Reviewing the Classes: The Class of 2003

[k9cane]

While true, we have never gotten a HS QB recruit as highly rated as KW2M again and since KW2M, those #1 QB types don't really bust like he did, nor do they linger around your program for the full duration of their degree. Today, he'd be gone as a sophomore at minumum.

There is more to being a QB than being a multi-sport athlete. That was hardly the misevaluation. Kyle Wright when he was on campus, was rarely seen with teammates, often surrounded by a gaggle of some truly mid-tier chicks (respectfully). George Timmons was another dude that you just never saw around football, was just always beatbopping around campus with chicks - good for him, I guess, but was an unserious football player. Cyrim Wimbs would be at food court stuffing down food. He and Ian Symonette and a few other fat boys never saw a meal they didn't like. and were always the last in drills getting yelled at to hustle. Roster was littered with players like this. If you were around the program then, saw practices, saw them around campus, it was obvious that these dudes were built poorly for competitive D1 football. Kyle Wright was the most glaring miss by this program in a sea of many. If you met him one time, I am unsure how you could put all your eggs in his basket for any length of time as a coach. When he went to camps as an undrafted player, the reports were that this guy had no business showing up and was one of the worst camp players you'd ever see.

This is that era when we just started recruiting and keeping a bunch of unserious football players on the roster and they would pass down these terrible habits and culture from one recruiting class to the next. In my opinion, this has been one of the biggest issues we've had over the past 25 years as a program. We've had this generational unseriousness that started right around HERE and it was passed down from class to class, coach to coach. Randy - more of a hardass and more respected by the players couldn't help change the culture. Al Golden couldn't. Mark Richt could, but he was at the end of the road and we had him for a limited engagement. Manny couldn't. Mario still suffered from this cultural rot until we got Cam Ward. That was the damage that this class and the next few had on this program.

Brutal stuff.

This is an incredible post. I agree with all of it. I recall when you would state this stuff on Canestime in that era, you'd get shouted down with '53-9!!'

I argue with a lot of close friends of mine that Miami would've been better of hiring Barry Alvarez before 2001 in terms of the long game.

This truly was the Coker Country Club of Coral Gables

 

[JG13]

On a serious note, I have enjoyed these actually...forgot about certain guys and didn't follow recruiting before 2006 really. Cyrim Wimbs lol

 

[DMoney]

While true, we have never gotten a HS QB recruit as highly rated as KW2M again and since KW2M, those #1 QB types don't really bust like he did, nor do they linger around your program for the full duration of their degree. Today, he'd be gone as a sophomore at minumum.

There is more to being a QB than being a multi-sport athlete. That was hardly the misevaluation. Kyle Wright when he was on campus, was rarely seen with teammates, often surrounded by a gaggle of some truly mid-tier chicks (respectfully). George Timmons was another dude that you just never saw around football, was just always beatbopping around campus with chicks - good for him, I guess, but was an unserious football player. Cyrim Wimbs would be at food court stuffing down food. He and Ian Symonette and a few other fat boys never saw a meal they didn't like. and were always the last in drills getting yelled at to hustle. Roster was littered with players like this. If you were around the program then, saw practices, saw them around campus, it was obvious that these dudes were built poorly for competitive D1 football. Kyle Wright was the most glaring miss by this program in a sea of many. If you met him one time, I am unsure how you could put all your eggs in his basket for any length of time as a coach. When he went to camps as an undrafted player, the reports were that this guy had no business showing up and was one of the worst camp players you'd ever see.

This is that era when we just started recruiting and keeping a bunch of unserious football players on the roster and they would pass down these terrible habits and culture from one recruiting class to the next. In my opinion, this has been one of the biggest issues we've had over the past 25 years as a program. We've had this generational unseriousness that started right around HERE and it was passed down from class to class, coach to coach. Randy - more of a hardass and more respected by the players couldn't help change the culture. Al Golden couldn't. Mark Richt could, but he was at the end of the road and we had him for a limited engagement. Manny couldn't. Mario still suffered from this cultural rot until we got Cam Ward. That was the damage that this class and the next few had on this program.

Brutal stuff.

Lots of truth in there about the culture.

Re: KW, I also think it was a miss from a skillset standpoint. Kyle Wright was bad from Day 1. He showed up in the Army All-American game and looked horrible. He looked horrible from his first practice on Greentree (I was there). And aside from a short stretch handing it off to Tyrone Moss and getting out of the way in 2005, he was horrible on the field.

He just had no functional athleticism and no touch. He was a highly rated, overtrained California quarterback with bad instincts. Wouldn’t be the last in that era.

 

[The Cane of NY]

Ugh, I pumped so much sunshine during Cokers tenture on Grassy that I ended up being blinded by these sucky classes(and coaching). Hindsight is 20/20 tho. We've been paying the piper since. Bryan Patas death really was a turning point as well. Put a bad aura around the program.

 

[MumbleRap]

Crazy man, I remember being at the La Tech game in the OB in 2004 (Hester’s best return TD ever - yet is never shown) and the fans literally every incomplete pass yelling for Kyle to come in. They were HOUNDING Coker.

Once Miami took massive lead, Kyle was subbed in and I swear to god the cheer shook the stadium. We were all idiots.

 

[simplycanes]

Thank you for posting this. I woke up constipated this morning, and now having read this, I am both constipated and suicidal.

 

[BigDikDaddyFromCincinnati]

Kyle Wright was Uncle Rico before Uncle Rico. See them mountains over there....

KW could sling the pill 150 mph and probably 150 yards (<--- hyperbole), but that is all he could do. No touch. No nuance. Looked like a deer in headlights from the moment he stepped on the field and that never changed. I met him several times (and his overbearing Tiger dad) at tailgates. He was a zero personality. He belonged hosting tours in Wine Country, not yelling at teammates to play better/harder. The Kyle Wright Era always makes me sad when I think back to it. Even at the time, you could feel the program deflating. The feeling after the UVa game that closed out the OB is one I'll never forget. We all felt like it was all over. Permanently.

 

[Applecane]

This is an incredible post. I agree with all of it. I recall when you would state this stuff on Canestime in that era, you'd get shouted down with '53-9!!'

I argue with a lot of close friends of mine that Miami would've been better of hiring Barry Alvarez before 2001 in terms of the long game.

This truly was the Coker Country Club of Coral Gables

Let's lay some blame on the players who demanded the hiring of Coker. They knew Coker close-up and they should have seen his shortcomings.
Do I have this right -- Paul Dee gave in to the players, even overriding the recommendation from Shalala to hire Alvarez?

 

[BoxingRobes]

Let's lay some blame on the players who demanded the hiring of Coker. They knew Coker close-up and they should have seen his shortcomings.
Do I have this right -- Paul Dee gave in to the players, even overriding the recommendation from Shalala to hire Alvarez?

Those players were trying to win a national title and they were right, unfortunately. They werent advocating for Coker because he was the best long term choice for the University...they just knew they could win a title if everyone just stayed out of the way and he stayed out of the way. They were right. We just paid a heavy cost for that title. One we are still paying off.

 

[k9cane]

Let's lay some blame on the players who demanded the hiring of Coker. They knew Coker close-up and they should have seen his shortcomings.
Do I have this right -- Paul Dee gave in to the players, even overriding the recommendation from Shalala to hire Alvarez?

I'm with you - that's why you let the adults make the decisions

 

[Trav]

I thought this class was going to be legendary. I didn't understand the Cook signing. I saw him play multiple times and thought he was way too small/unathletic for his level, but like you said, Shannon loved him.

 

[DRC]

While true, we have never gotten a HS QB recruit as highly rated as KW2M again and since KW2M, those #1 QB types don't really bust like he did, nor do they linger around your program for the full duration of their degree. Today, he'd be gone as a sophomore at minumum.

There is more to being a QB than being a multi-sport athlete. That was hardly the misevaluation. Kyle Wright when he was on campus, was rarely seen with teammates, often surrounded by a gaggle of some truly mid-tier chicks (respectfully). George Timmons was another dude that you just never saw around football, was just always beatbopping around campus with chicks - good for him, I guess, but was an unserious football player. Cyrim Wimbs would be at food court stuffing down food. He and Ian Symonette and a few other fat boys never saw a meal they didn't like. and were always the last in drills getting yelled at to hustle. Roster was littered with players like this. If you were around the program then, saw practices, saw them around campus, it was obvious that these dudes were built poorly for competitive D1 football. Kyle Wright was the most glaring miss by this program in a sea of many. If you met him one time, I am unsure how you could put all your eggs in his basket for any length of time as a coach. When he went to camps as an undrafted player, the reports were that this guy had no business showing up and was one of the worst camp players you'd ever see.

This is that era when we just started recruiting and keeping a bunch of unserious football players on the roster and they would pass down these terrible habits and culture from one recruiting class to the next. In my opinion, this has been one of the biggest issues we've had over the past 25 years as a program. We've had this generational unseriousness that started right around HERE and it was passed down from class to class, coach to coach. Randy - more of a hardass and more respected by the players couldn't help change the culture. Al Golden couldn't. Mark Richt could, but he was at the end of the road and we had him for a limited engagement. Manny couldn't. Mario still suffered from this cultural rot until we got Cam Ward. That was the damage that this class and the next few had on this program.

Brutal stuff.

sounds like you were on-campus during the 04-08 run, but everyone doesn’t like to admit the truth. we started bringing in guys who were both bad character and bad football character guys. and the product shows. this class was the start of it, and then 04 put it on steroids.

Randy doesn’t get enough credit for doing the necessary and cutting so many guys when he got the head job. If some of the stuff that was going on with certain DL and LB’s ever became known publicly we probably wouldn’t have a program. out of all the coaches we had, Randy is really the only one who got a raw deal, mostly cuz he was the mostly prickly man i’ve ever met.

 

[BoxingRobes]

sounds like you were on-campus during the 04-08 run, but everyone doesn’t like to admit the truth. we started bringing in guys who were both bad character and bad football character guys. and the product shows. this class was the start of it, and then 04 put it on steroids.

Randy doesn’t get enough credit for doing the necessary and cutting so many guys when he got the head job. If some of the stuff that was going on with certain DL and LB’s ever became known publicly we probably wouldn’t have a program. out of all the coaches we had, Randy is really the only one who got a raw deal, mostly cuz he was the mostly prickly man i’ve ever met.

Lots of bad character dudes and also dudes that loved ***** more than football.

We had a *** criminal running around (numerous on campus incidents of what would have been reported today immediately). A public *********or even then. Sexual deviant running around Mahoney like a menace.

Pata died over *****. (Respectfully)

Lots of names on these lists running through women on the 7th Floor with the whole crew.

Era where we had to make recruiting decisions based on who was ******* whose baby mama.

Abortions being paid for by some goon.

Child **** found stored in the Hecht.

Just an absurd time in Miami Hurricanes history. Just toxic cultural rot.

 

[k9cane]

sounds like you were on-campus during the 04-08 run, but everyone doesn’t like to admit the truth. we started bringing in guys who were both bad character and bad football character guys. and the product shows. this class was the start of it, and then 04 put it on steroids.

Randy doesn’t get enough credit for doing the necessary and cutting so many guys when he got the head job. If some of the stuff that was going on with certain DL and LB’s ever became known publicly we probably wouldn’t have a program. out of all the coaches we had, Randy is really the only one who got a raw deal, mostly cuz he was the mostly prickly man i’ve ever met.

Randy wasn't ready for the job at that time, but he was also a victim of this vicious cycle that was taking place

 

[Memnon]

Wow this class stunk.

 

[305407cane]

Lots of bad character dudes and also dudes that loved ***** more than football.

We had a *** criminal running around (numerous on campus incidents of what would have been reported today immediately). A public *********or even then. Sexual deviant running around Mahoney like a menace.

Pata died over *****. (Respectfully)

Lots of names on these lists running through women on the 7th Floor with the whole crew.

Era where we had to make recruiting decisions based on who was ******* whose baby mama.

Abortions being paid for by some goon.

Child **** found stored in the Hecht.

Just an absurd time in Miami Hurricanes history. Just toxic cultural rot.

And maybe we leave it at that

 

[k9cane]

Lots of bad character dudes and also dudes that loved ***** more than football.

We had a *** criminal running around (numerous on campus incidents of what would have been reported today immediately). A public *********or even then. Sexual deviant running around Mahoney like a menace.

Pata died over *****. (Respectfully)

Lots of names on these lists running through women on the 7th Floor with the whole crew.

Era where we had to make recruiting decisions based on who was ******* whose baby mama.

Abortions being paid for by some goon.

Child **** found stored in the Hecht.

Just an absurd time in Miami Hurricanes history. Just toxic cultural rot.

Reminds me of that line from Michael Keaton in 'Gung Ho' after that car fell apart he was trying to drive off the factory lot..

"I don't know about you, but I thought it handled GREAT!!"

Anyhoooo, when I see the Coker is the College Football HOF ballot, it kinda makes me want to vomit

 

[k9cane]

Let's lay some blame on the players who demanded the hiring of Coker. They knew Coker close-up and they should have seen his shortcomings.
Do I have this right -- Paul Dee gave in to the players, even overriding the recommendation from Shalala to hire Alvarez?

this got me thinking, in 89 when Miami needed a coach, the players wanted Gary Stevens (the best Miami OC in my lifetime, IMO, at least) because he was on JJ's staff and they were familiar with him

But Sam Jankovich wasn't having it. He dialed up his old friend at Washington St

Now, I have my issues with Erickson but he an established head coach and did win two titles at Miami. Yeah, it fell apart late in his tenure(which was his track record) but I do wonder how Stevens would've done. But it's interesting to note that Stevens never got a chance to run his own program

But at least he punched out Rick Reilly. So game ball to him...

 

[Applecane]

this got me thinking, in 89 when Miami needed a coach, the players wanted Gary Stevens (the best Miami OC in my lifetime, IMO, at least) because he was on JJ's staff and they were familiar with him

But Sam Jankovich wasn't having it. He dialed up his old friend at Washington St

Now, I have my issues with Erickson but he an established head coach and did win two titles at Miami. Yeah, it fell apart late in his tenure(which was his track record) but I do wonder how Stevens would've done. But it's interesting to note that Stevens never got a chance to run his own program

But at least he punched out Rick Reilly. So game ball to him...

Jankovich should be in some Hall of Fame for picking JJ to continue the success built by Schnelly...It's interesting how different were the personalities of Schnelly's and JJ's team. JJ's team were more in your face and trash-talking, with over-the-top celebrations. There was a wildness to his teams,

 

[RVACane]

This would be a good one:

“Reviewing the Classes: The Class of 20023”