"2012 Official Miami Football thread"

bkl021475

Senior Member
I still want to see them play hard until the end, no matter the record or how the game is going. I'm not sure what to expect from the Canes this season, but I'm not gonna hold expectations too high.
 

Maddawg69

Member
I am excited to see these young guys play the game and not sure where we will finish in win/loss but I am a CANE through the good and bad. TJL I will try to keep this thread at the top as well. Thanks to those of you who put it up.

Matt

GO CANES!!!!!!!!
 

tjl1388

Senior Member
Cote's Article on Al Golden from the Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/08/2...restoring.html

In My Opinion
Al Golden committed to restoring Miami Hurricanes
By Greg Cote The Miami Herald
Coach Al Golden could have walked away from UM, leaving behind the specter of penalties stemming from the Nevin Shapiro scandal, but he remains committed to restoring the Hurricanes back to their former glory


By Greg Cote
gcote@MiamiHerald.com
Al Golden is digging in. He is just getting started. He isn’t quitting and he isn’t running, and he could have done both and hardly been blamed.
“You walked into a s---storm,” I said to the University of Miami football coach.
“That’s safe to say,” Golden replied.
This man signed on knowing nothing of the massive NCAA cloud looming over the football program from the Nevin Shapiro scandal because UM never told him. Golden got blindsided. He could have said, “This isn’t what I signed up for,” and walked away. He had the right. More than that, he had the chance.
“I think that’s fair,” Golden said.
The coach has a master’s degree in sports psychology, but no mind games should be needed to inspire his Canes as they set out on the 2012 season. The lessons of not quitting, of persevering, of rising above, are right in front of them in the man who has endured more in the past year than any sitting coach in major college football.
As he begins his second season here, Golden is aimed forward and understandably won’t talk much about what could have happened, but any UM fan concerned that Golden isn’t in this for the long haul should know that other schools came at him like vultures last season, believing he must be so frustrated or angry that he was ready to walk. He didn’t.
I asked Golden why UM fans should believe he’s all in on seeing the Hurricanes to a return to glory.
“I voted with my feet,” he answered — meaning the feet that are firmly planted in Coral Gables today, the feet that didn’t run elsewhere. “Obviously, things were tough the first year. It’s still tough. It’s been difficult. But despite all the things that occurred we wanted to make the decision to stay for all the right reasons. Despite the challenges that have been unearthed, we made a commitment.”
They came calling
I can tell you UCLA came after Golden last year and so did his alma mater, Penn State, after the Shapiro mess broke like a piñata full of toxic waste, spilling the likelihood of future penalties. Those weren’t the only schools.
Except the potential suitors failed to understand that Golden meant what he said when he accepted this challenge and called Miami his “dream job.” He wasn’t going to let the nightmare he inherited stop him from fighting through what he calls “the cloud or the malaise” and getting back to the dream.
Golden calls Miami “the most recognizable brand in college football.”
Alabama, Notre Dame and others might argue, but UM’s five national championships, NFL pipeline and close-knit tradition of “The U” family are assets the coach uses like protective shields against his recruiting rivals to help parry claims of looming NCAA penalties.
‘Mediocrity is done’“Other teams have an Achilles’ heel to attack right now,” Golden admitted. “It’s understandable. I get that. If I was on their end I’d probably do the same thing.”
Golden is he** bent to overcome that and restore a brand that has been badly battered. A brand that has been off the national marquee a long time now.
UM’s last national title was in the 2001 season. The last major bowl win was 2003. There has been no Atlantic Coast Conference title since Miami joined the conference in 2004. The school’s long streak of first-round draft picks ended in 2008.


Miami since the 2006 season has been 41-35 overall and 22-26 in the ACC, with only one season better than 7-6 since then.
“The mediocrity is done,” junior starting quarterback Stephen Morris recently declared.
And that’s fine. You want confidence from your QB. Morris’ mind-set is mirrored by Canes fans who still wear those T-shirts that proclaim Miami “invented swagger.” But swagger is something neither teams nor fans inherit. Swagger does not begin with attitude. It begins with results.
Golden inherited not just the NCAA cloud but also a wheezing, out-of-shape roster. Conditioning had eroded. Golden won’t comment because previous coach Randy Shannon is a member of The U family. But another member of the current football staff told us only 11 Canes players in Golden’s first spring practice could bench press 225 pounds (the NFL Combine standard) 20 or more times, and zero could do 30-plus. This past spring, one year into the Golden era, 41 Canes did 20-plus reps and 11 topped 30.
There has been little time for Golden to reflect.
Last season was all about dealing with the hand he’d been dealt. Eight players, many in key roles, were suspended at least one game and as many as eight games related to their involvements with Shapiro. A disappointing 6-6 season played out. UM self-imposed a bowl ban even though it was bowl eligible.
The university hopes the suspensions already served and the bowl ban will mitigate against the severity of future sanctions but nobody knows. All Golden can do is recruit his tail off and move forward.
He has a young team that will likely have more true freshmen than senior starters in significant roles. No college experts predict the Canes can win the ACC, expected to be led this season by Florida State.
Golden, though, concedes nothing and wants no excuses from his players. NCAA shadow? No excuse. Young team? Doesn’t want to hear it.
“If we want trap doors and we want excuses, we can do that,” he said. “We can hide behind that. Or we can rise above that and rise to our standard. That’s the challenge. And that’s the only standard anybody will be measured by here. We’ve encountered some resistance in the beginning in the way of external adversity. But I have no doubt we will be back on top very soon. No doubt.”
I proposed to Golden that, between the youth of his roster and the possibility of reduced scholarships in the near future, UM football seemed to be in a transitional stage. He didn’t want to hear it.
“I’m not into setting goals for transitional seasons,” he said. “Why can’t we compete now? Why not? Batten down the hatches as a team, forget about the external, block it all out. Get back to a work ethic, a consistency.”
Looking ahead
I think an improvement over 6-6 is possible. I see UM as a likely underdog in at least five games including three on the road at Kansas State, at Georgia Tech and against Notre Dame at Soldier Field.
But Miami will be home against its two best opponents, FSU and Virginia Tech.
Golden looks beyond this season to better days, to a time not far off when his improbable surname will reflect UM’s return to its former stature.
He peers out his campus coach’s office and sees a $16 million project under way to build a new training room, locker room and academic support center.
He, himself, is foreman of an even greater project: Building Hurricanes football back up to where it once was.
“This is where I want to be,” he said.
The proof is that the mess that blindsided him last year didn’t make Al Golden cave, quit or run. It made him dig in for a fight.



ALL FRIKKIN IN!!!:cool::cool:

Ride or die Cane all day!!:shoot:

1337575154hulk-smash-gif.gif
 

Maddawg69

Member
We really are the only Canes fans on here TJL. Just doing my part to keep this up top. One more day until we get to see them Canes play. Lets hope we can surprise some folks and win some quality games since everyone is picking us to lose most of our games.

GO CANES!!!!!!!!!!!

Matt
 

Mako22

BANNED
Obviously I am not a Canes fan but I would like to see them come back and lets get back to the old rivalry again.
 

Maddawg69

Member
Well we did not give up and played hard the whole game. The defense needs some work but that was to be expected. On a good note Duke is as good as advertised. I am thrilled with the win with Miami having 34-36 freshman and sophomores in the two deep.

Go Canes
 

biggdogg

Senior Member
duke is gonna be a beast. the only glaring problem i see is the front 4 on D. they get absolutely no penetration and put no pressure whatsoever on the QB. i don't care how good the secondary is, no way they can cover a WR for 4,5,6 seconds. i like what Golden is doing though, just hope they let stay long enough to right the ship.
 

tjl1388

Senior Member
duke is gonna be a beast. the only glaring problem i see is the front 4 on D. they get absolutely no penetration and put no pressure whatsoever on the QB. i don't care how good the secondary is, no way they can cover a WR for 4,5,6 seconds. i like what Golden is doing though, just hope they let stay long enough to right the ship.

Agree 100%

FSu and Notre Lame are gonna hang half a hundy on us easy.
 

biggdogg

Senior Member
the Gators and Canes were on at the same time. the misses is the Canes fan, thus the reason i saw so much of the game...

there is a lot of things about the Canes to get excited about. the D-line ain't one of them.
 

flowingwell

Senior Member
Golden is a top tier coach. Duke is the real deal. I think he and T. Gurley were the new stars to emerge yesterday.
 

tjl1388

Senior Member
I did not get a chance to see you guys yesterday. Sounds like you were not impressed.

Our DLine might be one of the worst in football. Pop Warner bad. 0, Zip, Zilch of a push upfront.

I was VERY impressed with the Offense and believe it or not several of the freshman DB's.

We are gonna throw on folks all day long and if they start blitzing Duke is gonna run right past them. The OLine is the best unit on the squad....and that's WITHOUT Seantrel Henderson who supposedly is going to be challenging for time this week. I'm confident enough to say....we don't need him.:huh:

I'll reserve judgement on Stephen Morris(QB) until I can see him throw down the field a little more. What I do know is UM no longer has a QB throwing passes with a gummy worm for an arm.:cool: Kid can flat sling it like Steven Strasburg....

Not sure if we can beat KState next week but I can say this...we are gonna go down scoring that's for sure!!!:D

Personally I think the last team with the ball will win.
 

biggdogg

Senior Member
Our DLine might be one of the worst in football. Pop Warner bad. 0, Zip, Zilch of a push upfront.

Personally I think the last team with the ball will win.

with that D-line, this will be the story for most of their games. they're gonna need to put 45 on the board pretty regular.

on a positive note, johnson will force teams to load up the box opening a LOT more passing lanes for morris. they won't have to win the game with his arm, plus, from what i've seen, he doesn't just heave the ball downfield and hope his receiver will be open when the ball gets there like his predecessor was prone to do. morris makes much better decisions with the ball than harris ever did.
 
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