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Deck The Halls

For Dan Morgan, sharing the news that he’d finally been selected for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame was emotional and special. There’s no doubt Morgan’s pending induction into the College Football Hall of Fame puts him in some very exclusive company.

According to the Hall, only 0.02 percent of college football players and coaches can claim the same honor. Of the 78 FBS players on this year’s ballot, Morgan was one of 11 first-team All-Americans to make the cut.

And despite Miami’s storied football history, Morgan will become just the ninth former player to join the Hall along with Bennie Blades, Don Bosseler, Ted Hendricks, Russell Maryland, Ed Reed, Vinny Testaverde, Gino Torretta and Arnold Tucker.

Former Hurricanes coaches Dennis Erickson, Andy Gustafson, Jack Harding and Jimmy Johnson are also enshrined and for Morgan – who is now the director of player personnel for the Buffalo Bills – having his name linked to those Miami greats is the stuff of dreams.

“I wanted to play at Miami ever since I was a little kid. To be able to go there and play linebacker there – there’s so many great linebackers that have come through there,” Morgan said. “I just wanted to live up to their expectations and be the best that I could be. It all worked out well and I’m just proud I could represent them in the Hall of Fame.”

Morgan – who was recruited out of Broward County’s Taravella High School as a fullback – more than lived up to those expectations once he switched to playing linebacker at Miami.

His 532 career tackles make him the Hurricanes’ all-time leader in that category. He led the team in tackles three of his four years on campus and in 2000, Morgan became the first player in history to sweep college football’s three major defensive awards in a single season when he won the Bednarik, Butkus and Nagurski Awards.

That same season, he was a unanimous First Team All-American and the BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year. He was a four-year starter at Miami and a three-time captain, becoming the first sophomore in Hurricanes history to earn that distinction.

After his stellar college career, Morgan was drafted 11^th by the Carolina Panthers in the 2001 NFL Draft and it was there that he earned All-Rookie team honors and was a 2004 Pro Bowl selection. He made a Super-Bowl record 18 tackles in the Panthers’ 32-29 loss to the Patriots – though coaches in Carolina tabulated that number even higher.

For more on Morgan click here: https://miamihurricanes.com/news/2021/01/11/morgan-celebrates-hall-of-fame-moment/

Just For Kicks

In 2019, Jose Borregales – who grew up cheering for the Hurricanes and hoping to one day suit up for them – was at FIU, where he broke school records and kicked field goals of 29, 50 and 53 yards in the Panthers’ stunning win over Miami.

Not long after that game, though, Borregales sought a bigger stage on which to showcase his skills. He entered his name into the NCAA’s transfer portal and eventually, found his way to his dream school in Coral Gables.

He wasn’t sure how his new teammates would receive him, not after that fateful night at Marlins Park. So he put his head down, threw himself into every offseason training session and worked to show the Hurricanes he was more than just a special teams player who kept to himself.

“Coming in, you know, obviously, you’ve got to win the locker room. I tried doing that by doing everything with the team and during workouts, doing everything they would do,” Borregales said. “I didn’t want to be the typical specialist who just goes to practice, does his kicks and is there by himself. I tried to get involved with the wide receivers, the linebackers, the linemen, all of those guys. I’d crack jokes with them in the locker room or on the field and sometimes, I think that that was one of the things they liked. Once I started making kicks, they loved it even better. … Ultimately, we became a family.”

His efforts paid off.

Borregales’ work ethic – and his booming leg – won over those new teammates, a fact that was on full display at Louisville during Miami’s second game of the season.

“Jose’s a great player. Every time we cross the 50-[yard line], I know we’re in field goal range,” Hurricanes quarterback D’Eriq King said that night. “That’s a big deal for us as an offense, just knowing on third down I don’t have to force it. I know we have a great kicker, so let’s keep the ball moving, try to cross the 50-yard line, try to get in field goal range and I’m confident he’ll make the kick.”

King’s early-season assessment of Borregales proved correct.

The kicker went on to finish the season as Miami’s leading scorer. He was 20 of 22 on field goals and was a perfect 37 of 37 on point-after attempts.

At season’s end, Borregales was named a first-team All-ACC selection and a first-team All-American by the American Football Coaches Association, the Associated Press, the Football Writers Association of America, the Sporting News and the Walter Camp Football Foundation.

His distinction as a first-team All-American means his name will now hang from the rafters at the Carol Soffer Indoor Practice Facility along with those of his fellow Hurricanes All-Americans.

Thursday, he became the first Hurricane to win the Lou Groza Award and the first Hurricane to win one of college football’s major awards since 2003. Combined with his career at FIU, Borregales is second in the nation among active kickers with 70 career field goals.

Read more here: https://miamihurricanes.com/news/2021/01/08/borregales-leaves-a-legacy-at-the-u/

What We Learned In 2020

What we always knew is that cliches are for losers. Some people use terms like:

"At the end of the day."

"Look at their whole body of work." 

""Take them one game at a time."

"Offense sells tickets, defense wins championships."

Yeah, yeah, yeah...yadda, yadda and whatever.

Beyond that, what we learned during the 2020 college football season is this:

• Manny Diaz and his Miami Hurricanes are not quite ready for prime time football. Transfer QB D'Eriq King saved Manny and his bacon (read: questionable coaching staff) from yet another emabarrasing season all by himself. King alone was good for at least three wins and elevated Miami's record from an almost certain 5-5 to a smooth 8-3. Manny was heard saying" "King me."
• Clemson was a good football team that beat Miami, lost to Notre Dame without their star QB, won the ACC over the Irish but eventually got their a** handed to them by a very motivated and determined Ohio State team. Teaching us that NO team is unbeatable and some can be beaten even when very good and well coached.
• Notre Dame tried to fake it before they could make it but did not succeed. We hate the Golden Domers so good riddance.
• Cincinnati surprised many yet fooled few in their seemingly amamzing, if not historic, run up to the top of the polls. They gave Joe-Ga everything they could handle in their bowl game before the Dawgs eventually wore them down and won by a single point (not couting a meaningless last second safety). Their coach is an awesome guy and significantly better than the guy UM.
• Which brings us to Iowa State and Coastal Carolina. They have really, really good coaches who you have never heard of who do more with less as compared to the crew in Coral Gables. Imagine what they might do with the talent in the 305? The Iowa State motto this season was: "We do not have a 5 star talent, but we have a 5 star culture." Yeah, I got excited too.
• Roll Tide! Alabama has a head coach, forgot his name, who alledgedly is really good at this whole "coaching thing". He loses his top coaches and coordinators almost every year or two but still keeps on winning, recruiting, and winning some more. We would like a genetic clone to come to Miami anytime soon if possible. In God we trust
• COVID-19 is highly contagious. COVID-19 is dangerous and can be deadly. Basically COVID-19 sucks. But if football players can play football in their highly competitive, close contact and contagious environment, then healthy, normal people can go to restaurants, stores, school and work like no big deal. This is a no brainer or as we used to say back in the day: "No shit Sherlock!"
• The Miami Hurricanes do not play well after bye weeks, during bowl games or anytime they have time to plan, prepare and think about what they should actually do during the game. This is a very concerning trend that only SolarCane can explain but alas, he is in limbo in a self imposed time out. We need him back to help us understand this concept.
• The concern going into the 2020 college football season for UM was squarely on their offense. Could King play? Could Lashlee coordinate? Could the OL hold up? Could anyone get open or catch the ball if they did? The answers are YES, maybe, and so-so. The run game was horrible as was the play calling at times, but they made it work.
• The concern at the end of the season was squarely on the defense. Is Baker up to the task? What does Rumph actually do if he can't recruit? Can anybody cover anybody or set the edge? No, we have no clue, no, and no are the answers. The defense got run through like swiss cheese (pun intended) early, often and at times in an embarassing fashion like in the loss to North Carolina a score of 62-26. Ouch!
• Miami's completely "un-special" Special Teams coach, who will not be mentioned by name to protect his identity, completely lucked out by having possibly the two best plyers on the team on his side. Punter Hedley and kicker Borregales were always consistently brilliant even when their coach was not. Answer me this: How many kicks or punts did Miami block in 2020? How many kickoff or punt returns for touchdowns did the Hurricanes have? I will wait, go ahead. 

At the end of the day, and after evaluating their whole body of work, (please forgive me) what we really learned in 2020 is that your Miami Hurricanes have a long way to go to compete with UNC, Notre Dame and Clemson for an ACC title and an even longer journey to compete for a National Championship.

But we are in this for the long haul. I have been going to games since the 1970's, winning championships since the 1980's and suffering since 2004. I guess I will stick around until Manny Diaz wins it all, or until his successor is named.

Either way, we seem to keep learning things every year as we go. 

Sure, 2020 was more complicated than most, but still the same.

Let's go Canes!