i'm ready for miami to matter again so i can go back to hating them. same with notre dame. college football is more fun when i can root against those teams.
I'm not surprised at Alabama at all. Like him or hate him, Saban knows how to get it done at the college level. Very few coaches are at his level. Going forward (in terms of years), I'd put Florida ahead of 'Bama and the 'Canes because of Urban Meyer. He's another very special coach. Question to the UF fans out there: Who will be their QB next year? Talk to me. I've also heard the the 'Canes facilities aren't good but the appeal of playing there for a large segment of high schoolers in the state of Florida remains. They just needed a coach who was up to the task and may have found one.
Add me to the Jacory Harris fan club. He just makes it look so easy. Throwing the ball 40 yards off his back foot. He's everything I love about college football. A high school legend on his way to becoming a college legend. I don't like Miami, but how can you root against this kid? This is so true. I don't think it's good for college football to have Notre Dame, Florida State, Michigan, Miami, Nebraska, Texas A&M, Colorado, etc. suck. Even though I don't really care for any of these programs personally, it's just so much more fun when the traditional powers are in the mix.
John Brantley will be our QB. He'll be a Redshirt Junior next year and has been looking really sharp lately. He's the guy that broke Tebow's high school passing records. He has a rocket arm, but isn't the threat on the ground that Tebow is. We'll probably be running some I-formation with him next year. Nobody can replace Tebow, but overall I think we aren't really going to miss a beat when Brantley takes over. He has a lot of experience under his belt, and the rest of our team and our recruiting class is absolutely loaded.
I am here but understand there is no reason for me to personally to trash talk I expect Texas to win and win comfortably. Tech struggled against North Dakota and had Rice in the game still at halftime. Personally I think Taylor Potts is horrible, our offensive line and running game has appeared to be non existent so far. If I had to make a guess I would say Texas 45 Tech 28.
I've also heard that Miami's facilities suck. All the same, you can still basically sell recruits on the location alone...and that's before you factor in all the other elements like "NFL U", tradition, celebrity element, etc. Florida is definitely an easier sell right now based off of recent dominance and success, but Miami definitely has them beat in the location department. Who knows what will happen if Miami becomes a powerhouse again. Maybe things will start to even themselves out like they did in the early 2000's.
To add to Franchise3, Brantley is more in the mold of a pure passer, NFL style QB. I haven't watched the first 2 games (creampuffs, and I've been out of town), but I think Meyer said he'd employ more NFL style plays this season if Tebow returned to help him get ready for the NFL as well as integrate Brantley. But don't quote me on that. Also Brantley was recruited right out of UF's backyard. He's from Ocala, an hour south of G'ville. He committed to Texas than changed his mind to Florida, where his father played. And you're right, despite the drought in success, the legacy of Miami still looms large in Florida. Even with the recent domination, my guess is that there is still that level of glamor that makes it a very close second to UF for Florida high schoolers.
Looks like it's getting a bit tougher for Tech... Texas Tech holds 2 starters off travel list [rquoter]Two Texas Tech defensive starters were not on the Red Raiders' travel list Friday, meaning they likely will not play Saturday night at No. 2 Texas. Senior defensive end Ra'Jon Henley and junior strong safety Franklin Mitchem were not on the Red Raiders' list of players who will be making the trip to Austin. The Red Raiders are scheduled to leave Lubbock Friday afternoon. Neither player has practiced this week. Henley has been seen after Tech practices in a protective boot for a left ankle injury, and Mitchem has had his left arm in a sling. [/rquoter]
To mention a thing or two about Miami: -yes the facilities are not great. In comparison to other schools in recent years it's incredible how far behind they appeared. Keep in mind Miami is still a relatively small private school and just doesn't have the athletic budget that the large state schools do. Also I believe there was some arrogance on their part in assuming football would always be dominant, thus bring in millions from BCS payouts and merchandising to support the program. However, the weight room and locker rooms have been or are in the process of being renovated. There's also no indoor practice facility or "bubble." Though the weather during football season is usually near perfect, if a bit humid. And lastly, regarding facilities, the move to Dolphin (now temporarily "Land Shark") Stadium last year was quite controversial but necessary. The Orange Bowl was the biggestneglected dump of a stadium in the country. Their new home, though even further from campus (about a 45 minute drive), is now one of the best facilities in college football (disregarding location and atmosphere; the Dolphins play there, Super Bowls and BCS games are there, and the Marlins are finally moving out in 2012). The local bandwaggon fans just need to get their ass to the games, and there's no excuses with the cheap ticket prices. -the NFL-U factor is still huge, especially considering many of these guys are going back every offseason to the crap facilities to work out. They mentor the current players, but are also there because strength coach Swasey is so highly regarded. I've happened to walk in that gym on a couple different occasions and have seen: DJ Williams, Roscoe Parrish, the Moss brothers, Jon Vilma, Edgerrin James, Eric Winston to name a few. Heck I've even seen Andy Murray, Penny Hardaway, Raja Bell (though he's from Miami and his father worked in Athletics), and A-Rod (this is the place where he was confronted by the SI reporter). -Urban Meyer's success in recent years simply hasn't translated to getting South Florida recruits to play in Gainesville. There may be unusual factors involved, but from what I understand he's been doing a lot of negative recruiting about other schools, including Miami (who doesn't?). I'm not much of a Florida fan, so if any of you want a team to hate, that's it right there. Their OOC schedule is a joke every year. Miami is no longer Thug U -- it's the Gators and this has been ignored quite a bit. Take a look at the arrests in Gainesville last few years. Basically, coach of Miami might be the easiest job in the country, since all you have to do is keep the South Florida kids in South Florida. What better recruiter than a guy who is from the area and knows what it was like growing up in some of the tough areas; Shannon can relate.
Successful teams attract hate. It happened with Miami from the 80s to the early 2000s, and it's happening now with the Gators. If Miami gets back on top of the college football world again, they'll attract haters just like the older Miami teams. Nothing surprising. Any perceived negatives will be grasped onto by the haters, even if in doing so the result is hypocritical. Please, the "Thug" designation isn't so much for arrests as it is for perceive on-field and off-field conduct. Being a realist - every school that recruits high profile high school athletes is going to have student-athletes that get into legal trouble. Find me a top-tier program that doesn't have a handful of arrests each year and I'd be shocked. Miami played into the thug/swagger role in the past and it's just lingered around them because that brash image defined their all-time great teams. In recent years, I actually felt like Miami was starting to shed the Thug moniker they were given, but then the FIU brawl happened... I think Shannon can right the ship though, he seems to have his players' heads on straight and Jacory seems like a solid leader on and off the field.
I was just flipping channels yesterday, watched harris miss two long throws, one into coverage. I thought oh well, fsu game may have been a fluke. guess not. if they beat OU, how far do they move up?
Looking forward to Iowa v Arizona, Bob Stoops's brothers and former Iowa alum Mark and Mike Stoops bring the Wildcats into Kinnick. Will be my first ESPN 360 game. Also: Big Ten Network Just tweeted Texas and Minnsota signed up for home and home games in 2015 and 2016. Looks like Cal will be playing the longhorns too. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4485237
If they beat VaTech and OU, they'd be 4-0 with wins over 4 ranked teams, by far the best resume in college football at that point. They probably *should* be #1 until TX and FL start beating the better teams on their schedules, but they obviously won't be. But I think they probably should at least get up to #5, behind the big-4 of FL, TX, USC, and Alabama.
He makes mistakes as any aggressive young player (I believe he’s a sophomore) would, but his coaches love him because he’s not afraid to take chances and doesn’t let those mistakes bother him mentally. One of the TD passes he threw was sick. He was scrambling at full speed to the left sideline and threw a 30-yard strike off the back of his left foot. When he first threw it, I thought he was throwing the ball away to avoid a loss. I’m seriously not going to miss a Miami game for the rest of this year if I don’t have to. I don’t want to miss what he does next.
Look, hate and jealousy are separate things. I do not respect Florida because of how they run their program, not just because they're all of a sudden good. EVERYONE has an opinion on Miami. Most dislike them. That "swagger/thug" image was gained from what they did in the 80s. That's a shame, but that's how it is. Of course fans are going to hate a winning team, but hopefully respect could be gained. I respect Oklahoma, USC, Texas, even LSU. The point in reference is that if you look at the arrests and academic scandals that have occurred across the state of Florida ever since Urban Meyer arrived and compare that to Miami over the same time period. Yes it's unfair that people will still have a negative opinion about Miami even though they really do run a clean program (Coker did an okay job, but simply lost control and had little discipline...kind of like Bobby Bowden). The unfortunate part is the praise that Florida gets while essentially ignoring their serious academic and legal issues. It's unreal what has been going on the past few years at both UF and FSU. These are repeat offenders as well. This is just one example of the 24 Gators arrested since Urban Meyer took over: Yes every team has "problem" student-athletes, but it is the college or university's responsibility to limit these academic and legal issues. Of course things happen, but that's why certain administrators and academic coordinators have jobs. Unfortunately at places like FSU and UF, these are not priorities, which is really quite a shock in this post-Alabama probation era. It's unacceptable. Typically if there are legal or academic issues, the players (in a good program) are removed from scholarship. I won't say that a top team that is consistently winning won't have these issues more than perennial contenders (they do, since there are targets on their backs), but I think it's fairly evident that certain programs are turning their backs on serious issues. I hate to sound sour by singling out Florida, but they simply do despicable things. Again, not that Miami has been remotely competitive in recent years, but how many arrests have they had since Shannon took over? I think we all agree that Shannon is doing a good job (so far) based on what we know. Winning can change that, but I'm optimistic this program isn't Miami of the 80s or even around 2000. They'll be good, but humble. I'm probably the only Miami fan who wants to do away with this "We Invented Swagger" crap. Who cares, just focus on yourself and play football. Image is just a distraction.
What "academic scandals" are you referring to? Urban Meyer has only been at Florida for 4 years. As far as I know, there have been no academic scandals at Florida during that time period. In fact, the Florida football team has the highest GPA and graduation rate as any UF team has had in many decades - and only second in the SEC to Vanderbilt. As for the arrests, like I previously said, you recruit high-profile student athletes and you get run-ins with the police. Some years you have less than others, but overall Meyer runs a tight program. He has weekly dinners with the team, coaches, and families of both. He keeps a file on every player that goes down to such minutiae as their girlfriend's name and phone # and a full schedule of their daily activities. He even suspends you from games if you aren't performing well academically. I really don't know how you can say Meyer runs a bad program unless you are clearly biased against the man or UF. A significant portion of the players who have gotten arrested have been kicked off the team, the others have been suspended from games. Feel free to look it up, though I'm sure you don't really care. For example, the player you referenced in your post, Jamar Hornsby, was promptly dismissed from the football program after his arrest. You may also be surprised to hear that the majority of those arrests were from players Meyer didn't recruit (Zook players who didn't buy into Meyer's program), and 3 of the arrests were from players already dismissed from the program. Here is how UF's arrest breakdown looks the past 3 years: 2007 - 2 arrests 2008 - 1 arrest 2009 - 0 arrests
Lets be honest. They go back for the teen poon. I mean who wouldn't wannna return to their alma mata if it was located in Miami.
