sitzee
Freshman
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- Dec 18, 2012
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Tuesday, January 13, 2015
Story of the season: Miami
By Jared Shanker
Artie Burns was asked what his pitch, as a Miami football player, would be to prospective recruits. The Miami native from storied Hurricanes pipeline Northwestern High School paused.
"Umm ..." he mumbled as he racked his brain.
What does it say about the state of Miami when a Hurricanes player from "The State of Miami" doesn’t have an immediate answer as to why recruits should come to Coral Gables? That question was posed in mid-December, too, weeks before the Hurricanes closed out the season with a fourth straight loss, dropping Miami to 6-7.
Now weeks before signing day, Miami’s top in-state commitment ranks 29th among Sunshine State recruits, and eighth among South Florida prospects.
Championships are the set standard at Miami, but failing to meet that benchmark has become the expectation over the past decade. The ACC media picked the Hurricanes to win the ACC Coastal Division back in July, but Miami limped to a 3-5 conference record.
Another season in the ACC, and yet the same story for Miami, which has yet to play in a conference championship game.
Miami was in position to possibly take control of the Coastal entering its Nov. 15 game against Florida State, but the Canes blew a fourth-quarter lead and never recovered -- that Saturday or the rest of the season. They lost their three next games.
Miami looked apathetic through much of those final three losses, too. A Virginia team that didn’t qualify for a bowl thoroughly dominated the Canes, and Pittsburgh ran for 226 yards in a 12-point road win.
"There’s no one person or unit to blame. The blame goes to everyone," true freshman quarterback Brad Kaaya said before the bowl loss. "If you want to blame it on a single person, you got to watch individual sports."
Ultimately, whether fair or not, the blame game always ends the same -- with the head coach as the loser. Al Golden’s four seasons at Miami have been a struggle on and off the field as the Canes dealt with NCAA issues, which Golden inherited. Golden remained loyal to the Hurricanes through the NCAA ordeal and deserves credit for taking over an antiquated ship (see: lack of resources) taking on water and trying to patch the holes.
However, the rich Florida talent base means Golden has more than just chewed gum and scotch tape to mask those deficiencies, which is why patience is running thin among fans. Golden is just 16-16 in ACC games.
Miami athletic director Blake James told ESPN.com’s Andrea Adelson last week that he hears the chatter about the direction of the Canes under Golden, but said it’s more than just "flipping the switch."
"We have a great history as a program, so it’s something where I’d like to see people always be supportive of the program, but I understand when we’re not achieving the results that they expect, they’re not happy and they voice that frustration," he said. "As I’ve said all along, it’s a process. ... I think we all have different views of what the timeline should be."
The positive for Miami is Kaaya has cemented himself as the future of the program and should be one of the best players in the conference next season. An elite quarterback can often help a team ascend into the conference’s upper echelon quickly, and Kaaya has help as he was part of a 2014 class that finished No. 10. No Coastal program has recruited better than Miami the past few cycles.
Calvin Heurtelou, one of Miami’s top returning defenders, said Miami has the talent to compete for a conference title in 2015.
"Why not? Look at Mississippi State last year," he said. "With the young talent, we can easily turn things around. ... We’re looking forward to winning the ACC."
When Does Golden Resign?
If and I quote "It starts with me", then he should look in the mirror and realize it's time to be a true leader and resign.. If John Fox(46-18) can part ways with Denver, Golden certainly should part ways with The U..
It's one thing if 1 Part of the team was underachieving but when you look at the total picture and break it down it's all broken..
1) Recruiting? This class is falling apart, Golden has lost an awful lot of commitments, that look fairly solid
2) Offense? We've got a ton of talent on this side of the ball, but by the end of the season they were still inconsistent.. It's one thing to break in a True Freshman QB, but look at Ohio State last night, the 3rd string QB ran that team like a 1st string QB.. It comes down to Coaching..
3) Defense? Though they played better this year then last, let's not get Fooled by Golden and his stats.. We had FSU but as always the other team makes halftime adjustments and our Defense resorts to the ways of Old..
4) Special Teams? This is Golden's baby, and they played **** Poor - Enough Said
Bottom Line: Golden DO the Right Thing and Resign
