48 Hours

Forty eight hours is all you have to save what is left of the now disgraced and dishonored University of Miami football program.

The Board of Directors MUST fire Athletic Director Blake James and Head Coach Manny Diaz. All within 48 hours. We are not playing this time.

If this is not done you will have lost all of the faith, hope and love ever built into your UM fan base. And by ever I mean all five National Championships and the 58 straight wins at home in the Orange Bowl. I mean everything.

Trust me when I tell you that this is true and a fact beyond any doubt.

It is not open for negotiation. It is not open for debate.

Diaz lost to FIU and Duke to close out the 2019 season. Any coach (Butch Davis and David Cutcliff) with any experience whatsoever even with lesser talent dominated Miami this season. Can it really get any worse that that?

This nightmare must end and end now. It is officially over.

Blake James has been a failure since day one. He is lost and clueless.

Manny Diaz should never have been hired and yet James paid $3 million to get him "back" from Temple. You have to believe that right now Temple is breathing a $3 million sigh of relief. And they should. Diaz is clearly not qualified.

So let us be clear: 48 hours is all you have.

Please make each one count.

Because we are counting on you.

Comments

[Canesteeler]

I can no longer be emotionally attached to UM football. Just as we feel good and excited about the program the reality of the past decade comes back and takes our joy! The product is an embarrassment 🤬🤬🤬

[Gene Kissane]

Perfectly, you would fire them both but they won't. Best we can hope for is firing the athletic director within your 48 hour deadline. They're gonna give Diaz one more year but the problem is you have a president who would mot know a football from a coconut and a board of trustees that could be largely ill informed about football as well.

[BigWindyCane1]

Great article Soup! This sums up the depressing current state of affairs, and the required actions to remedy the situation. Not sure if the BOT has the guts to do this. We are stuck in mediocrity— or worse— for the foreseeable future

[Terrance M Sullivan]

Total Agreement!

[KYcane]

I knew we were fkd when I read Duke had lost 5 in a row

[86Cane]

BWC...it doesn't matter if the BOT does it or not. If they do, we stick with it. If they don't announce by Monday at 5 PM, we let it go. We win either way. The ball is in their court.

[86Cane]

Is there really any alternative?

[TonyCane]

The University of Miami spends far more each year on research than on athletics. IF some of those funds have gone into successful temporal research, I suggest we send someone back to 2001 and pay Butch Davis the money necessary for him to stay. #CHANGE THE PAST-CHANGE THE FUTURE

[AeroCane]

Tony
Better idea
Let butch leave for the 2 or 3 yrs to see that the grass is not greener on the other side, let Coker have his 2 or 3 yrs and bring back butch!
Since that won’t happen, keep it simple - fire manny and hire a freaking monkey - we’d be better off

[pissed]

Is It Time For Miami To Completely Rebuild Its Football Program

By Gabriel Urrutia@GabyUrrutia22

This is an extremely and undoubtedly emotional conversation. But after the 27-17 loss to Duke I believe that it is time to fully reinvent what this Miami program is, what it intends to be, how they play and what the expectations truly are.

Saturday afternoon was a humiliating performance all around. A serious evaluation of every single person that is involved in Miami Hurricanes football needs to happen and happen right now.

That starts at the very top of the athletic program with Blake James and includes every single person who has a say in the way this team is shaped.

There is just no reasonable explanation that the Miami Hurricanes should lose to the Duke Blue Devils in any sport that’s not men’s basketball. To lose for the second year in a row and to perform tragically simply cannot and should not be excused by any student, alum, staff member, media member, or anybody else that has any sort of affiliation with Miami Hurricanes football.

Or should it?

Miami Hurricanes football is dying. If it hasn’t already, it is creeping dangerously close to the point of no return. This program might be done. Anything and everything must change and I don’t know if there is anybody around at this moment that is capable of doing it. I don’t know if anybody cares to fix it.

And maybe that’s the way it needs to happen. Maybe it’s just time to burn the whole thing down and build it back up.

The conversation of the abundance of talent here needs to stop. There is not a single drop of pride in wearing the Miami uniform. There is an unearned arrogance and ego infecting this program and nobody in the locker room cares to do anything about it, clearly.

After a loss to FIU, we had the chance to speak to many, many players and not a single one was mad about it. Not a single player expressed their disgust with the fact that they lost to a far lesser football program down the road from them.

It was all “on to the next week” or “we can't look backwards.”

The attitude of being pissed off for greatness is such a farfetched idea around this program and I’m not sure if it’s anybody’s fault. I simply don't believe that the standard of what it means to be and play for the Miami Hurricanes is valued or cared about anymore. Upperclassman and leaders don't lose sleep about the fact that they drop these types of games and they haven't for generations.

Nobody is held accountable. Nobody shows emotion. It’s an embarrassment to the logo and to every former player that built up a small private school in Coral Gables into a national power. The reality is that we are just another average program in the landscape of college football.

The past is no more. The players don't care about it. Nobody around the program can get these players to play as if they do so I believe that it’s time to simply re-invent this roster and this program.

Not with guys with any characteristic other than the love of the game of football and that will to win. A handful of top recruits are going to want to be a part of this and IF this 2020 class sticks together, they would be a great help.

But after this season, I expect to see a lot of attrition from this team. If I am Manny Diaz and he is the guy after this is all said and done, I am making a plethora of decisions for the betterment of the program both big and small. If that means weeding out players that have contributed to this infectious mentality, so be it. If it means losing a star player or two or three, so be it. If that means losing friends because they aren't doing their jobs and they need to be let go, then SO BE IT.

The mentality of this program needs to be fully reinvented and it starts with the young men you're bringing in and recruiting. Egoless ball players that hate to lose more than they love to win. Players with an edge. Players that are insatiable on a football field and do not accept or tolerate anything other than the best effort from themselves and the person next to them.

It starts with both the offense and defense and their inefficiencies and it ends with a roster full of players that couldn't care less about winning or losing.

Things need to change and they need to change now.

[YooperCane]

Miami football has been on life support for sometime and now has flatlined. The defibrillator was brought in for the 2019 season and could not revive the Miami football program. The doctor called the death of Miami football today after the Duke game. Funeral announcements to follow soon.

[HerbiIbis]

How do u make a bad team better, play Miami.
No matter if it's first time starting QB, he definitely will play lights out against The Yew, it was the "U".
I don't want to hear the "I take responsibility speech, or about the culture or we had the best week of practice we've had all year, none of those BS excuses.
Yeah, u have a bunch of greenhorns on the OH Line, u have a first year starting QB and a new offensive staff but this time of the year all the links should of been ironed out but the last 2 games looked like the first 3 and a few inbetween. No progress, just regression.
Congratulations u have officially been anointed as an official member of the all average conference, where anybody, that's not named Clemson, can beat u any given week. This is the weakest power 5 conference and maybe close to the bottom of all D-1 conferences in football.
Somebody has to go on that staff and if his name ain't Anus, then sir need to resign right now!

[BigWindyCane1]

With CMD at the helm, a 6-6 season is the ceiling.

The Canes are who we are — an average College football team, at best.

We can’t look down on Duke and FIU anymore. They are better than we are.

IMHO, with CMD at the helm, the Canes will not make a bowl game next season. I think this is the worst group of coaches in the ACC

[DallasTX Cane]

“There is an unearned arrogance and ego infecting this program”

This has been true for a long time. It’s also the common denominator for the fall of all once-great programs. There’s a me-first attitude that dominates. U see it manifest in all sorts of little things that combine to hold back the program.

[Haarry Miller]

After 72 years of loving the U I am done with them until "like Clent Eastwood say" fire Blake James,fire BOD, fire Manny the fake head coach,fire Enos, fire Barry, fire field,fire Hickson, fire Patke, Fire Rumph, fire All the rest of them, fire them all.

That is all

[Mia Chi ‘Cane ‘98]

Alumni and die hard fan. Besides for a handful of players there is not one thing I like about this team (players, coaches, etc.) I have had a hard time rooting for them most of the year. On the other hand I have been making some money betting against Miami! Vegas has no clue when it comes to Miami.

[VfB_Cane]

Same thoughts everywhere which you first read here on this blog.

Barry Jackson:
https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/barry-jackson/article237926004.html

[nemo2002]

Didn't UM pay Tenple FOUR million dollars?

P.S. Did anyone notice that FIU lost yesterday to Marshall?

P.P.S. If we go to a low rent bowl game ("to get a jump start on the 2020 season"), no doubt we'll have a season ending trifecta of losses (again).

[Basura]

I told an FSU friend of mine that if they lost to Miami, they would win because they would fire Taggart. I said if we beat FSU we would lose because we are stuck with Diaz. The loser of FSU-Miami wins the long game. FSU got embarrassed by their rival, they acted. We got embarrassed x2 to two nothing programs. We will extend everyone!!!!

F$&@ U

[AeroCane]

Could we possibly working behind the scenes to get Urban?

[VfB_Cane]

Could we possibly working behind the scenes to get Urban?

Posted by: AeroCane | December 01, 2019 at 07:36 AM

No way. The administration is so worried about the school's reputation that they won't consider someone with a shady record only because he's a winner.

I think everyone except the fans and some boosters is pretty happy if the football team behaves and wins a few games every now and then and the coach plays Mr. Nice Guy.

And don't think anyone outside the athletic department lost a single minute of sleep because of what happened on the footvball field this season.

[86Cane]

The Canes are who we are — an average College football team, at best.

We can’t look down on Duke and FIU anymore. They are better than we are.

Posted by: BigWindyCane1 | November 30, 2019 at 11:44 PM

How can you say that we are an "average" football team and then say Duke and FIU are better than us (which they are). FIU and Duke are BELOW average teams and they are better than we are. So what does that make us? Way BELOW average.

[86Cane]

Want to read something funny?

Remember when Jimmy Johnson said that he felt better about the Miami football program that he had "in a long time" when Manny Diaz was hired? Even our legacy coaches have lost it, forget the current crew. Sure maybe Johnson was just being politically correct but still that is just embarassing.

[Don]

Amen to that!

[IraqiCane]

This sucks... Great writing Soup.

[CGNC]

Love the blog article! Well done!

[CGNC]

Posted by: 86Cane | December 01, 2019 at 09:02 AM

Well Diaz is articulate and well spoken and I think JJ thought/hoped that would translate into some better coaching hires and play on the field. Ask him again an he might have a different opinion.

Going to be a lot less people in the stadium next year

[MDCane]

Can someone look me in the eye and tell me we didn't get the death penalty from the NCAA, and we're been kept in the dark? No way a highly rated school can make such dumb incompetent decisions for 15 years.

[86Cane]

I do not recall if I have ever asked for a coach and AD to be fired but in this case it is completely justified. I will say this in Diaz's defense: This head coaching thingy is MUCH harder than it looks.

[86Cane]

MDCane...actually it would have been easier if we did get the Death Penalty from the NCAA because then we woud have a villian to blame and hate on. Now all we have to blame is ourselves and the incompetence of our athletic department leadership, our coaches and our players.

You just knew that the dead rot had set in several years ago when after a tough loss to another nobody team one of our most respected OL said: "Well you know the other team has players on scholarship too."

Can't remember who it was who said that?

[86Cane]

CGNC...Golden was articulate AND he even wrote his ideas down on paper with his 12 Pillars and his Deserve Victory platform or whatever it was. He met with JJ also if you recall. How did that turn out?

[MDCane]

So are we saying JJ is the X-factor in this demoralizing story?

[TonyCane]

It is 86.

The 6-6 record we sustained this year went right according to the nightmare scenario that I predicted in August if our OL was as bad as was reported, down to the loss to FIU.

I think Manny believed better prep, passion, and an old school Canes scheme could overcome any deficiencies, when the reality is that Miami became relevant by reinventing offense in the 1980s. He needs to do this again.

The week after Early Signing Day May be quite active if he decides to make a move. He may not be as loyal as other HCs.

[mi@]

We brought the city of Miami together. We made every citizen a Cane brother. I would not be surprised if riots in the streets returned because the team s#_€€ donkey dcs.

I hope the former players who gave the U it's respect go into the Hecht center and take the trophies. They should not be identified with this bunch of losers

[Basura]

Remember when I was asking for the mercy of the Death Penalty from the NCAA. This shat on the field is cruel and unusual. Do the right thing and please end the U, NCAA. Please turn Miami football into a club sport.

[BigWindyCane1]

I will say this in Diaz's defense: This head coaching thingy is MUCH harder than it looks.

Posted by: 86Cane | December 01, 2019 at 09:54 AM

💯! We know this. The question is, does CMD know this yet?

[HerbiIbis]

Congratulations, to the Canes, they surely secured our placed ranked in ESPN's bottom 10!
If we played in The SEC, we would probably have Arkansas type numbers. The bigger the competition the harder we play. The lower the comp. The worse we play.

[BigWindyCane1]

On a positive note in an otherwise very disappointing season, Rousseau leads the ACC in sacks and TFLs, and he is tied for #2 in the nation in sacks.

Rousseau should be first team all ACC and All ACC freshmen. He should also be freshman all American, if red shirt freshmen qualify. He also might be ACC freshman of the year

[raizecane]

We suck.....

[Terrance M Sullivan]

The Blog Is Cash Money. So I will just say Amen to the Comments of Soup, CGNC, Big Windy, and countless others. I expect our Season Tickets to drop down another 15% in 2020. Heck Honestly it should be more. Right now I will most likely go to 3 Games Max 2 Home Games and the Road Game at GT in Atlanta. I used to go to 8-9 Games annually.

[Basura]

Sully, games should be for friends and family only. If you must go to a game, be sure to wear a paper bag over your head

[raizecane]

I love all of you but I am going to say the following in my best Stephen A Smith voice......

I will go on blast to anyone who tries to tell me this team will be better in 2020. I wil not listen to anybody who tells me they see a light at the end of the tunnel during the following events - bowl game, signing day, winter conditioning, spring practice, summer sessions, naming starting QB, changing of coaches or roles......

The ONLY way I could possibly change my mind about how shitty this team is will be game 8 of the 2020 season. That's right, game 8.

So I say this with love - if olks start saying how much we have improved before a single game is played in 202, you will get a blast from me.

I'm tired dawg.....real tired............can you imagine if i posted yesterday? :-)

[raizecane]

damn....im so frustrated, I can't even spell check correctly.... (sorry for typos above)....

[VfB_Cane]

The ONLY way I could possibly change my mind about how shitty this team is will be game 8 of the 2020 season. That's right, game 8.

Posted by: raizecane | December 01, 2019 at 10:57 AM

No need to wait that long.
The 202 Canes start the season against Temple, Wagner and UAB. That's ample opprtunities for at least one more 2019-style embarrassment against a lower echelon program before the team travels to Spartan Stadium for the habitual spanking at the hands of a Big 10 team on Sept 26.

[86Cane]

travels to Spartan Stadium for the habitual spanking at the hands of a Big 10 team on Sept 26.

Posted by: VfB_Cane | December 01, 2019 at 11:16 AM

That sounds kinda kinky. I'm actually looking forward to it. LOL

[VfB_Cane]

2021 could be even more fun - Alabama, Appalachian State and Michigan State to open the season.
Manny's successor -- the admins will keep him for the 2020 season -- might start 0-3 to kill all momentum that usually comes with a regime change.

[86Cane]

Raize...I guarantee you that someone, or more then one, will give you a chance to go BLAST on them and I bet I can already name who that is.

[TonyCane]

Presuming nothing of substance changes, and our offensive line is still in the same state as now, here's your 2020 results:

09/05/20 (L) Temple Owls 21-28
09/12/20 (W) Wagner Seahawks 35-3
09/17/20 (W) UAB Blazers 31-10
09/26/20 (L) Michigan State Spartans 13-27
10/03/20 (W) Georgia Tech Yellowjackets 19-17
10/10/20 (W) Duke Blue Devils 20-10
10/24/20 (L) Florida State Seminoles 13-28
10/31/20 (L) North Carolina Tarheels 10-35
11/06/20 (L) Pittsburgh Panthers 7-31
11/13/20 (L) Virginia Cavaliers 3-9
11/20/20 (L) Virginia Tech Hokies 0-41
11/27/20 (L) Wake Forest Demon Deacons 14-31

After the UAB game, our high water mark offensively will be a 19 point game surge against Georgia Tech.

[HerbieIbis]

Tony,
U are to kind. I got us losing to Wagner, remember we at down to the Comp. and we'll beat FSU because they are slightly worse than we are.
Michigan State will be as stagnet as we are. They will be starting a new QB and are as inept as we are on offense. That aight to be a slugfest 14-10. Pray for it to never rain again when we play Duke.

[Go Canes!!]

This entire program needs a series of massive enemas, until it’s 100% certain there isn’t a single remaining particle left of anyone currently affiliated with it remaining on campus.

If there isn’t a massive overhaul, for the first time in over 2 years I won’t be renewing my season tickets.

That is all.