Miami Hurricanes Hire Al Golden To Resurrect the Days of Old: Is He a Good Fit?
The Hurricanes faithful should be happy now. They have landed a coach who was a certain upgrade and can bring back the days of old.
Not.
Al Golden?
Are you kidding me?
This is one of the most bizarre hires by a so-called premier institution in recent memory. For a university that boasts a proud tradition of winning and excitement, in my opinion, the Hurricanes football program has taken two steps back.
What happened to Jon Gruden, Bo Pelini and Mike Leach?
What happened to getting that coach who can bring back the fire?
Al Golden?
Golden posted a losing record at Temple University. He has a 26-32 record as he takes over for Shannon.
This hire makes no sense to me. I wrote a commentary when Shannon was fired where I suggested race played a factor in his firing. I still firmly stand behind by that claim.
Now that Golden has been hired, how can race not be a factor?
Let’s examine.
Typically, when an organization makes a change, they attempt to upgrade from what they released.
Shannon sported a 26-22 record. Ultimately, his performance was not deemed acceptable, thus he was shown the door.
Weeks later, the university went to the MAC Conference and hired a coach with a 26-32 losing record to replace a coach who had a winning record.
How can a coach few have heard of with a losing record be considered an upgrade over a home-grown coach with a winning record?
How can Golden be an upgrade over a coach who played at the university, cleaned the program up and made it respectable?
If the university formerly known as “The U” landed Gruden, the hire would have been easier to digest: Then it could be suggested the administration is serious about restoring their winning ways by winning now.
But, no, you go out and hire Al Golden.
There is no way on God’s green earth loyal fans of Miami can suggest they are happy with this hire. There is no level of logic I can embrace that justifies hiring a coach with the same number of victories as but more losses than the guy the university fired.
These recent circumstances surrounding the hiring of Golden and the firing of Shannon are quite bizarre.
It seems the administration wanted Shannon gone for a multitude of reasons. One of them, I feel, was race.
Perhaps the university doesn’t mind having a team filled with African-Americans so long as the head coach can be white.
Complexion helps to sell tickets and foster relationships at the upper rungs of collegiate athletics. According to The Institute of Diversity and Ethics in Sports and the NCAA, 100 percent of conference commissioners, 93 percent of university presidents and 90 percent of athletic directors are white.
The latter make up the brain trust. As facts indicate, it is largely a lily-white world. Therefore, it can be asserted that perhaps Shannon could not make a strong enough and enduring connection because of his complexion.
Meanwhile, Golden was a perfect fit. He looks and speaks the part like those in the majority in collegiate sports, right?
Therefore, Golden was not only the right man for the job—he was the white man for the job.
As I have stated before and I will state again: In my opinion, I believe race played a factor in why Shannon was fired.
No, not the only factor, but race played a role.
Fans of Miami will say Shannon didn’t coach to the level of his recruits. The administration will say Shannon should have won more games and the boosters perhaps did not like him.
That’s fine. What are those same boosters and fans saying about a coach with a losing record?
If it is about winning games, why hire a coach with a losing record?
Miami fans are stuck in the past. The days of old are not coming back under Golden. Just like the Notre Dame team you will be playing in the Sun Bowl, the glory days are a distant memory.
In closing, the Golden hire is an utter disgrace. It disrespects the job Shannon did in cleaning up the program by doing it the right way.
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Comments
Normally I let these post go but this is such an absurd article that I had to respond. First, let me say that I have a lot of respect for Randy Shannon and the work he did at Miami and I supported his hire 4 years. He turned the program around in every way except for wins and losses. His firing was not that shocking to me. I don't care what color you are, in your 4th season you don't go 7 and 5, get crushed by FSU, loose to South Florida the last game of the season and keep you Job as head coach at the U. You should know that. Don't play the race card at the U, I see over 30 UM Alum playing on Sundays, most of them are black. Why don't you ask Ray Lewis, Warren Sapp, Frank Gore, Andre Johnson, etc if they think race played a factor in the firing of the Randy Shannon. They know 7 -5 doesn't cut it at the U. I would have left this alone but you playing the race card on one of the Universities that was instrumental in the start of recruiting Black Athletes from the inner city. Howard Schnellenberger started and Jimmy Johnson continued the practice. Look at how that revolutionized the landscape of college and professional football. Personnel has changed at the U, but the mindset hasn't. If you can play or coach you will be successful at the U. If you can't you better go somewhere else. Dexter, get you head out of your ass. Take you race card and play it somewhere else.