Golden, despite his flaws was at least someone who had some experience. Golden ultimately failed, but he was also one of the few times in the last 2 decades that Miami made a rational hire. Everyone was excited for Al, because when you looked at his resume, it screamed "Guy ready for primetime". None of us could have predicted that he would be willing to tank his entire career for D'Onofrio, but that is the risk you take with any coach. I'll always wonder what would have happened had Fisch not left, and had Golden had the same standards for the defense, that he had for the O.
Then again, I'm also convinced that Golden was sold a bill of goods, and once he arrived was a bit disappointed about what he was going to get. Combine that with the NCAA kneecapping the program for a couple of years, and he was screwed. It was toxic at the end, and he had to go. Honestly, I think that when the PSU job fell through, he was beaten. Miami probably should have moved on from him at that point. He wanted out, and there was no point in keeping a guy that didn't want to be there.