Time running out for Miami Hurricanes coach Al Golden - ACC Blog - ESPN
Here is the Travis Haney article for anyone that wants to read it.
Meet Al Golden: Dead Necktie Walking.
If Golden and Miami could not manage a win on the road Thursday at Cincinnati -- which already has conference losses against Temple and Memphis, by the way -- it’s difficult to put much faith in “The U” given the upcoming stretch of FSU, Virginia Tech, Clemson and Duke. There are personnel and coaching mismatches across the board for the Hurricanes.
One coach suggested to me late Thursday that Duke’s David Cutcliffe, though he’d never admit it, is probably laughing about that matchup.
“It’s just too easy,” he said.
Let’s project that Miami manages a 1-3 record through next month. That would make the Canes 4-4, needing a split down the stretch with Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia Tech and Pitt to reach a bowl game. Maybe that happens. But maybe 6-6 or 7-5 isn’t even all that uplifting.
And maybe it isn’t even reasonable, considering the Hurricanes have gone a combined 2-8 the past two seasons from the FSU game until the end of the season. That includes two bowl losses and a 30-13 loss last November to Virginia’s Mike London -- the only ACC coach sitting on a hotter seat.
There was a point at which Golden could lean on the alarming threat of NCAA sanctions, but that storm warning passed. It feels like another lifetime and myriad opportunities ago.
And for its steps in the right direction, Miami just doesn’t seem to turn progress into wins. It actually outgained three of four opponents in last season’s 0-4 finish, even with a true freshman quarterback (Brad Kaaya). The defense was statistically better, too, though it allowed just the wrong scoring drive at just the right time.
The same was true Thursday night in Cincy. Miami did not lead after the half, but a short field goal got the Canes to within four points midway through the fourth quarter.
The defense then immediately gave up a deflating 81-yard touchdown drive, allowing Cincinnati to regain a stranglehold in just two minutes’ time.
Every moment like that goes into the ledger of Miami decision-makers, who, according to those close to the program, asked Golden to restructure his defensive staff following the 2014 season. Golden instead remained loyal to his good friend, coordinator Mark D’Onofrio.
“Now it’s his a-- on the line,” someone familiar with the situation told me this spring. “If you’re going to be loyal [to friends on your staff], you’d better win.”
And here we are after a Hurricanes loss to an AAC team on the national stage. It makes you wonder if Golden would already be packing his office had Miami completed its collapse against Nebraska. The Hurricanes led 33-10 in the fourth quarter at home, but needed overtime to defeat a Nebraska team that has not appeared Osborne-esque in Mike Riley’s first month.
Just a stay of execution for Golden, it turns out.
Perhaps it was helpful that Miami played, and laid that egg, on a Thursday night. It gave potential candidates a long look at what they’ll be inheriting. Maybe notes were jotted in Memphis or Houston, or Austin.
An NFL scout who was at the game texted me afterward and said he was astonished at the level to which Miami’s personnel has sunk.
“Amazing the lack of talent Miami has,” he said, unprompted. “Wild to see in person.”
I responded by asking if it was a lack of talent or a development issue. Seemed fair since Miami did have seven draft picks selected in 2015, despite a 6-7 record.
“Lack of,” he said. “Used to seeing fast guys out there. Didn’t see a lot of speed today.”
The scout said Canes back Joe Yearby, who ran for 116 yards and a score, was a lone bright spot. But that also becomes an indictment of the staff: On the fourth-quarter field-goal drive, Yearby had rushed for 37 yards on four carries -- only to be replaced by Mark Walton for the remainder of the possession. He didn’t have a touch inside the 31-yard line.
I mentioned the scout’s observations to an SEC coordinator.
“Shouldn’t be that way,” he said. “Too many good players in South Florida.”
A minute later: “Cincy might have better talent.”
That’s quite the referendum on Golden and Miami. The agents for Justin Fuente and Tom Herman might want to send third-party feelers to Miami AD Blake James. Temple’s Matt Rhule probably belongs in that group, too, but the last Temple coach hired by Miami ruined it for him. It’s probably time to loosen -- and lose -- the necktie that binds.
