For a very unproblematic dude, Mario is one of the most polarizing coaches in the entire country.
Could some coach come in here and turn this dumpster fire program of the past 20 years into a national title contender around in 2 portal cycles? Sure, I guess.
Does that person exist? Maybe. But you could count them on one hand.
Do we trust the Miami administration to be able to identify and hire that person? Absolutely not. Straight up. They’ve done nothing in the past 25 years+ to indicate that they have they ability to do so.
And that, to me, is the heart of our issue and the reason we keep repeating the same disappointments.
So, unless we get some kind of Theo Epstein Miami alum AD to come in and save us, we have to rock with caveman football and hope Mario muscles his way through the narratives and gets a signature championship by working harder and not smarter.
Or, we hope he raises the talent level to an extent that a better X and O coaching candidate makes himself ABUNDANTLY clear and AVAILABLE so that the current Miami admin can make a no-brainer hire.
OR we hire another Temple coach and the cycle continues.
Mario is not a better coach than we’ve had, but at least he’s somehow gotten people to put more money, time, and energy into the program and, hopefully, that results in sustainable changes in our football infrastructure as a result of — or in spite of — Mario.
Side note: Mario haters would not last 30 seconds as Ole Miss fans