First and foremost, there is always far too much talk about who signed who. Obviously, it is important to land high caliber 4/5 star recruits, and every elite program has elite players.
Mario did about as much as he possibly could in the mere 7 days he has been back in Coral Gables. Landing Nyjalik Kelly was huge, and I anticipate he will see early action as a much needed edge/pass rusher which we bigly lacked this year. Forget about Class Ranking - it was always going to be bleak with Manny's limp-wristed effort. We already have talent, we brought in some more today, and we will bring in a few more guys via the Portal.
But having an elite Program is MORE than just amassing talent. It is about SIGNING high caliber 4/5 star talent AND then, with the right coaching staff, DEVELOPING that talent so that those players can play at their respective ceilings. We have been logging top-10 recruiting classes for the last 15 years - we've been to ONE ACC Championship Game. Why...? SHIT COACHING, and specifically, SHIT PLAYER DEVELOPMENT. Countless high-profile, high-caliber recruits have put on a Hurricanes uniform, only to be part of underachieving 7-5/8-4 teams with both coordinators and coaches being fired.
Mario will unequestionably have the most impact in recruiting, but it is unequestionably as important for him to hire first class coordinators who can both develop players and install the proper systems/schemes to allow them to maximize their respective skill sets.
As for FSU, the Noles obviously made a lot of noise with Deion stealing Hunter from his own alma mater. I presume most players would be tempted to take a $1.5M Barstool NIL deal, even if it meant playing in the middle of the Everglades. I am fully in favor of college athletes making money on Name-Image-Likeness, but some reasonable restrictions need to be implemented.
FSU may have had an impressive Early Signing Day Class, but I am hardly concerned about the Noles. They have no proven QB on the roster, Norvell remains on the hot seat coming off a historically bad 5-7 season, and FSU just hired a booster club CEO as its AD. I would much rather be a Miami fan than an FSU fan right now.
Moving ahead, the Sun Bowl is December 31. Normally, I would say who cares, we are going to lay a standard Miami egg. But bowl business isn't business as usual now that Mario is in charge. Coaches are coaching as an audition to remain on staff; players are playing for future positions.
Everything is earned, now.
So, despite Manny and Rhett being gone, I am looking forward to seeing what Jess and company can do on gameday. We are about a -3 favorite, and I am looking forward to seeing what TVD can do in his first bowl game as a freshman. It looks like Mario will me making more notable staff hires post-Christmas, and that is fine IMO. Take time, and get the RIGHT COORDINATORS in place. I think that T-Rob stays, and we will wind up with an overall solid staff.
Mario did about as much as he possibly could in the mere 7 days he has been back in Coral Gables. Landing Nyjalik Kelly was huge, and I anticipate he will see early action as a much needed edge/pass rusher which we bigly lacked this year. Forget about Class Ranking - it was always going to be bleak with Manny's limp-wristed effort. We already have talent, we brought in some more today, and we will bring in a few more guys via the Portal.
But having an elite Program is MORE than just amassing talent. It is about SIGNING high caliber 4/5 star talent AND then, with the right coaching staff, DEVELOPING that talent so that those players can play at their respective ceilings. We have been logging top-10 recruiting classes for the last 15 years - we've been to ONE ACC Championship Game. Why...? SHIT COACHING, and specifically, SHIT PLAYER DEVELOPMENT. Countless high-profile, high-caliber recruits have put on a Hurricanes uniform, only to be part of underachieving 7-5/8-4 teams with both coordinators and coaches being fired.
Mario will unequestionably have the most impact in recruiting, but it is unequestionably as important for him to hire first class coordinators who can both develop players and install the proper systems/schemes to allow them to maximize their respective skill sets.
As for FSU, the Noles obviously made a lot of noise with Deion stealing Hunter from his own alma mater. I presume most players would be tempted to take a $1.5M Barstool NIL deal, even if it meant playing in the middle of the Everglades. I am fully in favor of college athletes making money on Name-Image-Likeness, but some reasonable restrictions need to be implemented.
FSU may have had an impressive Early Signing Day Class, but I am hardly concerned about the Noles. They have no proven QB on the roster, Norvell remains on the hot seat coming off a historically bad 5-7 season, and FSU just hired a booster club CEO as its AD. I would much rather be a Miami fan than an FSU fan right now.
Moving ahead, the Sun Bowl is December 31. Normally, I would say who cares, we are going to lay a standard Miami egg. But bowl business isn't business as usual now that Mario is in charge. Coaches are coaching as an audition to remain on staff; players are playing for future positions.
Everything is earned, now.
So, despite Manny and Rhett being gone, I am looking forward to seeing what Jess and company can do on gameday. We are about a -3 favorite, and I am looking forward to seeing what TVD can do in his first bowl game as a freshman. It looks like Mario will me making more notable staff hires post-Christmas, and that is fine IMO. Take time, and get the RIGHT COORDINATORS in place. I think that T-Rob stays, and we will wind up with an overall solid staff.
