I'm extremely ****ed off by our compliance dept, but when I had to re-think about everything that took place in 2010, 1994, 1986....I mean, it's a known fact the NCAA and their myriad of SEC biased board members don't care for Miami. We weathered a humungous storm and the last bit of rain drops are finally going away in October. Why would you want big brother to remotely sniff around us again?
Initially I thought the punishment was way too harsh, especially for Grace...but then I started thinking about if I was in that same position and I had to think about 2 guys v. 85 guys (or whatever # of players we have on the roster), what's the easiest route under these circumstances? Then, when it was reported that Miami will still pay fully for their tuition until they graduate, it was clear this was a business decision for the betterment of the entire football team for years to come v. one season.
I'm sure it we weren't on probation, if the NCAA didn't have their thumb on us, Grace would've been suspended 3 games, but I still think AQM would've been kicked off b/c he's a repeat offender, a repeat offender who did all this talking how his pass moves were elite and only produced a career high 5.5 sacks in one season.
The initial reaction hurt, however for the long term health of squad, along w installing that discipline that Butch had to re-install with the Canes when he took over, I think it was the right call, as much as that pains me to say.
The reason y I'm still confident is this season is b/c of three people...Richt, Kool, and Kaaya. D Jackson under Kool's tutelage can replace AQM...and he's So Fla that absolutely loves the U and got that pit-bull/German Shepard in him (fierce, who's willing to learn). We'll take a slight hit at LB but Shaq is still the QB of the defense regardless and the new Bermuda Triangle seem to be thriving.
It's not all doom and gloom, just wanted to put some things in perspective.