Saurian Audacity
Mergz at Saurian Sagacity (partly run by an oft-quoted blogger friend, Henry "Conductor" Gomez) just posted an angry rant against The U and its "delusional" fan base. Since their image verification for comments isn't working, I'll post my response here.
Mergz' gripe is summed up here:
And he goes on to list reasons why Miami is not among the top five premier college football teams in the country.Several premier coaching names – from Tommy Tuberville at Auburn, to Steve Spurrier at South Carolina, were freely discussed as “candidates” for the Miami job. On the Dan Le Batard show, Dan, and his sidekick Stugotz, regularly referred to the Miami coaching job as one of the “top five” in the country.
Tuberville? Spurrier? Top Five?
Who the hell are you kidding?
First, the ever incessant knock on the training facilities. This is not the first time I've heard it, and with all the mainstream attention it's gotten, I'm not surprised to see it repeated. But ultimately, the rumors of its bedraggled-ness are highly exaggerated. Chris at allCanes recently debunked the myth after ESPN made much ado about it during the Boston College game:
The photo above was taken in the supposedly "run down" Hurricane Strength and Conditioning Complex at the Hecht Athletic Center. The 11,500-square foot facility is barely five years old and is double the size of the old weight room.
It's stocked with the latest in strength and conditioning equipment and is the focal point of Miami's annual NFL Pro Timing Day each spring.
In the off-season, it's a who's who of the NFL. Former Canes show up in droves to work out here. Santana. Sinorice. Edgerrin. Reed. Vilma. Gore. McGahee. Wayne. D.J. Parrish. Kenard. Clinton. Ray-Ray. Bubba. The Playmaker. Shockey.You name 'em, they're here - and when they show up, they usually don't come alone. Several former Canes have been known to recruit current NFL teammates to spend their off-season training in Miami at The U.
Call me crazy, but if things are so run down and in need of a facelift how come so many NFL superstars spend their time training here instead of at their respective
franchise's multi-million dollar facilities? I'll tell you why. Because things aren't as bad as the media are making them out to be and in this case, a winning tradition, attitude and mindset outweight the bells and whistles.Can Miami compete with the likes of Oregon and their facilities? Not unless a
Hurricanes alum has Nike money. Literally. Swooshes and all.Phil Knight has donated over $50M for the Autzen Stadium renovation and the most state of the art locker rooms in the sport. We're talking plasma screens at every locker and fingerprint biometric locks. This place is straight out of a science fiction movie.
But it's also home to no tradition, history or success. If you want a PlayStation 3 and a once a decade Rose Bowl birth, be a Duck. If you want to earn a ring, head to The U. [...]
Nice locker room? Expanded stadium? Plasma TVs and high-tech fingerprint operated locks? To hell with 'em. At day's end, recruits have to ask themselves one question.
Do they want a ring?
But the weight room isn't the only thing being knocked. Mergz is giving the Orange Bowl some heat as well. Now, who can disagree that the Orange Bowl is run down? I can't; the place has a lot of history, but history hasn't been kind. In its day, it held every major college and 
professional football game, as well as other major sporting and music events. Yes, it needs a huge face-lift, and it's getting it.
$150M has been allotted by the City of Miami to the Orange Bowl for a complete overhaul and renovation beginning next year (2007) and will be complete by the 2009 season opener.
The next knock is against the fickle fan base. This one hurts because it is laced with a modicum of truth. I wish I could change it somehow, but not enough 'Canes fans attend games. As for me, for the vast majority of my life, since 1981, I have attended at minimum one game per season. And from my teens until I moved to LA, I attended almost every single home game (and the occasional away). It angers me when fans don't support the team. When I'm watching on TV 3,000 miles away and I see even one empty seat, I'm not happy.
To be fair, though, the problem is not so much with The U's fan base, but with the general Miami sports following. The Marlins and Heat and Panthers and even Dolphins suffer the same fate. Perhaps Miamians have too many options for activities (unlike Gainesville, for example) to make a day of supporting a loser. Also, some Miamians feel that not attending a game during a drought of success is a way to boycott failure, and an attempt affect change. Proof of this is seen in the media following. Miami teams may rank low on physical attendance against other teams nationally, but local television and radio viewer- and listener-ships is among the tops in the nation.
The next knock against the 'Canes comes in the "proof" that no one wants the job, naming Greg Schiano, Steve Spurrier, Houston Nutt, and Butch Davis.
Greg Schiano was born in New Jersey, his wife and family are from Jersey. His ties with that state are deep and precede many other intangibles.
Steve Spurrier was never a real candidate. Miami didn't want him, and he knew better than coming to a former rival's town - he was simply being pragmatic in extending his South Carolina contract.
Richt and Tuberville have had great success at their respective schools, have established relationships with their players and ties with their communities - all of which factor in and outweigh the prestige of the Miami program. Same goes for Nutt. And not to mention the fact that most coaches are required by contract to publicly announce their loyalty to their school until things are firmed in order to maintain plausible deniability.
Butch comes with his own baggage. Despite being a hero to many fans for picking the 'Canes up from the probation era and leading to great success (and should have played Oklahoma in the 2000 national championship), his departure from The U left some university officials with a sour taste in their mouths. This could have very well been the major factor in his decision (if it was ever even his to make).
But the point is, you can't simply say "He didn't want the Miami job, so it's a bad job." There are too many other tangible and intangible reasons, both known and unknown, being factored in.
Look, I understand Mergz' frustration at living in a city where apologists and fans of another college team crowd the streets and the airwaves. Living in LA has caused me to earn a serious dislike for USC and many of its fans (along with the Dodgers and Lakers - who don't go to games to root for their team, but instead to root against the other team and socialize).
But don't be a hater just to hate. Outside of 2006, The University of Miami has absolutely dominated and subsequently transformed the college football landscape (not to mention dominated the Gators) for the past 20-25 years. It fielded arguably the greatest team in college football history (2001), and has won more games and more championships and produced more first-round talent than any other school in that time, by far.
Face it. Despite the shortcomings, coaching The U, with its fertile recruiting grounds, history of success, pipeline to the NFL, and sunny beaches, IS one of the top jobs in college football.
2 comments:
A pretty reasonable response, and I agree that Miami is "the" program in college football of the past 20-25 years.
Why then do the "top" coaches not jump at the job?
Anyway, thanks for your response.
Mergz
UM candidate list not as long as rumored
Speculation for the head-coaching vacancy at the University of Miami included the likes of Steve Spurrier and Barry Alvarez, but in reality, only three candidates were formally interviewed.
BY BARRY JACKSON
bjackson@MiamiHerald.com
Everybody from Steve Spurrier to Rich Rodriguez to Butch Davis was rumored to be taking the University of Miami coaching job the past month. But who actually was considered before defensive coordinator Randy Shannon was promoted Thursday?
UM athletic director Paul Dee offered some insight:
• Let's start with Spurrier. When CSTV reported Nov. 19 that Spurrier likely would become UM's next coach, he was not being considered, according to Dee.
Dee said UM officials ''thought about him'' later in the process, but never asked for an interview because it was clear he would be getting a substantial raise to stay at South Carolina.
For the first time since Spurrier was linked to the Miami job, Dee saw him Tuesday at the College Football Hall of Fame banquet. Dee said he turned to him and joked: ``If we go out in the hallway, I'll get you another raise.''
• Contrary to two reports, Dee said Wisconsin athletic director and former coach Barry Alvarez never was offered the job. However, others said president Donna Shalala consulted him as a friend.
• Dee had a brief conversation with Texas Tech coach Mike Leach on Tuesday, but decided not to ask for a formal interview. Dee declined to give a reason, but two other UM officials said Leach was not considered a good fit after the initial conversation.
• West Virginia granted UM permission to interview Rich Rodriguez, but Dee said the interview never took place because Rodriguez was, at that time, closing in on a deal with Alabama that never materialized Friday. Rodriguez's agent reportedly asked UM to make an immediate offer, but UM apparently did not. ''We did not compete [for him],'' Dee said.
• Dee said only three candidates were formally interviewed: Shannon, Rutgers coach Greg Schiano (who was widely believed to be UM's first choice) and an unidentified candidate whose name never was reported, according to Dee. He declined to identify the person.
• Dee disputed reports that Schiano made demands at their meeting. ''He wasn't going to demand [anything],'' Dee said, adding Schiano's lack of interest in the job ``was disappointing.''
An official close to Schiano said he went into the meeting planning to tell Dee he wasn't interested, and nothing happened during the meeting to change his mind. But the official said salary never was an issue, and that Schiano likely would have received at least $2 million a year to come to Miami. The official said Schiano has good feelings for UM but is happy at Rutgers and prefers to wait for the Penn State job to open.
• Davis, who had supporters and detractors inside the UM program, never was approached by UM before taking the North Carolina job.
• Dee said contrary to speculation, UM had no conversations with Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops or his brother, Arizona coach Mike Stoops.
• Dee said UM would have contacted Texas Christian coach Gary Patterson if the search had continued beyond Shannon. ''We were heading toward that,'' Dee said.
Shannon became the front-runner after Schiano pulled out Monday. Shannon won the job after two impressive interviews, including one Thursday with Dee, Shalala and two key Board of Trustee members.
''He was very good,'' Shalala said. ``Well-organized, very disciplined presentation, had thought ahead, explained his own philosophy. . . . He doesn't [only] tell you what his principles are. He tells you a story that gives you an example of how he does it. You have confidence in his management ability and leadership ability. . . .
``I don't consider myself an expert on football. I do consider myself a good judge of people and whether they're ready for jobs.''
Two of Shalala's core beliefs also apparently influenced her selection:
She said she always has leaned ''a little bit'' toward hiring a defensive coordinator as a head coach. Her former athletic director at Wisconsin, Pat Richter, ``taught me that many years ago. He felt very strongly to always look for a head coach on the defensive side because they actually have to understand the offense.''
And although Dee had said head-coaching experience was preferable, that apparently was not significant to Shalala. (Shannon never has been a head coach.)
''I never personally hired people who have done the job before,'' she said. ``If you look at every dean I've hired, every provost I've hired in a long career, it may be out of 100 hires over 30 years, I've hired two people who actually have done the job before. . . .
``My whole career is one of overreaching. This is the first position I've ever had in my life where the consensus was I was qualified. I'm used to hiring people that have the skill set and are ready for the next step. I'm always looking for the hungry person. Everybody else is looking for the safe person that has done every aspect. Not me.''
Looking back, Shalala seemed pleased that UM selected a coach in two weeks. ``You know how long it took me to find a provost? Nine months. . . . But we did a real search. All those other schools -- it looks to me like they're deciding who they want and going at them. We felt a responsibility to do a real search.''
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