It’s hard to believe it has been 10 years since the Miami Hurricanes joined the ACC and there have been no league titles. So when coach Al Golden shuffled his staff, the sense of urgency to bring the Hurricanes back to the glory years of the program was underscored.
The Hurricanes had to shuffle out of last year’s championship game in Charlotte based on the impending NCAA investigation into the program’s dealings with booster Nevin Shapiro. Inexplicably and unfortunately, the NCAA botched the investigation and now it is dragging its heels on rendering a verdict.
Golden is caught in the middle of this situation as he was not at Miami when these allegations took place and neither were most of his players. This is a potentially crippling discrepancy for the NCAA as commissioners of the mega-conferences are rightfully calling for reform across the board. It’s amazing how the lame-duck organization could immediately render a verdict on the Penn State/Jerry Sandusky situation of which was a legal issue, not an NCAA issue; yet, they continue to leave Miami in limbo.
“Our slogan, ‘I stand with the U’ encompasses all of those families and young men at a time when they needed us,” said Golden of the situation. “I am proud of our coaches and kids that looked that in the eye and didn’t flinch. We haven’t had one kid walk into our office and say, ‘I want out because I don’t know how tenuous the future is with the NCAA.’”
During the ACC Kickoff in Greensboro, ACC Commissioner John Swofford totally backed Miami for what the school did in self-imposed penalties. The tone of his conversation suggested his disgust with the NCAA’s negligent handling of a case that does not affect the coach or players on the roster.
“I think they have stepped up to the plate and given themselves a strong dose of medicine,” Swofford said of the Hurricanes’ self-imposed penalties. “I don’t know of a school that has taken themselves out of bowls for two straight years, including a possible BCS game. Nothing shocks me, but I’d be surprised and disappointed by any additional penalties.”
Such behavior by the NCAA is why there are rumors permeating across the college sports landscape that five power conferences of 16 teams each will form and back away from the rigid organization in favor of a model that has its own set of common rules that are student, coach, and team friendly.
Proof of the irrelevance towards the lives of players, coaches, and teams from the NCAA stems from the fact that on Friday Miami will enter a six to eight-week window for whatever infractions will be assessed. The lack of fairness in this situation is shown by the idea that if this doesn’t come down for two months, the Hurricanes are in the middle of the season which, given the opportunities to render this in the off-season, makes it even more of a travesty of the way the NCAA has handled the situation.
“I would echo the commissioner’s sentiments,” said Golden, “It would be tough because it’s been a very sensational story from the start with ebbs and flows and off-shoot stories. A story like that does not go away in a 24-hour cycle. I would be very disappointed if we have to start in training camp and talk about for 5-7 days, something that could be handled earlier.”
Golden noted that without the needless umbrella of the NCAA looming for the last six-to-eight weeks, running the football program has taken on a sense of normalcy. He says it has been refreshing to not have to deal with questions on the NCAA’s latest debacle on a daily basis.
“We are sitting here today despite of what we have gone through the last two years and that is a testament to the University of Miami,” stated Golden. “When we took over Temple, we were 120 out of 120 Division-1 football teams, and that wasn’t as hard as what we have been through these last two years.”