care to debate them, it is pointless. Everyone knows the deal with these kids, I don't blame our staff for them not signing with UM unless there bid was to low.

6. Defensive Scheme - We signed Demetrius Jackson, Chad Thomas and Anthony Moten. 3 of the top defensive players in south Florida. Valentine was the only local defensive player (off the top of my head) that we recruited heavily that didn't sign with us. This defensive scheme is hurting recruiting mantra is BS.

In summary, I am extraordinarily pleased with this recruiting class. We brought in a ton of talent in the trenches on both sides of the ball and the QB of the future. The most critical cog to this class is Kaaya. If he is the goods, not much else will matter. Yearby is an elite back. Cook and Sony would have been great but with Duke and Yearby next year, we are fine at RB. If Duke leaves, RB is a position where you can easily add freshman to contribute immediately. Our OL class is beyond solid although we could use another body. I think Valentine will be a star but I think this DT haul drastically upgrades the roster. Chad Thomas and Demetrius Jackson can both be 1st round picks. Having a star DT has been a signature of our winning teams but so are ELITE defensive ends. Chad Thomas, Demetrius Jackson, and AQM is the best group of young ends in 15 years. My biggest concern is at the LB position. Perryman coming back helps and we have some good young players in Figs and Grace but I think this team is still missing a Dan Morgan/Vilma/Ray Lewis type LB who is all over the field.

The internet has significantly increased the negativity surrounding Miami's recruiting. It is so much about who you sign but the timing of their commitments. If McDermott, Chad Thomas and Yearby all announced on signing day for the U, this board would be going ape ****. But we take everything for granted and many choose to focus on the loses and not the wins. There is some sort of weird group think, that at one time, Miami signed EVERY player from South Florida that was an elite national recruit.

In the 80s & 90s, when UM was the biggest bunch of badasses, LaMont Green and Marvin Jones signed with FSU. This list is exhaustive...Devin Bush (FSU), Derrick Gibson (FSU), Snoop Minnis (FSU), Omar Rolle (FSU), Samari Rolle (FSU), Martavious Houston (Auburn), Errick Rhett (Florida), Steve Everitt (Michigan), Steve Hutchinson (Michigan), Sedrick Irvin (Mich St), etc etc.

In the earlier 2000s, when Miami played for back to back championships...Davin Joseph (Oklahoma), Rickey Jean Francois (LSU), Max Jean Gilles (Georgia), Bryant McFaden (FSU), Stanley McGlover (Auburn) signed elsewhere.

We will never sign everybody. This board will never be happy. But the Golden tenure will not be determined by the few kids who got away. The roster is now recycled and the last of the Shannon JAGS are gone. I have been pounding my chest that the Golden teams are less talented than people would like to admit. I no longer in that camp. The talented on the roster has been replenished. Now it has to show up on the field. My 2 year clock started ticking on Feb 4th. Go Canes.

Damnnnn, could not have said it better. One thing, I really believe Powell did not want to red-shirt. We have 4 rbs and some serious talent in the return game. Where was he going to play? He waffled the whole recruiting process...

 

[hoover437]

Class could have been much better but we were 9-4 and got killed by Teddy and Co
However if u look at the major problem at the end of the year that prevented us from being 11-3 it is the injury to Duke his loss destroyed our entire offense

The way I look at the class is did we improve our roster and the easy answe is **** yes

Kaaya > Morris
Yearby > Clements
Berrios/Brady/Langham > Hurns
Herndon/Njoku > Cleveland
McDermott > Henderson
Darling > Linder
Linder > Wheeler
Thomas > Green. Lol
Moten > Robinson
Jenkins > Renfrow
Young > Gaines
Owens > Cornelius
Hester > Highsmith
Gayot > Rodgers
Smith > Cain
Juco Dts > Porter
Jackson > Gilbert

Add
Rosier
Harris
Mayes ???
McCray

Like the comparison, but not sure about some of them. Seems like the "guy on the bench is better". I am very happy with the talent however. We are getting there.

 

[Coach Macho]

1. We have picked up 2 CB's in the past 2 years and they are both tweeners also. We have 3 cb's on our roster I feel comfortable with (Gunter, Howard, and Crawford), 1 with high hopes for (Burns) Hope and Dortch haven't proven that they are any more than depth or special teams players.

You don't feel comfortable with Artie Burns? Seriously? Corn Elder should have been redshirted. He only played bc we lacked depth at the position. He will be a very solid player for us. Dortch should contribute as well. I'm glad you can definitively write off two freshman who had season ending injuries... Crazy talk.

Burns didn't do anything last year except get abused on occasion. He's still a freshman so i don't consider it an issue but I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up at Safety some day.

If everything was all fine and dandy at CB then we wouldn't have attempted to sign three Corners.

Please name the three bc it looked to me like we were very passive at recruiting CB's. Obviously you take a talent like JC but we said no thanks to just above everyone else. (Mayes is a tweener) As for Burns "getting abused", I disagree. At times he looked lost out there (not knowing where to be) but for the most part, he more than held his own. He could possibly end up at safety (big frame & can cover a lot of ground) but until it happens, it's speculation at best.

We had three CB's on board...Bethel, Turner and Mayes. We lost two of them.

And Burns got torched more than any CB on our roster last season. Do we have to relive the Louisville game? How 'bout Duke or Wake?

 

[blackvern]

1. We have picked up 2 CB's in the past 2 years and they are both tweeners also. We have 3 cb's on our roster I feel comfortable with (Gunter, Howard, and Crawford), 1 with high hopes for (Burns) Hope and Dortch haven't proven that they are any more than depth or special teams players.

You don't feel comfortable with Artie Burns? Seriously? Corn Elder should have been redshirted. He only played bc we lacked depth at the position. He will be a very solid player for us. Dortch should contribute as well. I'm glad you can definitively write off two freshman who had season ending injuries... Crazy talk.

Burns didn't do anything last year except get abused on occasion. He's still a freshman so i don't consider it an issue but I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up at Safety some day.

If everything was all fine and dandy at CB then we wouldn't have attempted to sign three Corners.

Please name the three bc it looked to me like we were very passive at recruiting CB's. Obviously you take a talent like JC but we said no thanks to just above everyone else. (Mayes is a tweener) As for Burns "getting abused", I disagree. At times he looked lost out there (not knowing where to be) but for the most part, he more than held his own. He could possibly end up at safety (big frame & can cover a lot of ground) but until it happens, it's speculation at best.

We had three CB's on board...Bethel, Turner and Mayes. We lost two of them.

And Burns got torched more than any CB on our roster last season. Do we have to relive the Louisville game? How 'bout Duke or Wake?

True enough Burns did get beat but I know you see the talent in him wildcat..He to me looks like the most talented cb on our team...He just might not be the best right now... He just needs to get smarter at the position..and i believe he will

mayes will not play here....waste of a scholarhsip we must have given a favor for that one

 

[CANE1775]

Maybe it's just me, but I'd prefer a south florida bias.

 

[chicanego]

Finally, you list several big-time prospects that left South Florida in the past. But if you'll notice, very few of the guys you listed are from the 99-01 era. That's because Butch cemented a national championship by locking down the area with a string of bonanza classes. That's what many were hoping for this year, and they didn't get it. I hope those classes are yet to come.

You look at some of the kids in those classes: Johnson, Vilma, Shockey, McGahee, Winslow, Rolle, Taylor, Wilfork, McIntosh, etc., etc., etc.

That talent level was simply elite.

This 2014 class is very good, but elite it is not (at least in my mind). Of course, future evaluation of this class will be modified due to how they are coached, on-field performance, and more.

That being said, we need to bring in elite classes if we want to contend with the big boys, particularly FSU in our own conference.

 

[sebastian91]

And a stubborn devotion to size is the only way to rationalize Mayes over Dowels

Or that Mayes is likely going to play safety, which is a position where we need depth, and is a position that Dowels can't play; but, hey, don't let your teenaged wonderboy or the head coach of the team get in the way of a good BS session.

 

[JerzeyCane32]

Finally, you list several big-time prospects that left South Florida in the past. But if you'll notice, very few of the guys you listed are from the 99-01 era. That's because Butch cemented a national championship by locking down the area with a string of bonanza classes. That's what many were hoping for this year, and they didn't get it. I hope those classes are yet to come.

You look at some of the kids in those classes: Johnson, Vilma, Shockey, McGahee, Winslow, Rolle, Taylor, Wilfork, McIntosh, etc., etc., etc.

That talent level was simply elite.

This 2014 class is very good, but elite it is not (at least in my mind). Of course, future evaluation of this class will be modified due to how they are coached, on-field performance, and more.

That being said, we need to bring in elite classes if we want to contend with the big boys, particularly FSU in our own conference.

Do you realize how many 5* recruits you just named its elite after the fact you have no idea what this class will be .... Of all the guys you named i believe 1 was a 5* recuit and that was dre

 

[WhatTheHell]

And a stubborn devotion to size is the only way to rationalize Mayes over Dowels

Or that Mayes is likely going to play safety, which is a position where we need depth, and is a position that Dowels can't play; but, hey, don't let your teenaged wonderboy or the head coach of the team get in the way of a good BS session.

Can you try to sound a little more like a fa-got? Thanks.

 

[chicanego]

Finally, you list several big-time prospects that left South Florida in the past. But if you'll notice, very few of the guys you listed are from the 99-01 era. That's because Butch cemented a national championship by locking down the area with a string of bonanza classes. That's what many were hoping for this year, and they didn't get it. I hope those classes are yet to come.

You look at some of the kids in those classes: Johnson, Vilma, Shockey, McGahee, Winslow, Rolle, Taylor, Wilfork, McIntosh, etc., etc., etc.

That talent level was simply elite.

This 2014 class is very good, but elite it is not (at least in my mind). Of course, future evaluation of this class will be modified due to how they are coached, on-field performance, and more.

That being said, we need to bring in elite classes if we want to contend with the big boys, particularly FSU in our own conference.

Do you realize how many 5* recruits you just named its elite after the fact you have no idea what this class will be .... Of all the guys you named i believe 1 was a 5* recuit and that was dre

What part of "of course, future evaluation of this class will be modified due to how they are coached, on-field performance, and more" didn't your dumbass understand?

 

[JerzeyCane32]

You said we need to bring in elite classes we just got a top 10 class tose guys you just named were not elite at that time vilma was a 2-3* taylor a 3* etc etc .... So your statement about we need to start recruiting elite like fla st makes no sense at all

 

[fincane]

The idea that we "lost" Dennis Turner is asinine. Did FSU "lose" Worton and JoJo Robinson too?

 

[User-4525]

And a stubborn devotion to size is the only way to rationalize Mayes over Dowels

Or that Mayes is likely going to play safety, which is a position where we need depth, and is a position that Dowels can't play; but, hey, don't let your teenaged wonderboy or the head coach of the team get in the way of a good BS session.

Can you try to sound a little more like a fa-got? Thanks.

If they wanted Mayes to play safety as bad as you think they did, why'd they offer him at corner?

When mike rumph and surtain vouch for dowels to any college coach that steps through heritage's doors, that should tell you about his abilities. But what do they know about football?

If you honestly believe Mayes is a better CB than dowels I can't help you. Mayes was the fourth best DB on his team this year behind Baker, Khalid, and Jojo (when he played defense).

 

[CANE1775]

And a stubborn devotion to size is the only way to rationalize Mayes over Dowels

Or that Mayes is likely going to play safety, which is a position where we need depth, and is a position that Dowels can't play; but, hey, don't let your teenaged wonderboy or the head coach of the team get in the way of a good BS session.

Can you try to sound a little more like a fa-got? Thanks.

If they wanted Mayes to play safety as bad as you think they did, why'd they offer him at corner?

When mike rumph and surtain vouch for dowels to any college coach that steps through heritage's doors, that should tell you about his abilities. But what do they know about football?

If you honestly believe Mayes is a better CB than dowels I can't help you. Mayes was the fourth best DB on his team this year behind Baker, Khalid, and Jojo (when he played defense).

Even worse, if they did/do expect Mayes to play safety, then that means the coaching staff thought it was ok to have ZERO CB's in this class. Talk about absurd....

 

[chicanego]

You said we need to bring in elite classes we just got a top 10 class tose guys you just named were not elite at that time vilma was a 2-3* taylor a 3* etc etc .... So your statement about we need to start recruiting elite like fla st makes no sense at all

Don't try to categorize the players in those classes as Diamond's in the Rough Davis found. The vast majority were highly sought after among many schools. ****, DJ Williams was the #1 recruit in the nation, and we brought him in from California.

Furthermore, Butch showed an innate ability to bring the most of out his players. Al Golden has not.

We need to bring in elite talent to overcome coaching defiances.

 

[DMoney]

And a stubborn devotion to size is the only way to rationalize Mayes over Dowels

Or that Mayes is likely going to play safety, which is a position where we need depth, and is a position that Dowels can't play; but, hey, don't let your teenaged wonderboy or the head coach of the team get in the way of a good BS session.

We offered Mayes as a corner. He was the only corner we signed.

I doubt you've seen Mayes play, but those of us who have know that he doesn't like to tackle. His own coach admitted it. That will be an issue when it comes to him playing safety.