Another strong effort from Vishnu Parasuraman on #AlGolden, the state of the #MiamiHurricanes program and the narrative being spun on the heels of four disappointing seasons. For years, fans had been told that the program was doing things the right way. Sure, some form of NCAA rules violations occur everywhere, but at least there was a general understanding that Miami was “clean.” Many were proud of that. Then in the summer of 2011, that facade came crashing down. The fans felt betrayed. And they should have been, as it emerged that the violations were largely a result of the administration letting a wolf into the hen house and then acting surprised that the hens got eaten. What did the fans do? The perfectly reasonable action of turning their back on the university, leaving them to fend for themselves? No. They did not. They stood by the U. A certain blogger penned this opus defending the school against the Yahoo allegations. They had the school’s back, when everyone else went running for cover. And then came the contract extension. It’s hard to remember now just how uncertain the future looked in 2011. It was bad. And as the Canes, having already announced a self-imposed bowl ban, limped towards the end of a season, uncertainty also swirled around the head coach. No one wanted to conduct a head coaching search in this atmosphere. But as the Canes were getting pummeled at home by a three-win Boston College team (that game would be their fourth win), the first warning signs emerged. Maybe hiring Golden was a mistake, and him leaving wouldn’t be the worst thing. Then, the school made the unbelievably poor decision to announce the extension mid-game. It came as a gut punch of sorts. How could the notoriously cheap university afford this if things went wrong? Golden had one 6-6 season at Miami, and had never won the MAC. He was far from a sure thing. Yet once again, the fans stood with the U. ”
Posted on: Fri, 09 Jan 2015 19:02:32 +0000
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