This popped up on YouTube (89 Hurricanes footage)...

[AtlAtty]

We can have a legitimate debate about the best D-tackle in UM history and we will never resolve the issue because there are so many great ones.
BUT, the D-tackle combo of Russell Maryland and Cortez Kennedy must be, without a doubt, the best D-tackle duo in Canes history, and I would argue one of, if not the best in college football history.
And if you include their professional accomplishments I would argue they are hands down the best d-tackle duo in college football history.
#1 and #3 overall selections.
3 super bowls for Maryland
8 pro bowls for Kennedy and NFL all-decade team for the 90’s and pro football HOF

 

[Ironmanfootball]

The game was significantly slower back then but yet our teams over the years have been slower then molasses when you compare the film to this.

Just a sad reality to watch that

Bennie Blades was over 1/10 faster in the 40 than Kinchens and Williams in an era where no one was preparing for the combine. Bubba McDowell outran them both, too. Miami really misses elite level S&C.

 

[SWFLHurricane]

We can have a legitimate debate about the best D-tackle in UM history and we will never resolve the issue because there are so many great ones.
BUT, the D-tackle combo of Russell Maryland and Cortez Kennedy must be, without a doubt, the best D-tackle duo in Canes history, and I would argue one of, if not the best in college football history.
And if you include their professional accomplishments I would argue they are hands down the best d-tackle duo in college football history.
#1 and #3 overall selections.
3 super bowls for Maryland
8 pro bowls for Kennedy and NFL all-decade team for the 90’s and pro football HOF

Unfortunately they only played one yr (89) together. Jerome & Bill Hawkins were as lethal.

 

[TemplarCane]

Thanks for posting!

Fun video but some of the dates are wrong. Notre Dame at Miami was November 24th, not October 28th. My 25th birthday. Nice present.

Also reminds me how surprised I was Wesley Carroll didn’t have more of an impactful NFL career. 42 receptions for 557 yards and 3 TDs in three seasons. Was he hurt?

Underrated WR in Canes history. 2X 2nd-team AA.

 

[JHallCanes]

I'll never forget the 1989 UM vs ND game as long as I live....Without question, the Loudest game I ever attended....Deafening.

It’s how I became a fan actually

My neighbors were a HUGE Notre Dame family and even as a little kid I knew they were jerkoffs

 

[k9cane]

Being in the closed endzone seats three hours before game time against Notre Dame...We were so loud, and making the stadium sway, that the Notre Dame priests came out through the visitors tunnel to see what the **** was going on. Of course they got the business once we saw them. I don't think Dennis fully understood just how crazy and dedicated a fanbase we were until that game, he was stunned, I could see it on his face.

Lou Holtz basically said that was the game where he and ND decided to end the series, it had gotten a bit too...... rough

 

[k9cane]

We can have a legitimate debate about the best D-tackle in UM history and we will never resolve the issue because there are so many great ones.
BUT, the D-tackle combo of Russell Maryland and Cortez Kennedy must be, without a doubt, the best D-tackle duo in Canes history, and I would argue one of, if not the best in college football history.
And if you include their professional accomplishments I would argue they are hands down the best d-tackle duo in college football history.
#1 and #3 overall selections.
3 super bowls for Maryland
8 pro bowls for Kennedy and NFL all-decade team for the 90’s and pro football HOF

then you had Jimmie Jones, as the third DT (who Tez actually beat out) who started in 1988. Jones had a solid NFL career, won some Super Bowls with Dallas. I still say that 89 Dline which had Mark and Pegues, and Curry, was the best ever at UM

 

[k9cane]

Thanks for posting!

Fun video but some of the dates are wrong. Notre Dame at Miami was November 24th, not October 28th. My 25th birthday. Nice present.

Also reminds me how surprised I was Wesley Carroll didn’t have more of an impactful NFL career. 42 receptions for 557 yards and 3 TDs in three seasons. Was he hurt?

Underrated WR in Canes history. 2X 2nd-team AA.

Yes, this game was on Thanksgiving weekend, that Friday night

Also, Carroll was a slot, and that was when the NFL really wasnt as spread-centric as it is today. He also went to a relatively conservative offense in New Orleans

 

[TemplarCane]

then you had Jimmie Jones, as the third DT (who Tez actually beat out) who started in 1988. Jones had a solid NFL career, won some Super Bowls with Dallas. I still say that 89 Dline which had Mark and Pegues, and Curry, was the best ever at UM

1994 DL of Holmes (1st rd), Sapp (1st rd - HOF), Riley, and Lang (1st rd) was amazing. Riley was a bit of an enigma to me. Freak size, but never seemed to put it all together, but did have a knee injury late ‘94.

 

[SWFLHurricane]

1994 DL of Holmes (1st rd), Sapp (1st rd - HOF), Riley, and Lang (1st rd) was amazing. Riley was a bit of an enigma to me. Freak size, but never seemed to put it all together, but did have a knee injury late ‘94.

Tore his ACL last regular season game in 94.
The entire DL was banged up vs Nebraska. Makes what Sapp did that much more incredible.

 

[AtlAtty]

Tore his ACL last regular season game in 94.
The entire DL was banged up vs Nebraska. Makes what Sapp did that much more incredible.

I still think UM beats Nebraska if Riley doesn’t tear his ACL against Pitt. Sapp was exhausted by the start of the 4th quarter

 

[SWFLHurricane]

I still think UM beats Nebraska if Riley doesn’t tear his ACL against Pitt. Sapp was exhausted by the start of the 4th quarter

Kenard, and Holmes were banged up as well. They still played, but not nearly at 100%

 

[k9cane]

I still think UM beats Nebraska if Riley doesn’t tear his ACL against Pitt. Sapp was exhausted by the start of the 4th quarter

Miami had a few key drops in that game that didn't allow them to extend drives and give the defense rest. Also Costa under pressure, missed a WIIIIIIIIIDE open Taj Johson on a go-route.

When that game ended, I just had this empty sick feeling. Like this great run was over. And when Erickson took the Seattle job, it did feel that way. Although, I can't lie, I wasn't heart broken over it, I knew Dennis had run his course here at Miami

 

[SWFLHurricane]

Miami had a few key drops in that game that didn't allow them to extend drives and give the defense rest. Also Costa under pressure, missed a WIIIIIIIIIDE open Taj Johson on a go-route.

When that game ended, I just had this empty sick feeling. Like this great run was over. And when Erickson took the Seattle job, it did feel that way. Although, I can't lie, I wasn't heart broken over it, I knew Dennis had run his course here at Miami

Teams figured out that One-Back Spread.

 

[k9cane]

Teams figured out that One-Back Spread.

and there was a STEEEEEP decline once Jimmy's recruits graduated...

 

[Trav]

and there was a STEEEEEP decline once Jimmy's recruits graduated...

Dennis could recruit defense pretty good and skill positions. But he loved giant slow lazy OL for whatever reason. We were still loaded in '94 and those were basically all Erickson guys at that point but the cracks were showing. And he frankly brought in some guys that UM would never bring in (off field stuff) today. He also let a lot of stuff slide which set us up for failure for the next 5 years. People forget Butch was down something like 24 scholarships and a bowl ban and probation and people expected it not to have an effect.

 

[SWFLHurricane]

Dennis could recruit defense pretty good and skill positions. But he loved giant slow lazy OL for whatever reason. We were still loaded in '94 and those were basically all Erickson guys at that point but the cracks were showing. And he frankly brought in some guys that UM would never bring in (off field stuff) today. He also let a lot of stuff slide which set us up for failure for the next 5 years. People forget Butch was down something like 24 scholarships and a bowl ban and probation and people expected it not to have an effect.

Butch was down 31 schollies...a bowl ban and no T.V for a yr...
In 97 he only had 45 scholarship players.
Also had to deal with the Murder of LBer Marlin Barnes & his GF, on campus no less.
I don't consider 99 & 2000 failures. Ericksons recruiting sucked across the board from 92 onward. He was a notoriously lazy recruiter.

 

[NJshoreCane]

Thanks for posting!

Fun video but some of the dates are wrong. Notre Dame at Miami was November 24th, not October 28th. My 25th birthday. Nice present.

Also reminds me how surprised I was Wesley Carroll didn’t have more of an impactful NFL career. 42 receptions for 557 yards and 3 TDs in three seasons. Was he hurt?

Underrated WR in Canes history. 2X 2nd-team AA.

Yessir.
We beat them by 3 scores the last game of the year and BooHoo Lou still said ND should be #1 because "we each had 1 loss".

 

[AtlAtty]

Miami had a few key drops in that game that didn't allow them to extend drives and give the defense rest. Also Costa under pressure, missed a WIIIIIIIIIDE open Taj Johson on a go-route.

When that game ended, I just had this empty sick feeling. Like this great run was over. And when Erickson took the Seattle job, it did feel that way. Although, I can't lie, I wasn't heart broken over it, I knew Dennis had run his course here at Miami

I felt the exact same way. It was like we saw the talent level decreasing. Sure UM had stars in Sapp and Lewis, and really good players in Holmes and Lang, but the pipeline of talent which always had us wondering ‘who’s next’ felt like it was closing. There was no replacement for Sapp or Lewis.
The WR’s and RB’s were still good but nowhere near what came before them, and the same with Costa at QB. He was not the next star QB. We went from future NFL players at skill position to good college players at skill positions. When Costa missed the go route to Johnson I knew we had lost the game. And with Dennis’ lack of interest in recruiting, the program had slipped.

 

[k9cane]

I felt the exact same way. It was like we saw the talent level decreasing. Sure UM had stars in Sapp and Lewis, and really good players in Holmes and Lang, but the pipeline of talent which always had us wondering ‘who’s next’ felt like it was closing. There was no replacement for Sapp or Lewis.
The WR’s and RB’s were still good but nowhere near what came before them, and the same with Costa at QB. He was not the next star QB. We went from future NFL players at skill position to good college players at skill positions. When Costa missed the go route to Johnson I knew we had lost the game. And with Dennis’ lack of interest in recruiting, the program had slipped.

waaaaay back when Al Gore first invented the internets, when Grassy was the thing, I did yearly breakdowns of the recruiting classes from Jimmy Johnson to the Erickson years. It was stark the difference in how much deeper the JJ classes were(especially 88 and 89- that were absolutely loaded up and down at all positions), I mean, JJ had really mastered recruiting -- and it was not just in So Florida but nationally

So yeah, those old media guides came in handy. They gave me credibility on that forum lol. But yeah, guys like Omar Andres, Jessie Mitchell, Cameron, Binion, Nelson Smith and Jason McCullough are forever embedded in my mind

Dennis, actually had some really highly recruited classes but too many busts, and washouts. For every Sapp or Ray Lewis, there were like 10 guys who didn't do anything at UM(and didn't last too long)

MedleyCane has said for years, he saw this coming during that Halloween night game in 1992, when our starters nearly had to come back in after taking their pads off after getting a 35-7 lead versus W. Virginia. The drop off was noticeable in what came into that game in garbage time. I think he was right.