A day after the most lopsided defeat in its 90-year history, Miami made a move that seemed inevitable:
It put an end to the Al Golden era.
The New Jersey native, who arrived serious and highly organized, guided the program through a lengthy NCAA mess that happened before his time, but could not reach the performance level expected of a program with five national championships, was dismissed Sunday after four-plus years.
Tight ends coach Larry Scott will serve as the interim head coach for the rest of the season, athletic director Blake James said. For now, all assistant coaches and staff members were retained, including embattled defensive coordinator Mark D’Onofrio, a close friend of Golden’s.
Before Saturday's 58-0 loss to No. 6 Clemson, James firmly said he would not make a decision on Golden's future until the end of the year. What changed? Several sources told the Post that considerable pressure from UM's Board of Trustees made James' decision a matter of course. James would not comment on why the call was made, other than to say he made it.
“Al navigated us through the NCAA case. He’s always represented our institution in a [positive] manner,” James said, also declining to say whether he would enlish the help of an outside firm for the search, or when it would start. “It came to the point where I felt it was what was best for our program.”
Golden, who did not return a call from the Post on Sunday, reportedly made $2,539,315 this season. That ranks 42nd among FBS coaches, according to USA Today. He was signed through the 2019 season and is owed an undisclosed buyout sum. UM is a private institution and is not required to divulge its financial dealings.
He was 32-25 at UM, with a 17-18 mark in ACC games.
He is 59-59 in his career, serving as Temple’s head coach before arriving at Miami in Dec. 2010. He lost bowl games in 2013 and 2014, after the school self-imposed a pair of bowl bans in 2011 and 2012 because of impending NCAA sanctions.
He went 0-5 against Florida State and was 3-10 against teams that were ranked at the time. The two highest-ranked opponents he defeated — No. 12 Florida in 2013 and No. 17 Ohio State — finished with losing records.
In Golden’s final 26 games as coach, the Hurricanes were 12-14 with 11 of those losses by double digits. In 2014, the Hurricanes (6-7) suffered a losing season for the third time in 35 years. When six players from that team were taken in the subsequent NFL draft and seven more signed free agent contracts, Golden was further blamed for underperformance.
In a statement, he thanked UM for “a tremendous opportunity. I believe in what we are doing and how we are doing it and we have some outstanding young men in our football program. Though this moment is difficult, we wish the Canes the best of luck going forward.”
After the Clemson loss, which topped a 56-point setback 1944 as the worst in UM’s history, Golden said the program would bounce back. UM (4-3, 1-2 ACC) visits No. 22 Duke at 7 p.m. Saturday.
“We have to move on,” he said. “This was terrible. We cannot let it beat us tomorrow, or the next day, or next week. We have to move on quickly.”
That remains true under Scott, the interim coach.
He was hired in 2013 as tight ends coach and run game coordinator, after eight seasons as an assistant at South Florida. After signing with USF as part of the school’s first recruiting class (1996), the Sebring High alum was a three-year letterwinner as an offensive lineman. He graduated in 2000 with a degree in communications.
On social media, fan reaction to Golden’s dismissal was mostly celebratory. Players were largely respectful.
“Coach Golden saw in me something that I didn’t see for myself. Thank you for all you did for me coach,” tweeted redshirt senior defensive tackle Ufomba Kamalu, whom Golden signed out of junior college.
“He did so much for this University,” redshirt senior safety Dallas Crawford wrote. “Doesn’t matter how many games the next coach wins he’ll still be winning with Golden’s team.”
Scott is not a long-term candidate — barring a Dan Campbell-like turnaround, it would seem — but should command the respect of players in the interim.
"I'm not sure there is a more respected coach by the players than Coach Scott," tweeted former kicker Matt Goudis. "Excited to see what he can do."
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