Official Statement From The Office of the General Manager of Football Operations

Empirical Cane

We are what we repeatedly do.
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Sep 3, 2018
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"Swag is watching Michael Irvin running routes wearing a 30-pound weight vest after practice in like 100 percent humidity. Swag is running hills at Tropical Park after you've done all your work with strength coaches. It's the whole team showing up to run in combat boots on the beach. That's swag. It's never missing a practice. It's practicing like everday is your last day. You don't get swag because of a haircut or because you pound your chest or because someone said you were a five-star. Swag is something that is earned. You just don't give it to somebody."

- Alonzo Walter Highsmith Sr.
 
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"Swag is watching Michael Irvin running routes wearing a 30-pound weight vest after practice in like 100 percent humidity. Swag is running hills at Tropical Park after you've done all your work with strength coaches. It's the whole team showing up to run in combat boots on the beach. That's swag. It's never missing a practice. It's practicing like everday is your last day. You don't get swag because of a haircut or because you pound your chest or because someone said you were a five-star. Swag is something that is earned. You just don't give it to somebody."

- Alonzo Walter Highsmith Sr.
QFT

And swag is also posting using light old.
 
Hope Alonzo isn't too old to relate to these kids lol

But I get what he's saying. All of the praise comes from winning and in order to win, you have to work extremely hard. Then the turnover chain is cool, and when kids are celebrating and all that stuff, it's fun to watch.
 
I'm just looking forward to the impact Zo can have with evaluations going forward. No more gems leaving the area unnoticed or lack of effort with OOS targets cuz it takes too much work. It's a new day and I can't wait for the results.
This. No more letting guys like Jordan Battle go to Bama with us not giving them a legitimate recruitment.
 
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Hope Alonzo isn't too old to relate to these kids lol

But I get what he's saying. All of the praise comes from winning and in order to win, you have to work extremely hard. Then the turnover chain is cool, and when kids are celebrating and all that stuff, it's fun to watch.
Yeah - I listened to his interview with the Orange Bowl Boys and two things stood out to me...

1) He was basically saying a variation of the same thing that we have heard every time the coaches change... Swag means working hard, that the coaches need to find kids that want to be Miami kids, Miami is different, family, etc. I agree with all of those things, but we hear some variation of that every regime change.

2) Said kids need to be tougher and that they should be able to play for coaches like Saban, Coach K, Bob Knight, Lombardi, etc. I agree that we want kids that are tough and going to practice hard, take 'tough love' from the coaches and hold themselves and each other accountable and have no problem with saying they should be able to play for coaches like Saban and Coach K, but if he thinks the way that Bob Knight coached was acceptable I am a bit concerned. That said, I think Mario is the right balance of holding you accountable while not crossing the line.

Overall I think Alonzo is a great asset to the team with his background and experience, but his interview sure gave me a 'wait and see' feeling. I suggest everyone listens to it if they haven't already.
 
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Hope Alonzo isn't too old to relate to these kids lol

But I get what he's saying. All of the praise comes from winning and in order to win, you have to work extremely hard. Then the turnover chain is cool, and when kids are celebrating and all that stuff, it's fun to watch.
understand these kids?? isnt that part of the problem? Maybe im just too old, but they should be made to understand hard work. They need to see what it means to fit the system, not the system fit them. Will that be obvious right away? No. but thats the goal. No different thatn the physicality and discipline that draws layers to the Heat.
 
This coming from the guy who detailed the "swag qualifications" and swagged for our U.......underlined and signed. Yes Zo did.
They will listen...................the proof is there.
 
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understand these kids?? isnt that part of the problem? Maybe im just too old, but they should be made to understand hard work. They need to see what it means to fit the system, not the system fit them. Will that be obvious right away? No. but thats the goal. No different thatn the physicality and discipline that draws layers to the Heat.
I'm speaking strictly as it pertains to recruiting....Kids already know that once they hit the campus the love fest and honeymoon is over...time to work
 
It's not his age, it's his view on commitment. Only need to remember the Canes sidelines and how embarrassing its been at times over this drought.

There's things that haven't changed in football over the years but commitment and buy-in haven't. It exists at a few programs, the rest have settled and brought (dumbed) things down to "relating" to the current generation. There's aways been a current generation - it's coaching/program and leadership's job to mold them.
 
Yeah - I listened to his interview with the Orange Bowl Boys and two things stood out to me...

1) He was basically saying a variation of the same thing that we have heard every time the coaches change... Swag means working hard, that the coaches need to find kids that want to be Miami kids, Miami is different, family, etc. I agree with all of those things, but we hear some variation of that every regime change.

2) Said kids need to be tougher and that they should be able to play for coaches like Saban, Coach K, Bob Knight, Lombardi, etc. I agree that we want kids that are tough and going to practice hard, take 'tough love' from the coaches and hold themselves and each other accountable and have no problem with saying they should be able to play for coaches like Saban and Coach K, but if he thinks the way that Bob Knight coached was acceptable I am a bit concerned. That said, I think Mario is the right balance of holding you accountable while not crossing the line.

Overall I think Alonzo is a great asset to the team with his background and experience, but his interview sure gave me a 'wait and see' feeling. I suggest everyone listens to it if they haven't already.
we can't have nice things.

fold the program.

🤣
 
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Question:

Zo's bigger impact...

Evaluation of recruiting targets or recruitment of talent?

I'm leaning he will find the gems and spot the red flags to then turn over "sealing the deal" to the dog and pony show.

I lean towards the former (evaluations) being the bigger impact. On the recruiting side, I think he'd resonate with a lot of the parents. Although I think he'll have all the kids' respect, I'm not sure he's much of a "draw" to recruits who weren't even born until about 15 years after he'd retired from the NFL.

Potentially as impactful as his eye for talent is his experience and knowledge of what a professional scouting/player personnel department looks like and how one should operate. Between him, Rad, Mario, and some of the other hires, I am convinced that "department" is going to look, feel, and operate at a completely different level than it has in the past.
 
Hope Alonzo isn't too old to relate to these kids lol

But I get what he's saying. All of the praise comes from winning and in order to win, you have to work extremely hard. Then the turnover chain is cool, and when kids are celebrating and all that stuff, it's fun to watch.
Regardless, "relating" to them on their terms instead of terms that align with Zo's message in the OP would lead us down a road we've been before.

And, sure, you can do both, but the primary focus needs to be development. Development doesn't occur without hardship. Or, as someone with way more wisdom than I said: without struggle, there is no progress.

Some kids will be up for it. I trust this current crew, at the very least, will find a way to weed out those who won't be. I think it's our current leadership's biggest strength: they tend to gain trust because they're seemingly more genuine, played football, love football, and aren't full of **** (even if they're hardasses). Evaluate for the kids who sincerely want to bust their asses to grow.
 
Hope Alonzo isn't too old to relate to these kids lol

But I get what he's saying. All of the praise comes from winning and in order to win, you have to work extremely hard. Then the turnover chain is cool, and when kids are celebrating and all that stuff, it's fun to watch.
Too old to relate to the kids? See, that’s the problem. People think we need to go easy and give kids all sorts of ways out of hard work. Saban doesn’t do that sh*t and it shows on the field. Part of why we’ve been so soft for so long is that we aren’t making the kids work all the time. Part of its recruiting, but honestly it comes from the top. We haven’t had a coach who could demand the kind of work that produces excellence in a long time. They all talk about it, but they aren’t doing it. They aren’t showing the kids how it’s done and telling them they can copy that work or they can move on.
 
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