Miami Myths: The Fraud of the "U"

Florida State, not Miami has gotten the best talent through the years, But Miami has had the better Coaching.



Florida State had the better talent but lost to Miami in 1987 in what was voted one of the great games of the 20th century. (SI cover following that game is above)




Loudmouths like Ray Lewis and Michael Irvin have sold a fraud to the American public. The fraud is that "The U" produces badder, meaner and better players than anybody. That is simply not true. It's never been true. Sure, Miami has won more National Titles than anybody since 1980, but that has largely been due to superior coaching, the contribution of role players and of course some good luck. (Miami of course has had some very bad luck also, most notably in 1988 and 2002 when dubious officiating cost Miami the title.) While Florida State produced the likes of Warrick Dunn, Derrick Brooks, Deion Sanders, Samari Rolle, and Jamie Dukes prior to 2000, Miami produced the likes of Kenard Lang, Alonzo Highsmith, Russell Maryland, Yatil Green and Randall "Thrill" Hill. Lots of bark from Miami's guys but little bite.

As someone who has followed the Miami program closely for 25 years and also by extension the Florida State program I have come to the realization that Miami's current talent level is similar to the period from 1983 thru 1994 when UM ravaged the College Football world. The only period of time when Miami has superior talent to the rest of College Football was from 2000 thru 2003. The bottom line is if you want to play in the NFL, and at the same time as not being "coached up" in college you need to go to Florida State and not to Miami. If you wanted to be part of a family prior to the Coker days, come to Miami. Michael Irvin as I have stated before would have been just another WR had he gone to Florida State. Heck, he may not have even started until his Junior year. At Miami, he was a star because a talent gap existed between the Miami's of the world and the Florida State's or the world.

Bobby Bowden has been hailed by many in the elite national media as the greatest coach of our generation. However if you examine Bowden's big game record and in particular big games against Miami where he had superior talent, the record is appalling. Miami gained its edge by hiring a pro coach, Howard Schnellenberger in a sport dominated by conservative coaches and outdated offensive formations. Schnellenberger installed a pro style attack which quite frankly made Miami, with inferior talent difficult to stop because none of the college coaches of the era had schemed against it before. Jimmy Johnson installed a take no prisoners attitude at Miami and Dennis Erickson, an offensive genius exploited mismatch after mismatch and took advantage of the fact that Bobby Bowden and Mickey Andrews rarely if ever make in game adjustments. The myth of Bobby Bowden is as much a fraud as the myth of the "U."

Between 1983 and 1997, Miami only once had a consensus top 10 recruiting class. During that same period Florida State had twelve. Clearly, Bowden was getting better talent than the Miami coaches at the time and while he would produce better pros as well, he wasn't developing his talent the way Miami did. The Hurricanes of the 1980s relied heavily on finding two and three star recruits that weren't wooed by the big schools: Michigan, Ohio State, and yes Florida State. Miami took guys nobody else wanted and turned them into winners with some innovative coaching and attitude. Miami won because they were the ultimate underdogs. "Us against the world," wasn't just a mantra: it was a truism because by and large these were kids no other national power wanted to touch.

Between 1998 and 2005, Miami had a consensus top 10 recruiting class every season. The last five years of that run, Larry Coker was the Head Coach. These "blue chip" recruits have done nothing to further the legacy of Miami. Not only has Coach Coker failed to properly develop his talent or utilize players like Devin Hester and Frank Gore but his players have now for years shown the indifference to big games that Florida State has long demonstrated. Miami fans call the program "Cokerized," but the proper term maybe that Miami has been "Bowdenized."

The old Miami has the best coaches around. Jimmy Johnson's 1987-1988 staff, produced four future NFL Head Coaches (including Johnson himself), three future NFL coordinators, eight future NFL position coaches, four future College Coaches in BCS Conferences (including Tommy Tuberville) and a distinctive coaching style that had a major impact on both the colleges and pros. By comparison, Bobby Bowden's 1987-1988 staff included two future College head coaches (Brad Scott, and Chuck Amato) both of whom left the programs they inherited in worse shape then when they took over. (I am assuming Amato will be fired in the upcoming weeks by NC State.) Coaching, not recruiting kept Miami on top of Florida State.

Whatever Miami does with its coaching situation, the school must return to its roots. Throw out the recruiting guides and ignore Rivals.com. Go back to doing what made Miami great. The little urban private school that could needs to stop imitating its larger public school rival and become Miami again.