Tonight at the University of Miami "The Golden Years" officially started.
But before The Golden Era could be ushered in, Miami Hurricane fans had to suffer through some tough times that we will now forevermore refer to as The Dark Ages.
Since 2004 the University of Miami football team has been anything but golden. In a span of six years the once proud and mighty Hurricanes had been rendered irrelevant on the national stage. As you might imagine there was plenty of blame to go around depending on who you ask.
However, most Miami fans and those in the media covering the team would probably agree that Miami's decline has resulted from some combination of poor decisions, poor recruiting, poor coaching and poor performance on the field.
The decision to hire player favorite Larry Coker did produce short-term benefits and resulted in Miami's fifth and last National Championship in 2001. In fact, Coker and the Hurricanes were one bad pass interference call away from producing back-to-back titles in 2002.
Then a sudden loss of NFL talent on the UM roster that was accumulated by previous coach Butch Davis and the accompanied failed recruiting efforts by Coker took hold and the decline had clearly begun. In spite of winning one national championship and nearly another, Coker was sent packing once the losses started to pile up with no end or solution in sight.
In 2007 Randy Shannon was hired to right the ship and return Miami to it glory years. Who, if not Randy Shannon, could restore Miami to it's rightful place among the college elite? Shannon was without a doubt a "true Hurricane" who figuratively if not literally bled orange and green.
Many fans were convinced the resurrection of the football program would happen under Shannon's watch and that results would be immediate. The 12%ers were out in force and ready to proclaim loud and proud: "We are back!"
Well, unfortunately not so fast my friend! Shannon went old school, took the names off of the players' jerseys, banned Twitter accounts, lost too many games and gradually lost the team. Four years later it was again clear that the Hurricanes had regressed and Shannon was unceremoniously shown the door.
The seemingly talented players Shannon had recruited proudly wore "The U" on their helmets but often played as though they would rather be wearing shorts and flip flops on South Beach. Reports of the players tearing it up in practice ("They were flying around out there.") did not seem to translate to real games on Saturdays when it counted.
Most of the UM players looked like Tarzan, but many of them played like Jane. Some of them even quit on their coach, and The U and their fans. By the time the Hurricanes had lost five games this season including two awful games at Virginia and at home to USF, the writing was on the wall and the end was inevitable for head Coach Randy Shannon.
The day after the USF game he and many Miami fans awoke from their Hurricane Dream that had now morphed into a sad, if not tragic, nightmare. Change was necessary and change is what happened.
But now it is time to start a new, fresh chapter in the Hurricane history books.
As was officially announced today by UM AD Kirby Hocutt at a press conference held in Coral Gables Al Golden will take over the head coaching job at the University of Miami.
As Golden took the podium and began to speak to the large audience gathered for the event, he was obviously nervous. You don't make the jump from TU (Temple) to "The U" without some butterflies in your stomach. But as he continued to talk and field questions from the media, he relaxed and showed why Hocutt had selected him for the job.
Golden spoke from the heart and he nailed it. The audience just loved him.
By all accounts and according to Hocutt, Golden is a young, energetic, hard working, dynamic communicator and motivator who will inspire Miami back to national relevance. Golden developed most of this positive reputation by quickly restoring the lowly Temple program, literally bringing the Owls back from the brink of extinction in just four years.
Now he is tasked with restoring the once proud tradition of the Miami Hurricanes football program. The familiar work of recruiting, coaching and leading awaits him. At the same time he will have to learn to endure fan and media scrutiny on a level that he has never experienced and that may be unparalleled in all of college football.
And, while he may not have been everyone's favorite candidate for the position, Golden deserves a fair chance and our support. I can only speak for myself in saying that he has mine.
And I can only imagine that all Miami Hurricane fans now hope that "The Golden Years" have begun in more ways than one.