CaneInTheBrain
Thunderdome
- Joined
- Jul 29, 2015
- Messages
- 779
Misery Index Week 5: Truly awful in Austin
2. Miami (Fla.): If you’ve got fans dedicated enough to fly a “Fire Al Golden” banner in an entirely different part of the country, you’ve earned a spot in the Misery Index. And that’s exactly what happened, courtesy of a picture sent by a reader from Cincinnati on Thursday of a small plane towing the following message: “I FLEW 1,124 MILES JUST TO SAY #FIREEALGOLDEN .” You would assume that a person behind such a movement is so committed to the cause that he or she would actively root against their favorite team to speed up the process of firing the coach. (That’s classic Misery Index behavior.)
If so, that person got his wish on Thursday when the Hurricanes suffered a 34-23 loss to a Cincinnati team that also is 0-2 in the American Athletic Conference. Let’s be clear: Cincinnati is pretty good. Still, if Miami was Miami as we once knew it, there would have been no reason to lose this game. But here’s the reality for Miami right now: The Hurricanes have some talent, but not demonstrably more than your run of the mill top-40 team.
And though Golden might not be a bad coach, Miami’s coaching staff does not seem to generate any real advantages either. That’s not a combination that will typically get you much more than 7-5 or 8-4 at this level, which is about what Miami fans should expect under the current circumstances. That absolutely does not absolve Golden of this mess because he recruited the players and hired the assistant coaches, but Miami is basically getting what it has paid for.
What Miami needs to figure out is if it has the institutional will to be great in football again and pay what that costs. That means everything from its coaching hires to facilities to game-day atmosphere to academics to fostering an environment where the all-encompassing history of “The U” — even the part that might make administrators uncomfortable — is leveraged in recruiting and branding. Unless that happens, the next coach probably won't be a whole lot more successful than this one.
2. Miami (Fla.): If you’ve got fans dedicated enough to fly a “Fire Al Golden” banner in an entirely different part of the country, you’ve earned a spot in the Misery Index. And that’s exactly what happened, courtesy of a picture sent by a reader from Cincinnati on Thursday of a small plane towing the following message: “I FLEW 1,124 MILES JUST TO SAY #FIREEALGOLDEN .” You would assume that a person behind such a movement is so committed to the cause that he or she would actively root against their favorite team to speed up the process of firing the coach. (That’s classic Misery Index behavior.)
If so, that person got his wish on Thursday when the Hurricanes suffered a 34-23 loss to a Cincinnati team that also is 0-2 in the American Athletic Conference. Let’s be clear: Cincinnati is pretty good. Still, if Miami was Miami as we once knew it, there would have been no reason to lose this game. But here’s the reality for Miami right now: The Hurricanes have some talent, but not demonstrably more than your run of the mill top-40 team.
And though Golden might not be a bad coach, Miami’s coaching staff does not seem to generate any real advantages either. That’s not a combination that will typically get you much more than 7-5 or 8-4 at this level, which is about what Miami fans should expect under the current circumstances. That absolutely does not absolve Golden of this mess because he recruited the players and hired the assistant coaches, but Miami is basically getting what it has paid for.
What Miami needs to figure out is if it has the institutional will to be great in football again and pay what that costs. That means everything from its coaching hires to facilities to game-day atmosphere to academics to fostering an environment where the all-encompassing history of “The U” — even the part that might make administrators uncomfortable — is leveraged in recruiting and branding. Unless that happens, the next coach probably won't be a whole lot more successful than this one.
