There are a lot of people saying they don’t care what happens this offseason. But don’t kid yourselves. If you’re spending valuable time on here after this travesty of a season, you still have some hope. I’ve posted my thoughts on the season, which you can find
here. This post is about what’s next.
Shock therapy on offense- Everybody I talk to around the program is acting like Gattis is gone. They acknowledge that we need a significant change in identity, but note that Lashlee struggled against good teams and put his defense in a bad spot with his pace. Maybe so, but my personal opinion is that we need an extreme shift in mindset. No half measures. Manny’s upfield style was an extreme change from D’Onofrio. We went from 84th in scoring defense to 13th immediately. Kuligowski’s “stop the run on the way to the quarterback” style was an extreme change from Golden’s two-gap philosophy. We went from 88th to 23rd in sacks immediately, and multiple DL emerged as NFL players. Lashlee’s pace-and-space offense was an extreme change from Enos’s pro-style attack. We went from 99th to 24th in scoring offense immediately.
This program needs a jump start. We don’t need to be perfect right out of the gate. But we need to be much, much different.
No quick fixes on personnel- While I think we need quick fixes schematically, the opposite is true in terms of personnel. Manny was coaching for his job after the FIU loss, so he took some questionable character kids and some players with inflated recruiting rankings. If Mario wants to truly change the culture, he needs to be disciplined with only taking football-focused players. Use your support staff to investigate kids like an NFL personnel department. Mario has the job security that Manny never had. No need for shortcuts.
Do what you’re paid to do. Mario did not get $8 million a year for his gameday chops or Xs and Os acumen. He needs to be the best coach in the country for the next three weeks. We are deeply in the mix for stars such as Samson Okunlola and Derek Williams, and quietly battling for more elite guys. I’m worried that Mario’s teams will always play behind their talent. If that’s the case, he needs to recruit to the moon to perform with the stars.
Win college free agency. Miami only signed one portal player ranked in the Top 50 last year, and he made a huge impact (Mesidor). That needs to change this year. Teams like USC, FSU, Alabama and FSU signed filet mignon from the Portal. Miami needs to do the same. When I spoke to someone at Miami, he told me “no job is safe.” I expect additions at RB, 2 WRs, 1-2 OL, 1-2 DL, a LB, a S and a CB. While the coaches can’t communicate with players not in the Portal, I’m told that high-level RBs, LBs, OL and even QBs have already reached out to third parties to express interest in Miami.
Turn James Williams into an impact player. I admit to having a soft spot for James Williams. First, he overcame unimaginable family tragedy to get to college. Second, he cares about football. Sitting behind the sideline on Saturday, the entire team looked lifeless. JW was still engaged like the Energizer Bunny. Finally, the guy gets emotional hate from overreacting fans. You have people talking about pushing him out. Come on. He’s our leading tackler on top of being a core special teamer. If he went in the Portal, a good team would snatch him up in a second.
With that said, he had an average year at safety and is not playing anywhere near a five-star level. Some of that he needs to correct himself. He needs to cut out the brainless, selfish penalties and exercise discipline as a tackler. But he’s also out of position. He’ll always struggle to break down in space at 6’5 and lacks the pure speed of a defensive back. He needs to play the Gilbert Frierson SAM role from 2020 and then move inside to LB on third downs (as he did this year). He’s better than Frierson in every way. One area where he’s underutilized is as a blitzer. Frierson had 9 TFLs and 2 sacks in 2020. JW had 1 TFL and 0 sacks this year. He can cause problems with his length alone.
Now, if JW continues to insist on being a pure safety and wants to leave, that’s on him. But we have a better roster with him on it.
Build a more sustainable coaching staff. As I discussed in my “What went wrong” thread, the All-Star coaching model was a failure. We need a staff built on chemistry and hunger. Let the OC bring most of his guys. Overall, I hope we shift from a staff of name-brand old guys to a staff of young guys and reclamation projects with something to prove. They need to embrace the pace that Mario pushes as a recruiter. One guy I know they love is Jason Taylor. If he gets into a full-time role, he can make a huge impact.
This might be the most important offseason in Miami history. Mario lost most of his goodwill with five straight home losses. Time to make some meaningful adjustments and build this thing to last.
