For Al Golden, this month will likely be much different than his last two Decembers as UM’s head coach.
Last year at this time, a short-lived panic among UM fans arose when Golden was linked to the head coaching vacancy at Wisconsin. The report was soon amended to say he was flattered, but not interested. Golden was, however, briefly considering replacements for defensive coordinator Mark D’Onofrio, who was reportedly a finalist for the Temple head coaching job before withdrawing his name from consideration.
In December 2011, questions persisted about Golden’s interest in succeeding his former coach at Penn State, the retiring Joe Paterno. He was also linked to the open job at UCLA.
All is quiet this month around Golden, whose UM contract runs through February 2020. After a 9-3 regular season (5-3 in the ACC), he’s preparing his team for a late-December bowl game, his team’s first since 2010.
Golden, who went 13-11 in his first two seasons, feels like his group is only starting to eradicate what he calls “that mediocre mind-set.” Over the next three-plus weeks, he’s declaring every position an open race.
“Guys have ‘spots’ on mediocre teams,” he said. “ ‘That’s my spot. Hey, this is my position.’ It’s really not your position. The position is the University of Miami’s position.”
UM announced Tuesday that fans will get a chance to see the competition up close. The Hurricanes will hold five open bowl practices over the next two weekends, beginning Saturday (1-2:45 p.m.) and Sunday (11 a.m.-12:45 p.m.). They will also practice next Friday (5-7), Saturday and Sunday (both 1-2:45). They will practice at the 500-seat Cobb Soccer Stadium, located on San Amaro Drive in Coral Gables.
UM said parking for those practices will be in the nearby green, gray and yellow lots for the Saturday and Sunday practices. For the Friday, Dec. 13 practice, fans may park in the Ponce Garage. Fans must enter Cobb Stadium along San Amaro Drive.
In total, Miami plans to have 15 bowl practices between Saturday and the day of their bowl, which will likely be the Dec. 28 Russell Athletic Bowl in Orlando or the Dec. 31 Chick-fil-A Bowl in Atlanta. The results of this weekend’s conference championship games will determine UM’s destination.
If No. 1 Florida State (12-0, 8-0) beats No. 20 Duke (10-2, 6-2) in the ACC championship game, the Seminoles would go to the BCS title game. That would mean the Orange Bowl, which has a longstanding contract with the ACC, would take the next-best team from that conference. Currently that is Clemson (10-2, 7-1), which is 13th in the BCS standings.
If Duke — a 29-point underdog — stuns the Seminoles, the Blue Devils would head to the Jan. 3 Orange Bowl and FSU would drop to a BCS at-large slot. With the first pick among non-BCS bowls with ACC tie-ins, the Chick-fil-A would likely take Clemson. Next up, the Russell Athletic would choose Miami.
The most likely scenario for UM is the Chick-fil-A, which would not displease selection committee member Bill Flynn. He said Duke’s turnaround story is inspiring, but Miami’s reputation is stronger.
“They have the best TV brand in the nation,” Flynn said, noting the second-highest TV rating for a Chick-fil-A Bowl was Miami-LSU in 2005, a 40-3 LSU win. That game, then known as the Peach Bowl, drew a 5.3 overnight share.
The potential for a weak showing of UM fans in Atlanta isn’t a concern, Flynn said, because the game has been long been sold out.
UM’s bowl opponent is unknown, though if this weekend’s games go as oddsmakers predict, the Hurricanes could meet 2012 Heisman winner Johnny Manziel and Texas A&M in the Chick-fil-A or Miami native Teddy Bridgewater and Louisville in the Russell Athletic.
Noteworthy: UM freshman receiver Stacy Coley earned one vote for ACC rookie of the year, which went to Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston.
