Collins went to Arkansas with his own mother clinging to his leg like Van Gundy on Mourning. Golden & Co couldn't have done anything more than they did to convince this kid to be a Cane. The kid's own mother couldn't convince him. I don't fault the staff for losing him, not one iota.
Michel & Cook were misses because they're elite, but it isn't like we slept on those guys. The staff fought, and is still fighting, to get them to Miami.
Powell isn't on the same level as these guys, but he looks good and it's a shame we couldn't close on him. The decommitment timing seems to imply a relationship to Golden's PSU rumors, so this is the one I'd pin on the staff (Golden in particular) the most. It's also the one that hurts the least because he's not an "elite" recruit. Let's see what Golden can come up with as a last minute replacement. He pulled in #7 athlete and 4* all purpose back Corn Elder in overtime last year, so let's see what happens.
Duke & Yearby. Duke is the best of the bunch. We landed him. Yearby seems to be of a similar mold. Golden & Coley flipped him from FSU.
We'll see who shapes out in college.
I consider Golden 2 for 5 in landing elite SoFla backs.
As far as recruiting is concerned:
Maybe the staff could've done more for Michel/Cook, so I fault them a little bit on those guys, but there are far too many factors involved when choosing a school to simply blame the staff for not landing them.
Keep in mind that times have changed. College football is big business and recruiting is a national game with big money players now. (I'm not talking about paying recruits, although that is a factor, I'm talking about assistant coaches taking private jets cross country to scout talent, **** like that.)
Don't forget that we're just talking about people. How many kids love the U but just want to get out of Miami and see somewhere else? Some of these kids haven't seen snow. They've never been out of Dade/Broward Counties. I love this U and wanted to leave Miami the second I graduated. I can understand why other kids would feel the same way given the opportunity.
All I'm saying is we need to be reasonable. Golden & Co aren't bad recruiters just because Cook or Michel decide to go elsewhere. There are a million other reasons that could've driven their decision (wanting to leave Miami, wanting to play with a friend, preferring a different type of system, wanting a better gameday experience, wanting girls that actually bang football players, the bagman, etc). They're allowed to choose to go wherever they want. Does it suck? Sure, but we'll ******* deal with it.
With the exception of the Powell and Kirkland situations off the top of my head, and overlooking Skai Moore, there are far too many factors in play to solely blame the staff for missing out on anyone else. Try and be reasonable.
Disclaimer: I think Golden is taking the program in the right direction, but I also think his loyalty to D'Onofrio might cause his downfall. I'm willing to give them some time given the circumstances.