The Spread Offensive: Time for (Another) New Era at The U

I had a front row seat for the last game of the Al Golden Era at The U.

Already baking in the heat at high noon at Sun Life Stadium, the Clemson offense, under the direction of DeShaun Watson, shredded the Miami defense on the opening drive. In less than two minutes, the score was 7-0. I sent a group text to two of my friends who were still cleaning up our tailgate and had yet to make it to our seats: "Game Over".

Simpler Times

Let's backtrack a bit. In 2013, my friends and I went to the Miami-Florida game at Sun Life Stadium. The Gators were ranked at the time. We wore white dress shirts and orange ties. It was a nod to Al Golden, the hotshot coach that was going to lead Miami back to national prominence. The shirt and tie were his gameday attire and the stain of the Nevin Shapiro scandal was wearing off. Nobody cared that Jacory Harris had gotten a few free games of bowling in 2009. Miami was primed to be relevant again. The Canes won 21-16, and we were thrilled. It was supposed to be the beginning of a new Golden age. Sorry for the pun, couldn't help myself.

The Canes were 7-0 and ranked seventh in the nation in 2013. They had a chance to take down eventual champion Florida State in Tallahassee. Instead, Florida State ran away with the game in the second half and the Canes limped to a 2-3 finish, including a lambasting by Louisville in the Russell Athletic Bowl.

It turned out the Gators had their worst team in almost a quarter of a century and didn't even make a bowl game. The Hurricanes won nine games that season, but that would be the most under Al Golden's reign.

58

While the text was sent to my friends in jest, it proved to be prescient. Clemson jumped out to a 21-0 lead after just one quarter. By halftime, it was 42-0. Clemson coach Dabo Swinney took his foot off the gas pedal in the second half; the Tigers could have easily scored 75 points. I would have even understood if he broke out the whip or the nae-nae right there during the band's halftime performance. Final score? 58-0. The worst loss in Miami's history.

The number 58 has special significance for the University of Miami. The Hurricanes won 58 home games in a row at the Orange Bowl, affectionately known as the "OB". That's an NCAA record. But the OB no longer exists, and neither does the view of Miami as a college football powerhouse. In fact, as much as it pains me to say this, the Hurricanes have not been relevant on the national stage for years. I was on campus when Miami lost 48-0 to Virginia in the last game before the Orange Bowl was torn down to make way for the eyesore that is Miami Marlins Park. That was 2007. Two of the worst five losses in Miami history came within the last 8 years.

The stadium where Miami had its legendary winning streak reduced to rubble. The new stadium 30 miles away from the campus, shared with the Dolphins, only filled for games against Florida State. No other student body or fan base has to travel so far from campus to see a game. It's a travesty that does not help matters for a team already struggling for an identity on the field as the glory days slip further and further away in the rearview mirror.

"Those who fail to learn from the past are doomed to repeat it" – Winston Churchill

Naturally, there's been a lot of talk about Golden's failures. His rigid, unbending adherence to his philosophy on both sides of the ball. His lack of pragmatism and in-game adjustments. His loyalty to his floundering defensive coordinator. His conservative nature when protecting a lead. In the end, we couldn't trust the process, as he liked to say on so many occasions. Perhaps it goes a bit deeper than just on the field, though.

"The State of Miami" was a phrase coined by Howard Schnellenberger, the man given credit for the resurrection of the Miami football program in the early 1980s. It meant keeping the recruits from the area at The U. Over the past few seasons, there have been rumblings about letting talented players, like Amari Cooper and Devonta Freeman, among others, slip out of Miami's grasp. Teddy Bridgewater went to Louisville. Dalvin Cook went to Florida State. You can't get every recruit, but Golden's base from his Temple days was in the Northeast; states like New Jersey and Pennsylvania. He tried to make the Miami kids a priority, but it only seemed to get him so far. He did not have ties to the program from the past.

That's why the names being mentioned for the job right now all have connections to the glory days at Miami. One of the leading candidates is Butch Davis, the former Canes head coach who at this point might as well be begging on his hands and knees at the doorstep of Athletic Director Blake James. Davis is credited with assembling arguably the most talented team in the history of college football, before bolting to the Cleveland Browns in 2000 and watching someone else (Larry Coker) lead the Hurricanes to the national championship in 2001.

I think the favorite is Mario Cristobal, the offensive line coach for Alabama. Cristobal played on the 1989 and 1991 championship squads at the U. He was also a graduate assistant under Butch Davis and had a later stint at Miami as the tight ends and offensive line coach before becoming the head coach at FIU for six seasons.

Another name being mentioned is Rob Chudzinski. "Chud" spent nearly a decade at Miami, including as the tight ends coach under Butch Davis. Surprise! He was the offensive coordinator on the 2001 national championship team and also had one disastrous season as head coach of the Browns. When will these guys learn that being the head coach of the Browns is a bad idea? Who leaves Miami for Cleveland anyway? Oh yeah, hi LeBron.

Greg Schiano, Marc Trestman, the list of coaches being mentioned with past Miami ties goes on and on. The names are all just speculation at this point, and you can bet Miami will do its homework on some of the up-and-coming coaching names likes Tom Herman at Houston and Justin Fuente at Memphis. However, those two coaches probably wouldn't be interested in the Miami job, especially with Southern Cal and South Carolina looking like better landing spots. I also don't think the Canes will give those guys serious consideration. That's because Miami already went with a coach from a smaller football program when it hired Golden. They went that route already, and it failed. It doesn't mean Fuente and Herman won't be terrific coaches if they end up at big schools, but merely that Miami will want a hire that signals a nod – and hopefully a return – to past glory.

Maybe that's a dumb rationale. Or maybe it's just what Miami needs. Al Golden was a Joe Paterno disciple. He had one foot out the door when Penn State came calling, only to come limping back to Miami when things didn't pan out. Al Golden was a Penn State guy; he was not a Miami guy. He got a raw deal when he was not told sanctions were coming from the Nevin Shapiro scandal. I do not know him personally, but he seems like a nice, hard-working man. But it's been five years with limited results. Take a look at what Jim Harbaugh has done in just one season at Michigan. With pretty much the same players as last season, he's completely turned around a dormant program. The talent was there at Michigan. The talent is here at Miami. The Canes had seven players picked in the 2015 NFL Draft, including five in the first three rounds. Yet the team went 6-7. What does that mean? Coaching matters.

Whoever the Hurricanes hire next, that person is likely to be a representative of some portion of the glory days of The U. While that will almost certainly make the alumni and former players happy, it's dangerous to think that it will be so easy to recapture that former magic. Miami can use the past as part of its recruiting pitch (along with the proximity to the beach and girls in bikinis, of course), but the focus must be on the future. The future of getting Miami back where it once was.