Thinking about Manny's tenure, I want to put the general mediocrity aside for a second. The thing I hate the most about this era is how boring, unmemorable, and unexciting his teams have been. He coaches an (alleged) aggressive style on defense, and hired an (alleged) up tempo, spread offensive coordinator... but his teams have been consistently dreadful to watch, sucking all the fun out of Miami football. They've just existed there on the field, barely giving you any reason to tune in.
Randy Shannon was a mediocre coach, at best. But Jacory Harris, for all his faults, was a fun, memorable player. Travis Benjamin was a fun player. Graig Cooper, Damien Berry. Leonard Hankerson even.
Al Golden was a mediocre coach, at best. But Lamar Miller was a fun player. Duke Johnson was one of the most exciting players in school history. Stephen Morris was a fun QB. Phillip Dorsett, Stacy Coley were big play receivers.
Few if any of these teams were good -- in fact most were crushing disappointments, a familiar feeling. But I still have fond memories of watching these players despite the mediocrity and bad losses. The worst thing I can say about Manny's teams is I have no idea what I'm even supposed to remember as being exciting or what gave (gives) me any reason to watch his teams play. D'Eriq King against NC State and Greg Rousseau against FSU is about the best I can come up with. It's really scraping the bottom of the barrel.
Watching this team vs App State, Michigan State, UVA... the slow realization that another UM team is going to be 7-5 felt familiar. But feeling like nothing exciting is ever going to happen on the field -- that part I'm not used to, and I'm not even talking about Frank Gore, Andre Johnson, Devin Hester, etc. Where is the juice? Where are the playmakers? Where is the fun?
You can be a mediocre or bad college football team, there's lots of them, especially in this day and age with so much of the top talent funneling to 5 schools. We're used to it. But, in my eyes, Manny has spent three years committing a worse sin, and that's putting a consistently boring and vapid product on the field. Good riddance, and I hope the next guy at least fixes this issue. Wins will almost feel like a bonus.
Randy Shannon was a mediocre coach, at best. But Jacory Harris, for all his faults, was a fun, memorable player. Travis Benjamin was a fun player. Graig Cooper, Damien Berry. Leonard Hankerson even.
Al Golden was a mediocre coach, at best. But Lamar Miller was a fun player. Duke Johnson was one of the most exciting players in school history. Stephen Morris was a fun QB. Phillip Dorsett, Stacy Coley were big play receivers.
Few if any of these teams were good -- in fact most were crushing disappointments, a familiar feeling. But I still have fond memories of watching these players despite the mediocrity and bad losses. The worst thing I can say about Manny's teams is I have no idea what I'm even supposed to remember as being exciting or what gave (gives) me any reason to watch his teams play. D'Eriq King against NC State and Greg Rousseau against FSU is about the best I can come up with. It's really scraping the bottom of the barrel.
Watching this team vs App State, Michigan State, UVA... the slow realization that another UM team is going to be 7-5 felt familiar. But feeling like nothing exciting is ever going to happen on the field -- that part I'm not used to, and I'm not even talking about Frank Gore, Andre Johnson, Devin Hester, etc. Where is the juice? Where are the playmakers? Where is the fun?
You can be a mediocre or bad college football team, there's lots of them, especially in this day and age with so much of the top talent funneling to 5 schools. We're used to it. But, in my eyes, Manny has spent three years committing a worse sin, and that's putting a consistently boring and vapid product on the field. Good riddance, and I hope the next guy at least fixes this issue. Wins will almost feel like a bonus.