CanesNation26
Sophomore
- Joined
- Jul 23, 2012
- Messages
- 2,256
Why did we choke down the stretch? What does this say about the state of our program? I think there are a few micro and macro factors that played a role in our abysmal close:
(1) We limped to the finish line on the football field
Our close has to do with WHEN we won, starting the year strong, building up expectations (“we’re back, we’re back”), and then ultimately collapsing. It has way more to do with “HOW” we won. We were a paper tiger and it showed. We revealed our true nature at the end of the year. People don’t want to hear this, but we were a few lucky plays away from being a 7-8 win team. We didn’t fool anyone with our play. An apt comparison is Georgia. People will say $EC, bags, whatever, but the most clear factor accounting for their recruiting success is their play on the field. They were legit. Everyone knew they were forreal. They nearly won the title.
I made a long-winded thread right before the start of Golden’s last year essentially arguing that our next coach will have to coach his way to elite recruiting. In the debate about the chicken and the egg, the answer is clear: we need to prove ourselves to elite recruits. We need to change our program’s perception. Our brand took a significant hit under Coker, Shannon, and Golden. Ultimately, the question is begged: can our staff, in its current composition, coach its way to eliteness and out of our current perception as a tier-2 national program? Can we have a Georgia season or even a Washington season of two years ago that changes the perception of our program? Can they do more with less?
(2) AH is more like IMG than Booker T
For the most part, we cleaned up down here. This owes to our traditional rivals, UF and FSU, having bad years coupled with transition classes, but also to our good, but not great, showing on the field. We have home field advantage down here. If we have a good showing/exciting season on the field, we’ll croot very well down here. However, while AH is in South Florida, it’s not your typical South Florida high school. Its football program rose to prominence when Miami was in the midst of its lost decade. They are much more a national school than a local school. Local kids, but national vibe. They don’t have the connection and history with UM that other high schools in the area have.
(3) We don’t have savage recruiters save Donk and Richt (maybe Thomas Brown)
Rumph and Kool can’t pull their weight. Kool’s difficulty is a product not only of his recruiting ability, but of our national brand. He pulls DTs down here (and DT talent down here is scant), but he suffers when leaving our home base. Rumph is an absolute embarrassment. The fact that he can’t close on elite kids down here coupled with the fact that he coached these kids himself is a huge, huge red flag. It’s too bad because I think they’re both great teachers, but Jimmys and Joes are far more important than coaching ability. If you want to win a national championship, you need BOTH.
Closing Thoughts
Ultimately, this recruiting class is better than previous recruiting classes, but far from elite. We’ll finish between 5-7 in the rankings, but everyone knows we missed a shot to turn the corner by whiffing on elite prospects down the stretch. This is not an elite class because elite classes sure up needs and stack chips at other positions. We’re stacking chips at the WR position, we sured up our DB position with a pretty good class overall, and created new holes for ourselves in the front 7, especially along the Dline. If we want to be a consistent national contender again, we need more.
(1) We limped to the finish line on the football field
Our close has to do with WHEN we won, starting the year strong, building up expectations (“we’re back, we’re back”), and then ultimately collapsing. It has way more to do with “HOW” we won. We were a paper tiger and it showed. We revealed our true nature at the end of the year. People don’t want to hear this, but we were a few lucky plays away from being a 7-8 win team. We didn’t fool anyone with our play. An apt comparison is Georgia. People will say $EC, bags, whatever, but the most clear factor accounting for their recruiting success is their play on the field. They were legit. Everyone knew they were forreal. They nearly won the title.
I made a long-winded thread right before the start of Golden’s last year essentially arguing that our next coach will have to coach his way to elite recruiting. In the debate about the chicken and the egg, the answer is clear: we need to prove ourselves to elite recruits. We need to change our program’s perception. Our brand took a significant hit under Coker, Shannon, and Golden. Ultimately, the question is begged: can our staff, in its current composition, coach its way to eliteness and out of our current perception as a tier-2 national program? Can we have a Georgia season or even a Washington season of two years ago that changes the perception of our program? Can they do more with less?
(2) AH is more like IMG than Booker T
For the most part, we cleaned up down here. This owes to our traditional rivals, UF and FSU, having bad years coupled with transition classes, but also to our good, but not great, showing on the field. We have home field advantage down here. If we have a good showing/exciting season on the field, we’ll croot very well down here. However, while AH is in South Florida, it’s not your typical South Florida high school. Its football program rose to prominence when Miami was in the midst of its lost decade. They are much more a national school than a local school. Local kids, but national vibe. They don’t have the connection and history with UM that other high schools in the area have.
(3) We don’t have savage recruiters save Donk and Richt (maybe Thomas Brown)
Rumph and Kool can’t pull their weight. Kool’s difficulty is a product not only of his recruiting ability, but of our national brand. He pulls DTs down here (and DT talent down here is scant), but he suffers when leaving our home base. Rumph is an absolute embarrassment. The fact that he can’t close on elite kids down here coupled with the fact that he coached these kids himself is a huge, huge red flag. It’s too bad because I think they’re both great teachers, but Jimmys and Joes are far more important than coaching ability. If you want to win a national championship, you need BOTH.
Closing Thoughts
Ultimately, this recruiting class is better than previous recruiting classes, but far from elite. We’ll finish between 5-7 in the rankings, but everyone knows we missed a shot to turn the corner by whiffing on elite prospects down the stretch. This is not an elite class because elite classes sure up needs and stack chips at other positions. We’re stacking chips at the WR position, we sured up our DB position with a pretty good class overall, and created new holes for ourselves in the front 7, especially along the Dline. If we want to be a consistent national contender again, we need more.
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