First and foremost, this is a HOMERUN hire. The hiring process was a shit show, the PR backlash noteworthy, and the tactics unconventional. But we got our Number #1 target, and 3-5-10 years from now, zero f**ks will be given looking back at how we got Mario with hopefully 1+ ACC Championships and 1+ National Championships.
Positives:
(1) Recruiting - Obviously... Mario's recruiting classes at Oregon were ranked #6, #7, #11, and #12, far better than the average classes which either Mike Belotti or Chip Kelly assembled during their respective tenures. Mario landed 5 5-star players, most notably Kayvon Thibodeaux, who is all but guaranteed to be a top-10 pick. We have been WEAK in the TRENCHES for years- Mario signed 8 4-Star OL, 6 4/5-Star DT/DE, including Thibodeaux (5-Star DE/Edge). Mario also signed Noah Sewell and Justin Flowe, 2 5-Star LBs in his last class.
Certainly, the Phil Knight money helps recruiting- but make no mistake, MARIO is a stone cold killer closer of a recruiter. He was that way with Saban at Bama, he was that way at Oregon, and he will be that way here, especially with POSITIONS OF NEED which we desparately need to be physically better in the Box.
(2) Culture Builder - Every coach talks about "building a culture". Few actually do it, and do it at an impactful level which can lead a Program to a National Title. Howard did it, unquestionably. Jimmy did it so well his culture let Dennis Erickson win 2 National Championships in 89' and 91' after Jimmy left for Dallas. Butch was the absolute best at it, assembling the most NFL talent on a college roster in college football history, in the wake of the Pell Grant Scandal and SI's call to disband the Program.
I have NO DOUBT Mario both can and will create a culture at an impactful level which Howard, Jimmy, and Butch did.
(3) Power-5 Experience - Huge. Mario started out as a GA under Butch. Most people don't know that Mario actually followed Schiano to Rutgers for 3 years and was instrumental in helping Schiano completely build that Rutgers program into a respectable one. Mario was with Coker for a few years here, then FIU, then of course Bama with Saban and of course Oregon. Mario has been all over the country- northeast, South Florida, south, northwest. He has almost 25 years of coaching under his belt, about 20 of which at the Power-5 level.
(4) Coordinator Talent - Mario has worked with some SOLID coaches over the years. As stated above, he worked with Schiano at Rugters who made that program an 8-9 win program. He worked with The Onion, Solinger, and Kehoe at Miami. At Oregon, Mario had Jim Leavitt as DC, Alex Mirabal as OL/DL (coming here now), and Aaron Feld (S&C coming here now).
In 2015 at Alabama, Mario what was arguably a top-5 coaching staff in the history of college football:
Saban (Bama HC), HC
Kiffin (Ole Miss HC), OC
Kirby (Georgia HC), DC
Napier (Florida HC), WR
Mel Tucker (Michigan State HC), DB
Mario (Miami HC), OL/TE
^^^ All these coaches are now making $75M-$100M per year as HC. INSANE. Mario KNOWS good coaches and has been around good coaches. I have 100% confidence in his ability to land high caliber coordinators and positional coaches. T-Rob must be retained.
(5) Mario = Miami - Mario is from Miami, went to high school in Miami, played for Miami, and knows the City of Miami, the people of Miami, and the Miami Hurricanes as good as anyone. That is the icing to the cake of core positive traits which Mario has. Above all, Mario will tirelessly work for the one Program he has known, respected, and LOVED more than any other Program.
Mario = Miami.
Negatives:
(1) Non-Specialist - Mario is neither an offensive coordinator specialist nor defensive coordinator specialist. He is a OL/TE coach. Typically, it is preferred to have a coach who handles either offense or defense so you have the HC taking care of one side of the football. There are exceptions. NFL- John Harbaugh of the Ravens was a Special Teams guy and is a HOF coach. College, we've seen a few coaches over the yeares who weren't elite either OCs or DCs. Butch Davis for one. Joe Paterno another.
Mario is the textbook college "CEO" of the Program, and MUST make very calculated, shrewd, and effective coordinator/positional coach hires.
(2) Coaching Record - forget FIU. That was a pile a dirt and a water cooler program when Mario started it. With Oregon, there ARE some reasonable concerns. Although Mario finished a respectable 35-13 (23-9) at Oregon, Mario finished 12-6 in his last 18 games including 2 embarassing national tv blowout games to Utah. Mario was also a modest 2-2 Bowl Games, albeit an impressive Rose Bowl victory. Oregonwill have (likely) finished ranked in only 2 out of 4 seasons with Mario there.
Mario must but can improve that record here at The U.
(3) Tenure - Thanks to the Lemonis/Mas BOT faction, we (reportedly) secured Mario for 10 years at $8M per year. That's great news for us- but will Mario actually stay that long. History here says otherwise. The last HC of 7+ years at Miami...? You have to go back to when my 93-year old stepfather played- under HC Andy Gustafson, from 1948 to 1962. Still, if Mario can deliver 1+ ACC Championships and/or 1+ National Championship in an only 3-5 year span (prior to say, departing for the NFL), then every dollar invested in Mario will have been paid back 10-fold. That said, the expectations HIGHER for Mario than prior coaches. This is a new era of Miami football, and with that new era come higher expectations and a need to deliver now.
Big boy bucks command big boy results.
Overall, the positives SIGNIFICANTLY outweigh the negatives. This is a HOMERUN, A-/A hire. Incredibly excited to see how this Program becomes elite again.
Positives:
(1) Recruiting - Obviously... Mario's recruiting classes at Oregon were ranked #6, #7, #11, and #12, far better than the average classes which either Mike Belotti or Chip Kelly assembled during their respective tenures. Mario landed 5 5-star players, most notably Kayvon Thibodeaux, who is all but guaranteed to be a top-10 pick. We have been WEAK in the TRENCHES for years- Mario signed 8 4-Star OL, 6 4/5-Star DT/DE, including Thibodeaux (5-Star DE/Edge). Mario also signed Noah Sewell and Justin Flowe, 2 5-Star LBs in his last class.
Certainly, the Phil Knight money helps recruiting- but make no mistake, MARIO is a stone cold killer closer of a recruiter. He was that way with Saban at Bama, he was that way at Oregon, and he will be that way here, especially with POSITIONS OF NEED which we desparately need to be physically better in the Box.
(2) Culture Builder - Every coach talks about "building a culture". Few actually do it, and do it at an impactful level which can lead a Program to a National Title. Howard did it, unquestionably. Jimmy did it so well his culture let Dennis Erickson win 2 National Championships in 89' and 91' after Jimmy left for Dallas. Butch was the absolute best at it, assembling the most NFL talent on a college roster in college football history, in the wake of the Pell Grant Scandal and SI's call to disband the Program.
I have NO DOUBT Mario both can and will create a culture at an impactful level which Howard, Jimmy, and Butch did.
(3) Power-5 Experience - Huge. Mario started out as a GA under Butch. Most people don't know that Mario actually followed Schiano to Rutgers for 3 years and was instrumental in helping Schiano completely build that Rutgers program into a respectable one. Mario was with Coker for a few years here, then FIU, then of course Bama with Saban and of course Oregon. Mario has been all over the country- northeast, South Florida, south, northwest. He has almost 25 years of coaching under his belt, about 20 of which at the Power-5 level.
(4) Coordinator Talent - Mario has worked with some SOLID coaches over the years. As stated above, he worked with Schiano at Rugters who made that program an 8-9 win program. He worked with The Onion, Solinger, and Kehoe at Miami. At Oregon, Mario had Jim Leavitt as DC, Alex Mirabal as OL/DL (coming here now), and Aaron Feld (S&C coming here now).
In 2015 at Alabama, Mario what was arguably a top-5 coaching staff in the history of college football:
Saban (Bama HC), HC
Kiffin (Ole Miss HC), OC
Kirby (Georgia HC), DC
Napier (Florida HC), WR
Mel Tucker (Michigan State HC), DB
Mario (Miami HC), OL/TE
^^^ All these coaches are now making $75M-$100M per year as HC. INSANE. Mario KNOWS good coaches and has been around good coaches. I have 100% confidence in his ability to land high caliber coordinators and positional coaches. T-Rob must be retained.
(5) Mario = Miami - Mario is from Miami, went to high school in Miami, played for Miami, and knows the City of Miami, the people of Miami, and the Miami Hurricanes as good as anyone. That is the icing to the cake of core positive traits which Mario has. Above all, Mario will tirelessly work for the one Program he has known, respected, and LOVED more than any other Program.
Mario = Miami.
Negatives:
(1) Non-Specialist - Mario is neither an offensive coordinator specialist nor defensive coordinator specialist. He is a OL/TE coach. Typically, it is preferred to have a coach who handles either offense or defense so you have the HC taking care of one side of the football. There are exceptions. NFL- John Harbaugh of the Ravens was a Special Teams guy and is a HOF coach. College, we've seen a few coaches over the yeares who weren't elite either OCs or DCs. Butch Davis for one. Joe Paterno another.
Mario is the textbook college "CEO" of the Program, and MUST make very calculated, shrewd, and effective coordinator/positional coach hires.
(2) Coaching Record - forget FIU. That was a pile a dirt and a water cooler program when Mario started it. With Oregon, there ARE some reasonable concerns. Although Mario finished a respectable 35-13 (23-9) at Oregon, Mario finished 12-6 in his last 18 games including 2 embarassing national tv blowout games to Utah. Mario was also a modest 2-2 Bowl Games, albeit an impressive Rose Bowl victory. Oregonwill have (likely) finished ranked in only 2 out of 4 seasons with Mario there.
Mario must but can improve that record here at The U.
(3) Tenure - Thanks to the Lemonis/Mas BOT faction, we (reportedly) secured Mario for 10 years at $8M per year. That's great news for us- but will Mario actually stay that long. History here says otherwise. The last HC of 7+ years at Miami...? You have to go back to when my 93-year old stepfather played- under HC Andy Gustafson, from 1948 to 1962. Still, if Mario can deliver 1+ ACC Championships and/or 1+ National Championship in an only 3-5 year span (prior to say, departing for the NFL), then every dollar invested in Mario will have been paid back 10-fold. That said, the expectations HIGHER for Mario than prior coaches. This is a new era of Miami football, and with that new era come higher expectations and a need to deliver now.
Big boy bucks command big boy results.
Overall, the positives SIGNIFICANTLY outweigh the negatives. This is a HOMERUN, A-/A hire. Incredibly excited to see how this Program becomes elite again.
