All of the Internets that Al Gore invented were ablaze on Friday night with rumors, lies and speculation about whether or not Miami head coach Al Golden will or had become the next head coach at his alma mater Penn State.
The high traffic crashed web sites, Twitter was over-run with tweets and blogs were full of comments about who was going where, when and why they were going there and many Hurricane fans just asked questions about what specifically was going to happen in Coral Gables and Happy Valley.
The crazed need for attention or to be the first to know, no make that guess or predict if Golden was leaving Miami and head to Penn State, drove many Hurricane fans over the edge. Some were hurt, some angry, some confused and some were even relieved or happy about all the rumors, lies and speculation surrounding the situation.
From the way I read the comments on Canespace yesterday and well into late last night, and from my sense of fans' sentiments over the last six to eight weeks, the Hurricane Family is somewhat divided over Golden's staying or leaving. With my finger on the pulse of the fans to me it breaks down like this:
- 50% do not want to see Golden leave under any circumstances.
- 25% are ambivalent about the fact that he could be gone by Monday.
- 25% want him gone and want him gone yesterday.
Personally, I fall into the 50% category of fans above that do not want to see Golden go to Penn State. I want to see him get a chance to finish what he has started at Miami, close out another strong recruiting class in 2014 and show us that he can and will win big by his fifth year as head coach at UM in 2015. I think Al Golden is a good man and a good coach who with time can prove to Miami fans that he is the right man for the job. At the same time I do believe that he does deserve some criticism and needs to fix a few things regarding the team's performance on the field to accomplish that goal.
The 25% of fans who are ambivalent about Golden's decision, in other words they don't really have strong feelings either way if he stays or goes, basically feel that although some progress has been made since Golden took over at Miami are not really yet convinced that he can get the job done and win a BCS title at UM in five years. These fans believe that Golden deserves more time to prove to them that he is the man to get it done with his process, players and scheme. However, they would not be crushed or heartbroken if he did leave and UM was able to bring in another high calibre coach to replace him and maybe even accelerate "The Process" further and quicker.
The 25% of fans who actually want Golden gone are simply done with the team's poor performance, especially on defense and especially in key games against good teams. Clearly, these fans had already gone over to "The Dark Side" well before the PSU rumors started swirling yesterday. They had already decided that "The Process" was flawed and that the core values were off target. These Hurricane fans stated that they wanted major change either among the assistants on the coaching staff or at the top due to the lack of significant progress over the three years that Golden has been head coach at The U.
From my point of view whatever happens, happens. I am not going to try to get caught up in the rumor, lies and speculation or try to predict what will happen. I am certainly NOT going to get my knickers all in a wad over Golden's decision to stay in Coral Gables or leave for Happy Valley.
The University of Miami won five National Championships (easily could have been 8) in football under four different head coaches over three decades. The U is much, much bigger than any head football coach, much less one who has never won a conference title or a National Championship like Al Golden.
I hope Golden does stay and does both. And if not, who got next?
I guess you were, along with all those who did not get caught up in this weekend's non-news frenzy.
But I tend to think the pro-Golden group in the 50-25-25 distribution might have gotten smaller.
Posted by: VfB_Cane | January 05, 2014 at 06:44 PM
So now, who was right?
Posted by: SOUP | January 05, 2014 at 06:22 PM
Posted by: SOUP | January 05, 2014 at 06:34 PM
Posted by: SOUP | January 05, 2014 at 06:43 PM
U? We're right?
Posted by: CalgaryCane | January 05, 2014 at 06:46 PM
Were ^^^ damn spellcheck!
Posted by: CalgaryCane | January 05, 2014 at 06:47 PM
I've been secretly hoping JJ had Al out on the boat teaching him the 4-3.
Well its as good as some of the other stuff floating around out there.
Posted by: KYcane | January 05, 2014 at 06:50 PM
NEW BLOG IS UP!
Posted by: SOUP | January 05, 2014 at 06:51 PM
Yes, everyone should listen to you and your "399,999" friends instead of the four All Americans I just posted that can't wait to play for him.
So let me ask you this. Since according to you Golden is so bad, why are the brothers of TWO current players, both of which are All World and can go to ANY school in America, still picking UM?
Posted by: Go Canes | January 05, 2014 at 06:52 PM
My dreams have become nightmares. :-(
Posted by: CoCane | January 05, 2014 at 06:12 PM
Something like that
Posted by: CGNC | January 05, 2014 at 07:59 PM
LAST
Posted by: SOUP | January 05, 2014 at 09:43 PM