Once the NCAA does whatever it is going to do with Miami, once the certainty of sanctions replaces the mystery and the might of worst-case scenarios, Al Golden finally will discover the real fun in coaching the Hurricanes.
Until then, what he called “a dream job” on the day of his hiring has turned into far more surrender than he can stomach, with fewer recruits signed by design in 2013 and bowl trips forfeited in each of the last two years. Until then, no news from the NCAA is bad news.
“I don’t know where we are in the process,” Golden said of a two-year investigation that has become so gummed up that the NCAA president recently called a timeout for a review of his own staff’s shady practices.
“All of us feel there’s closure coming, that it’s there. It’s going to be a great day. I haven’t had that experience yet at the University of Miami.”
The “great day” he’s talking about probably will bring more official punishment for Miami, but that won’t stop the celebration for Golden when it comes.
At this point, he simply wants assurance that there will never be another national signing day like Wednesday, with rivals at Florida and FSU telling recruits that Miami is still radioactive in the eyes of the NCAA, and with Golden knowing that it’s true.
Miami signed just 16 players this time, half of last year’s haul, and staged official visits with only 27. A voluntary ceiling was in place in each case, further concessions by the school to prove remorse for NCAA violations that occurred prior to Golden’s hiring. What’s not being said is that two of those 16 signees were virtual layups.
Where else were Ray Lewis III and pro-style quarterback Kevin Olsen going but the U? One is the son of former Hurricanes great and future Pro Football Hall of Famer Ray Lewis. The other is the brother of Carolina Panthers tight end Greg Olsen, another former Hurricanes heavyweight. Those bonds will not be broken, bowl sanctions or not.
Otherwise, Golden and his staff, bolstered by the late additions of former FSU recruiting star James Coley and former FIU head coach Mario Cristobal, scrambled to fill positions of need but didn’t get much help on the defensive line and, worse, came up close to empty at home. The Hurricanes signed two players from Miami-Dade County, two from Broward and none from Palm Beach.
Give Golden a clear picture of what he’s up against and all this can change.
That’s how it worked for Urban Meyer at Ohio State. Soon after he was hired in November of 2011, the Buckeyes got the final verdict from their own NCAA investigation – a one-year bowl ban plus some scholarship limits and probation. That wasn’t enough to bother Meyer, who’s had two great recruiting classes and an undefeated season since.
“I’m looking forward to being able to go into homes and into the community and not have to answer that (NCAA) question,” Golden said. “Usually the first question is ‘How are you doing?’ The second is ‘What’s going on with the NCAA?’ It makes for short conversations.”
Oh, how the tongues wag around the rest of the state, however, as rival recruiters speak the name of Nevin Shapiro almost as much as they do the name of their own head coach. Don’t feel sorry for Miami here. Allow a booster to get so out of control that he’s supplying players and recruits with cash and cars and even worse over a period of years and there’s sure to be a reckoning.
Golden deserves some credit, though. He wasn’t even told about the Shapiro mess during interviews for the Miami job in December of 2010 and has shown by sticking around that he firmly believes in what the program still can become.
“The known we can deal with,” Golden said. “The unknown is what’s killing us right now. It’s what is allowing us to be exposed to attack. … We’ve just got to move forward and hopefully get this NCAA thing behind us so we can roll. Right now we’re fighting with one arm behind our back.”
At least there is relief in knowing that Golden has done that for the last time.
If the NCAA hasn’t closed this case by national signing day 2014, it will mean that the watchdog association itself has come completely unhinged and that college football’s major players have come up with a better way of doing business.
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