Billy Corben: The Making Of "The U"

Last Wednesday I had a chance to participate in a media conference call coordinated and hosted by ESPN to discuss the making of the soon to be released movie "The U". 

The film, which was created and directed by UM grad Billy Corben, focuses on the University of Miami's rise to glory in the 1980's.  

The movie is part of the highly regarded "30 For 30" film series produced by ESPN and will premiere on December 12 at 9 PM right after the Heisman Trophy ceremony.  

Canespace has been invited to be on the "orange carpet" and attend a special screening of the film on December 9 in Miami.  Reporter Mary Clark and a guest will conduct interviews and photograph the event for Canespace.  The event will be attended by some of Miami's elite and many famous players and coaches from UM's "Decade of Dominance" which spanned from 1981-1991.

Corben (seen here with former UM WR Santana Moss) was open and honest during the one hour interview and shed some light on what the making of the movie was like.  He spoke of the incredible interviews (all 41 of them) that he conducted to bring a first person perspective to the film as the former UM coaches and players poured out their hearts and souls about The U and what it means to them. 

Corben also touched on the initial resistance he received from UM on making the film.  In fact the UM Athletic Department went so far as to actually call former coaches and players and ask them not to be interviewed for the film.   Amazing as that seems we firmly believe that Miami's past cannot be ignored and it's future is bright. 

So unashamed and unapologetically Canespace brings U Billy Corben, unplugged:

Q: So how were you able to set up all of these interviews?  Did you have contacts with these players?  With UM?

A: It actually all started with Melvin Bratton.  That led to Alonzo Highsmith.  It is a tight network of guys who stay in touch with each other even though they live all over the Country.  After that it was like a domino effect and all of the interviews just started happening. I conducted 41 interviews for the film.  I could have probably done 140!  I see film making as a perpetual process, but eventually you have to stop.  At a certain point the project has to be done.   But that is what the DVD is for.   When we release it it will have a lot more game and interview footage that we had to edit for the film.

Q: So when you started the production of this film were you surprised that you met resistance from UM, especially with the fact that you are a UM grad?

A: Yes I was.  I was very disappointed.  Some people at UM went as far as to call former coaches and players and ask them not to grant interviews.  When I called Dennis Erickson he told me that UM asked him not to comment.  He granted us an interview for the film and told us that.  I was surprised.

Q: Was there one interview that you didn't get that you would have liked to have had?  Warren Sapp?

A: Actually it would have been Jerome Brown, may he rest in peace.  He was the classic UM player of that era.  He personified everything that Miami stood for.  Bold, brash, dominant.  He was the one interview I wish I could have done that wasn't possible for the film.

Q: What about the early days Under Schnellenberger for 1979-83.  What did U learn about what brought Miami to the top of college football in 1983?

A:  Schnellenberger was as much a salesman as he was a coach.  He is the program, without him there is no Miami program.  When he took over he realized that the Miami Dolphins were drawing 70,000 every week to the Orange Bowl and the Hurricanes were lucky to get 17,000.  He knew he had to sell the team to the city.  He developed "The U" into a brand.  It was a tough time in Miami with riots, racial unrest and he used the Hurricanes as the glue that brought the City together.  He recruited many of the tough inner-city kids to play for Miami.  Their parents and family would go to games.  That was what built the bond between the team and the City.  

Q: What was unique about the program or the team that led to Miami's success?

A: Well you have heard the saying: "It's a Canes Thing, U wouldn't understand."  That is more than just a saying.  It is absolutely true. 

When I interviewed the former players the bond between them was nothing like I have ever seen.  They are members of a family.  Nothing about it is fake or forced.  It is a real family and even though they may be scattered across the Country whenever they are together, even if they haven't seen each other in years, they are like family.

Jeremy Shockey may have said it best when he said: "It's like you are a crip or blood.  Once you are in you are in for life." The association, the affection these guys feel for each other is very real.  The "us against the world" mentality is not a put on.  It is a VERY real thing.

Q: During your interviews were you able to determine a turning point when the coaches and players knew they had arrived?

A: Yes, it was the 1981 Peach Bowl game with Jim Kelly at QB (Miami won 20-10 over VT).  The coaches and players knew that once they had reached and won a bowl game the sky was the limit.  Schenllenberger used that game to sell the team.  He went to the news conference with a can of peaches and put it on the table.  He won the City of Miami's hearts and minds with that game.  Kelly was recruited by Joe Paterno as a LB, but he wanted to play QB.  Howard gave him that chance at Miami.  The rest is history.

Q: There is a big debate among UM fans about which team is the greatest of all time.  When you interviewed the players and coaches was there any consensus about which UM team of that era may have been the best?

A: Well Jimmy Johnson told me that the 1986 team was the best team that never won a National Championship.  He said it was the finest talent he was ever associated with.  Alonzo Highsmith (seen below with Canespacers MiamiMike01 and RandyCane) got very emotional when he talked about that season.  He said the team was devastated when they lost the Fiesta Bowl to Penn State.  Many players told me that the 1986 team was the best ever. 

Several players and coaches who went on to the NFL and even won Super Bowls said that that was the most memorable year and game they ever were associated with.  The disappointment from losing that game stayed with them forever.

Q:  During your interviews was there a common thread of focus that ran trough the Canes dominance on the field?

A:  Competition.  The players knew that if they took a play off, or slacked off in practice, or even if they got hurt, there was someone right behind them ready to take their place.  They knew that the second string at Miami could start on any other team they faced.  Even the third string players were better than most teams they faced.  Competition is what drove the players and the team. 

You had Vinny Testaverde sitting behind Bernie Kosar. 

Jimmy Johnson was a master motivator.  Michael Irvin told me that one day Jimmy walked into the weight room and said that everyone was saying "How are we (the Canes) going to replace the wide receivers that are graduating?" 

He told Irvin: "I can't wait to introduce them to Michael Irvin!" 

Michael Irvin became the hardest working player at Miami after that.  That was Jimmy's brilliance at work.  He loved competition.

For more on the movie including the video trailer and music from the movie click on the link below:

http://www.espnmediazone3.com/us/2009/11/espn-films-presents-the-u/

Comments

[DZ8]

1st

[Old Skool]

Hurray

[coldcane]

LOL...come on Canespacers...we've known for more than 24 hrs now that we are playing Wisconsin and no one has posted a detailed breakdown of their strengths and weaknesses? You boys and girls are slackig!!! Where you at Calvin? JSQ? By the way JSQ I am in love with you..lol

[canesteeler]

Great article!

[DZ8]

Anybody know if their is a limit to the number of early enrollees?

Posted by: DZ8 | December 07, 2009 at 08:05 PM

[DZ8]

Awesome interview! This past saturday was ok because fla got beat. This upcoming saturday will be great because of this documentary. Right after the Heisman, we'll get a recruit or two next week.

[RandyCane]

NO ONE WILL EVER UNDERSTAND, IT'S A CANE'S THING" The family thing will never be duplicated. There have been other teams who have had runs similiar to the Canes but No One will ever duplicate what these young men did. They made the "U" and I was proud to be a Canes fan then and now!

[DZ8]

Posted by: coldcane | December 07, 2009 at 08:20 PM

Your love JSQ posted a good link to an article from a wisconsin fan. I'll see if I can find it.

To sum it up, they can run the ball and stop the run.

[coldcane]

Hey JSQ...its not like a stalker love...its like a you are a woman that lives and breathes Hurricane football so anything else you do can be overlooked type love

[RandyCane]

The 86 team versus the 2001 team. Now thats a game I would like to see.

[coldcane]

I appreciate that DZ8...I'll wait

[CaniaK aka True Canes]

http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/sports/highschool/recruiting/blog/2009/12/um_showing_interest_in_atlanti.html

He will switch from Ole Miss to the canes if he gets an offer

[Old Skool]

Rank 'em Worse losses

1 Ohio State and Terry Porter
2. 1986 Fiesta Bowl
3. Flutie's Hail Mary
4. Washington ending the home win streak
5. The blowout to UVA in the OB's last game.
6. The Florida flop.

I'm sure there are others that still irritate people. These come to mind first.

[JSQ]

JSQ? By the way JSQ I am in love with you..lol

Posted by: coldcane | December 07, 2009 at 08:20 PM

Thanks, coldcane. As said before, I posted a link earlier. Let me find the article. brb

[JSQ]

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/304115-wisconsin-miami-champs-sports-bowl-could-be-a-high-scoring-affair

We are going to LIGHT UP their secondary. I can't wait!

[JSQ]

Rank 'em Worse losses

1 Ohio State and Terry Porter
2. 1986 Fiesta Bowl
3. Flutie's Hail Mary
4. Washington ending the home win streak
5. The blowout to UVA in the OB's last game.
6. The Florida flop.

I'm sure there are others that still irritate people. These come to mind first.

Posted by: Old Skool | December 07, 2009 at 08:33 PM

The last minute one to Penn State in 1999 was the first time football made me cry. Not one of the top 10 irritating losses, but it broke my heart nonetheless and is very rememberable to me. Wasn't that upset again until Clemson this year.

[JSQ]

I am SO EXCITED about The U premier and so honored to cover it for Canespace - the best 'Canes website out there, for the fans, by the fans!

Please let me know if there are any particular questions you would like me to ask if I get the opportunity to interview anyone. I am going to try my best to get as many interviews and pictures as possible, but I'm not sure of the set-up. I will definitely get Lamar, and if Steve is there, probably him too.

What do you guys want to know? Please post questions!

GO 'CANES!!!!

IT'S ALL ABOUT "THE U!!!!"

[DZ8]

Good article on our bowl matchup from the Badgers' perspective:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/304115-wisconsin-miami-champs-sports-bowl-could-be-a-high-scoring-affair

Posted by: JSQ | December 07, 2009 at 05:51 PM

Dam IT! It took me like ten minutes to find the link. Beatin' by the Queen.

[JSQ]

I get weekly e-mails from the Bleacher Report and I saved that one in my e-mail for the future "Mary Knows Football" season recap and bowl picks - you are not slow, I just sort of cheated, DZ8! :-)

[tortugacane]

Totally cool article 86, as all your previous ones. You have done it again. CaneSpace just gets better as each day goes by. Go Spacers & Canes!

[JSQ]

86, where did the picture of my husband go?

wait - Kirk Herbstreit is my imaginary husband . . .

Jeremy Shockey is my imaginary illegitimate baby 'Cane daddy.

Put Shockey back up! You guys get to see pictures of chicks on here all the time! I want my man-candy!!! ;-)

[raizecane]

I think so CSM. It all depends on traffic and hopefully people will be on vacation that week so it may not be too bad.

Email me at [email protected]
so we can exchange numbers.

Posted by: canechic | December 07, 2009 at 07:30 PM

I think its going to be crazy that day. The ideal thing to do is to all meet some place early and then all drive in together and try to go into parking lot U. We can tailgate and eat before we head into the stadium.

I am off that day and can be there at any time.

Is 10 AM to early to start drinking?

[KLCaneFan]

I second that, Mary! Give us our man eye-candy!!! :)

[404Canes404]

http://www.buzzfeed.com/treyc/tim-tebow-crying-motivational-poster-uw5

A picture as sweet as candy! How's that?

[JSQ]

Is 10 AM to early to start drinking?

Posted by: raizecane | December 07, 2009 at 08:59 PM

Never. If anything, it is too late.

Cautionary tale: I started at 5:30am for the UVA game. That, friends IS too early to start drinking. I sat on the field for that game in the HOT sun after drinking for 7 hours, gave my number to a former player who asked for it (my buddies still laugh when I ask to whom) and have NO MEMORY of it. Next thing I remember with complete clarity is wrestling my buddies aside for a peice of p'zone while watching the end of the GA Tech/Wake game.

I knew there was a school house rock episode I missed - the one that teaches kids not to drink jello shots before the sun comes up. BAD NEWS!

[Rashad Reed]

I am in........looks like Rashad and I will be a couple that day, lmao.

Posted by: raizecane | December 07, 2009 at 01:25 PM

Its a date..LMAO!!

[JSQ]

A picture as sweet as candy! How's that?

Posted by: 404Canes404 | December 07, 2009 at 09:03 PM

It's not a shirtless Jeremy Shockey, but it's definitely mental porn in my book!

[JSQ]

Re-read my post and just to clarify: I remember the game, just not the identity of the former player.

He must not have been that important, right?

Ah, jello shots.

[86Cane]

Wasn't that upset again until Clemson this year.

Posted by: JSQ | December 07, 2009 at 08:38 PM

Don't we all remember that vividly. It was not pretty...suicidal was the word I would use to describe that event.

[JSQ]

Don't we all remember that vividly. It was not pretty...suicidal was the word I would use to describe that event.

Posted by: 86Cane | December 07, 2009 at 09:33 PM

Penn State '99 or Clemson '09?

Suicidal, huh? I was completely mentally stable after the Clemson loss. No one had to stop me from running into traffic or anything.

;-)

[CaneSawMassacre]

Nooo Raise or Rashad.. I can't get there that early and canechic was saying it isn't great to tailgate.. Better to meet somewhere.

There are a lot of places where we could get a bitr to eat and somethin to drink an a few hours before the game, then get a nice little convoy line going, or maybe carppol from the bar to the stadium.

Canechic - I'm sending you an email now. Worst case scenario if the rest of the crew doesn't want to meet up it could be my posse and your posse. I like tailgating if the situation is right, but I LOVE to eat at places in Orlando, they have so many great options and it gives us an opportunity to not waste moeny for food and drinks in the stadium

[Rashad Reed]

Just let me know CSM. Im out of work at noon thta day, so I have the whole day.

[Hurriphin]

Hurriphin......the U.

Wide Right II on ESPN Classic gang.

Excellent article there. Can't wait for this 30/30 deal! Love to see the "Bada$$ Cane Era" that I was too young to appreciate. Canes---Setting trends.

The most disheartening UM loss that I've witnessed personally has the be the OB finale. Pathetic is an understatement. That team on that field should have been collectively burned at a stake. Can't ever forget how ashamed Mike Irvin said he was of that 07' team. don't even think he attended the game.

I know he aren't suppossed to geek over highlight films, but that Mireles kid is a lightning bolt. If you didn't see the youtube link I put up a couple days ago, go peep his footage out. This kid MUST get an offer.

[Rashad Reed]

CSM:
You can look me up on Facebook if you have it. Rashad Reed.

[Hurriphin]

---"we aren't"

[CaneSawMassacre]

Canechic ------ YOU'VE GOT MAIL!

[CaneSawMassacre]

Rashad I'm getting into Orlando around 4 that day.. I'm working something with Canechic to set-up at a local bar around the stadium probably a couple miles or so..

Once she gives me a couple spots, I'll call over and see if they can arrange for some sort of CANESPACE specials...

You interested? If you need a ride from the spot to the stadium we could probably arrange something. We have like 3-4 spots in my father's big Toyota Tundra.. But just be ready to roll out immediately after the game because we have to head back to Tampa and work early the next day.

[86Cane]

U have to get to the stadium early to park in a safe area. The Wisconsin fan will be there at dawn.

If U don't get there early U will park in the hood. Good luck with that!

I will have NO PART OF THAT!

[CaneSawMassacre]

Rashad I'm not afraid to post my number 8139448570.. Text me buddy. I look at my Canespace/ a.k.a. Cane family as second tier to my immediate family

Hit me up ASAP, and then I'll know I have another brother from another Cane mother for LIFE!!!

[MR TROUTMAN]

I ATTENDED TWO NIGHTMARE GAMES LSU IN THE Ga dome and the beat down in Atlanta by Ga Tech.. both were the two worst games we played in the last 5 years.

[raizecane]

I will go with what everyone decides. I was more concerned about parking. If you wait, you will find yourself parking in the outskirts...and would not recommend that. There are plenty of places to eat but parking in downtown is a pain in the ass.

There is a KERS Wing House and an Ale House in Altamonte (north of orlando) which is about 15 minutes from downtown. But I myself would like to be parked by 1 or 2. I am sure 86 and Canechic will come up with a plan so that we can all try to meet before the game.

[Rashad Reed]

Ok, just hit you up with a text CSM.

[CaneSawMassacre]

If you buy a parking pass ahead of time SOUP, will you not be provied parking inside the lot? If you come later?

Cause I sure as hell will raise h8ll if I just wasted 25 bucks???

An answer would be appreciated as quickly as possible.

[CaneSawMassacre]

Gotcha Rashad, hit you back.

Now I'm just waiting for an update on the parking situation.

Cause I'm going to be P*SSED if I bought 25 bucks for reserved parking only to get shafted..................

[NativeCane]

Old Skool, The 1992 whoopin alabama put on us was a heartbreaker, we had the heisman curse and Hurricane Andrew made that a bad year all the way around.

[solarcane]

Mary, Soup excellet exposure getting invited to the screening , proud of both of you.

peace

[Rashad Reed]

Im just glad I'll be with everyone this time. At the UCF game that place was so big, I had no idea where I was..haha

[Hurriphin]

On a slightly milder scale..........last year's loss to UNC had me salty as well.
I remember throwing the little hurricanes football (after Farq' got the TD TAKEN form him) I have, as hard as I could, at my TV. It bounced off the tele, and knocked over my cup of iced tea, all over the carpet. I had to scrub like a slave to get it clean before my wife got home.

[JSQ]

CSM:

Can I arrive anytime before or during the event and still be able to park?

Can I arrive anytime before or during the event and still be able to park?
Event and parking times vary. Please check your permit details to see when your selected parking lot opens. Your parking permit is valid during and up through the end of the event, after which time lot owner retain the right to re-sell your parking spot.

Is my parking space guaranteed?
Yes. Once purchased, your parking space will be waiting for your arrival. In case a parking lot becomes unusable due to inclement weather, Click and Park reserves the right to re-direct you to another parking lot.

From

http://www.clickandpark.com/faq.shtml

[pb(CSROH10)]

Posted by: JSQ | December 07, 2009 at 08:38 PM

I'll never forget that monsoon game either. Ed Reed and Mike Rumph smack into each other and let the PSU wide receiver catch that bomb to beat us.

But we got sweet revenge by pummeling them the next time we met.

BTW,the OSU game next season will be the way this team announces to the nation that it's in trouble.