.@CanesFootball season is here, year five is underway for @Coach_Cristobal and the respected @JoshPateCFB called #TheU as best in show for the 2026 season—a deep-dive into how things got here and where they're headed in 2026. It's a 'U' thing... #MiamiHurricanes #CollegeFootball itsauthing.com/miami-hurrica…

Perfectly put by @Romancane — amazing what happens when we have high IQ football fans who operate from a place of logic and common sense; not feelings and emotions.

#Miami's showdown at #WakeForest was the epitome of why a portion of this @CanesFootball fan base doesn't deserve nice things. I get that rage-bait and knee-jerk overreactions are part of fandom in this social media-driven world—and will lay into that in the recap tomorrow—but as far as a Saturday morning reaction, some quick sentiments: A big reason the #Canes made such a deep post-season run in 2025; the team stayed healthy and wasn't bitten by the injury-bug—which is a direct contrast to the first three games of 2026. To lose both #OJFrederique and #XavierLucas for what could be the better part of this season—too many of you are not grasping just how massive this is to a team (and especially a defense) in rebuild-mode. It was challenging enough to lose #RuebenBain, #AhkeemMesidor, #DavidBlay, #KeionteScott, #JakobeThomas and #WesleyBissainthe on this defense—and a big key to looking the part early was a secondary that boasted two of the best in the sport and a pair of future first rounders. That is how #TheU has successfully "reloaded" over the years; each side of the ball having some level of experience and consistency to help bring the new guys along. Back in 2002 when Miami sent it's entire 2001 secondary to the NFL (three first rounders, one third rounder)—the new-look secondary benefitted from championship caliber guys and veterans returning on the defensive line and at linebacker. Which helped guys like #SeanTaylor, #AntrelRolle, #MauriceSikes and #KellyJennings hit the ground running in game two of that season at No. 6 Florida—because #JonVIlma, #DJWilliams, #JeromeMcDougle, #MattWalters, #WilliamJoseph and others returned (which also helped a #VinceWilfork ease in on that line, as well.) To take a Lucas and Frederique out of this current line-up; Miami is damn-near running last year's second string defense across the board, outside a #AhmadMoten or #MoToure—and while that wasn't a game-changer at Stanford or against Florida A&M, it was a thing at Wake Forest going up against a solid head coach in #JakeDickert. It also seems ridiculous to not acknowledge the impact of a #MartyBrown suffering what looked like a season-ending injury before halftime—as anyone sitting in Sun Devil Stadium when #WillisMcGahee was taken out of the 2003 Fiesta can attest; losing a beloved star to what ESPN described last night to "a gruesome knee injury" they wouldn't replay—it can take the air out of the entire room. Fast-forward to a second half that saw Moten playing hurt, #MarkFletcher going down injured, #MalachiToney getting banged up (and sitting out several plays per possession)—the Canes now down to #GeraldPringle and #JavianMallory (as #JordanLyle still isn't back)—Miami was a shell of itself personnel-wise that second half against Wake. The cynic calls these 'excuses' instead of 'explanations' while trotting out trite and cliché sentiments about how "this team need to get better down the stretch or it's gonna have problems!" or mocking comparison's to last year's team (when many of the currently-disgruntled were the one's hyping this roster and whining about a No. 7 pre-season ranking in the first place.) It's wild how it feels nothing has been learned from last year; most-notably how this team, the coaches and the program as a whole was written off after losing at SMU on November 1st—before going on a seven-game win-streak and reaching the national title game, by way of a slew of upsets. Miami started fast out the gate last year, it a mid-season lull, bottomed-out and then got its shit together, found its mojo and won four in a row to reach the College Football Playoffs—that was the tale of the tape for 2025. Now it's 2026 and a third of the way through this new season and the storyline is injures impacting depth—keeping Miami from reloading this fall and putting them in rebuild-mode for the time being. The minutes so many of these back-ups are currently playing while injured starters work to heal-up and take their jobs back; this isn't the way anybody designed the first few weeks of this season. Perception is reality and sadly, a few missed tackles an inability to wrap-up #GioLopez—it allowed #JackFoley to get behind some green defensive backs, while #CarlosHernandez had his shifty move on display—but does anyone think for a minute those two combine for 16 receptions, 187 yards and two touchdowns if Lucas and Frederique are in lockdown-mode? Does anyone really believe the Canes offense hits a late wall if Fletcher and Toney are fully healthy and getting after it in the fourth? That's a 45-17 ballgame under normal circumstances and without a few superstars from last year's title run not being sidelined or knocked out of the contest—losses that a rebuilding Miami team could ill-afford week three of this new season, another one of those quirky Friday night ACC road games. And to that point, anyone paying attention to history over the past two decades—this game is absolutely a loss at any point since joining the ACC in 2004; those collapses and buzzsaw games were Miami blew a game at a Virginia, a North Carolina, a Virginia Tech, a Duke, a Georgia Tech—we've seen this horror movie before; it's literally been the Canes' narrative since the wheels fell off. Does this team have work to do? Absolutely—but we knew that before this season even started and everybody was still healthy? We knew that this new-look d-line had it's hands full replacing Bain and Mesidor, while the o-line would be completely revamped and a mix of some super-talent new freshman and some veterans who'd been grinding and waiting their time in the sun. The goal was always to find a way to win and simply not blow an opportunity early in the season; hanging tough and then hitting that stride in November—much like last year—rolling into the postseason healthy and in position to make some noise. For as great as 2025 ended have we already forgotten where it started and were the first two-thirds went? Almost blowing that 21- 7 lead to Notre Dame; letting the Irish tie it up before a late field goal and final defensive stand resulted in a 24-21 upset? Almost blowing a 28-3 lead at Florida State and getting outscored 19-0 down the stretch, while the defense was hands on hips and sucking wind—the Seminoles and onside kick away from the offense taking field for a potential game-winning drive in that unexpected, 28-22 thriller? Fast in a 14-0 hole at Louisville, getting away from the ground attack, trying to get it all back one big throw at a time and outscoring the Cardinals, 21-10 down the stretch—behind four #CarsonBeck interceptions and some stout defense—before falling, 24-21? That godawful first half against Stanford that was tied 7-7 at the half before the Canes just out-talented the Cardinal in the second half for a 42-7 win? Pissing away a winnable game at SMU as Miami was out of its element and couldn't get out of its own way, fallen 26-20 in overtime? Syracuse was an ugly 0-0 ballgame late in the second quarter before a few Orange turnovers and a throwback pass from Toney to Beck to wake this team up—followed by that late fourth quarter pitch to #FrancisMauigoa as the offensive lineman rumbled in for a touchdown in a 38-3 game were the Canes finally seemed like they were finding their groove again. Miami dog-walked North Carolina State, put Virginia Tech out to pasture and smashed Pittsburgh to roll into Selection Sunday with momentum—but go back to expectations at so many big points of the 2025 and ask yourself if you though those Hurricanes were going to beat the likes of Texas A&M, Ohio State and Ole Miss in the postseason, while taking top-ranked Indiana to the wire. There is a lot of football let to be played and just like last year, a lot of growth that needs to take place—and this coaching staff is well-aware that what they put on the field last night is not championship-caliber football—so back to Greentree they go this week, to get better, correct mistakes and to prep for Central Michigan. In short, get a grip—it's mid-September in Winston-Salem, not early November in South Bend. You saw what this program and coaching staff did last year—they earned the benefit of the doubt week three with a MASH unit on the sidelines and back-ups hanging on to preserve a double-digit win. 1-0 every week; onto the next ... and yes, the 53-yard field goal attempt in a 13-point game with 4:23 left from the Wake 36-yard line was a braindead call—Miami in no man's land, unable to really punt while asking a new kicker to make his career-long. This is a no-brainer run with Fletcher last year and the o-line blowing an opposing defense of the ball—and with a Fletcher, a Brown or a healthy Toney at this point last night—Miami goes for it ... but in the moment it felt like an analytics-driven move instead of going with the feel of the game. The worst-case scenario was a block and that's precisely what happened—but credit Miami for buckling in, even after that Damon Wilson offsides on a 4th-and-7—in what had been a clean night thus far; Ethan O'Connor putting it away our plays later with a goal-line pick to all but seal it. Back to work, Miami...

So what is the next excuse now that the whole "Miami doesn't develop players—the Canes just buy them in the portal!" bullshit narrative has been dispelled? We get it; @CanesFootball being a force again—it's breaking your brains. You spent two decades with your patronizing, "College football is so much better when Miami is in the thick of things!!" commentary—usually around November after a late season collapse. But now that the Canes are a force of nature again, you are all a ball of anger, jealousy, confusion and bitterness. Especially our Florida State brethren. I mean go back to the morning of December 3rd, 2023 if you're a Seminoles fan. You're 13-0 and just hung in there against Louisville to win the ACC in a defensive-struggle of a game and you're expecting to be the last team invited to the CFP four-team finale. Meanwhile, your arch-rival Miami just wrapped year two with @Coach_Cristobal—the Canes dropping three of four in November to wrap the regular season 7-5; Cristobal now 12-12 in two seasons—while FSU's win-streak over UM hit three games. I mean imagine you're a FSU fan that slipped into a coma that night and woke up January 16th, 2025 to see that the Noles went 7-18 from the end of 2023 through 2025—while the Canes were on a 23-6 run, a seven-game win streak, just mopped up three top teams in the CFP and were playing in the national championship game that night as an underdog 10-seed. People online keep saying the "hate" is back—newsflash; it never left—there's just no reason to let it destroy your entire college football fan existence when said hated team was irrelevant and dropping a half dozen games every fall. The fact that Miami is making noise again and that every talking-head features the polarizing Canes in their vlogs and podcasts on the regular—it's just rubbing their noses in it at this point and they're losing their shit. Canes Derangement Syndrome is real, haters—seek help and buckle in as it's gonna be a minute—a new-look, old-school powerhouse is on the horizon.

How did this commercial get green-lit by @ModeloUSA and their creative? Did nobody in the room understand the concept of college football, rivalries and the game-watching experience? The last thing I am doing when #Miami plays a #Florida or a #FloridaState is calling up a friend who is a fan of either rival, to head to a bar to watch the game with them one-on-one. We all know that one of us will be miserable at game's end, while the other is celebrating—and as much as I love my long-time pals who root for the #Gators or #Noles—get in my fucking face when the #Canes are down and there team is up ... that friendship is going to be tested. No, real fans know when rivals collide, we take a break from each other that day—retreating to our respective corners to enjoy the game with like-minded fans, so we can root for the team we love. The premise here that a long time #Michigan fan and his diehard #OhioState buddy go to the same bar every November, for decades on end—the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend, no less—to watch their team play a hated rival that the other guy is rooting for ... an absolutely brain-dead concept that someone who doesn't understand the hate in college football rivalries could come u with. youtu.be/reO2hgHOr98?si=rdpU…

… pregame mix bumping and @CrownRoyal already flowing for @CanesFootball. @JTMoneyMIATL with the old school—had this shit on repeat senior year in 1992—dropped months after that 1991 national title was in the books. 🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽

Is it cool that @JoshPateCFB picked @CanesFootball to win it all in 2026? Sure. I mean it's better than a kick in the head and two decades of #TheU being nowhere near this conversation. All that to say, I'll never get how anyone puts a ton of weight into any commentators' opinions—good, bad or indifferent. A glowing review is somehow gospel and that guy "gets it", while someone with a different take—it becomes "bulletin board material" and is some major slight? Yes, someone like Pate picking Miami over some other talking head—he's one of the more-educated guys in the space, he does his homework, he lives and dies by all things college football—and it's a testament to him that he would revisit predictions as the season gets closer ... and I believe wholeheartedly he put more into this CFP prediction than the next two dozen commentators in the sport combined. But it's still just that; a prediction and a guess—and it lends even more credence to @Coach_Cristobal and this "1-0 every week" mentality; back to work, settle it on Greentree, keep grinding. We're days from Stanford week and a road trip to Palo Alto. Nobody has any time to think about January 25th, 2027 and 152 days from now. Beat the Cardinal ... and look like you have your shit together when doing so; surgeon-like precision and all-business every week this season.

Yeah, that era of North Carolina football beating Miami down in Chapel Hill is the worst. 2015 after Fat Albert was fired and Larry Scott took over for that 59-21 ass kicking with that jive-ass Marquise Williams at quarterback? Beat the breaks off of that program later this year.

It's time to start talking @CanesFootball again after a purposeful writing break since the national championship showdown—that six-week run from the College Football Playoffs announcement show to the title game was exhausting and nerve-wracking. Not one to care about preseason rankings—#Miami coming it at No. 7 in the preseason AP poll—it really does feel like the masses refuse to give the #Canes their due, as their ultimate nightmare it coming true. For years they all talked about how much better college football is when #TheU is "back"—and they always seem to say this en route to a 7-5 season, as soon as UM falls out of the conference title race. Now that @Coach_Cristobal has this thing on the rise—the gaslighting efforts to call 2025 an aberration is wild. They love to mock that loss at SMU; hate to tell the haters, but that November 1st loss in Dallas—it's what flipped the switch—recalibrating this program the same way huge wins and losses have in the past for this program. Long read incoming, but this one is overdue as the new season is less than two weeks out. It's a "U" thing... itsauthing.com/miami-hurrica…

I know college football season is close when the social media algorithms keep pushing the 2001 Miami Hurricanes and 2019 LSU Tigers best-team-of-all-time argument. The level-headed ones who know ball and who were around to watch that insanely dominant Canes team; they fast-say Miami—even rival fans from Florida State, Notre Dame and Florida will admit that as much as they loathe ‘The U’—they tip the cap to that loaded squad. The ones who hype LSU; it’s usually a one-dimensional recency bias argument as they hype Joe Burrow, those receivers and an offense that could put up points—completely ignoring that defense wins championships and are way to ill-informed regarding the talent level on both sides of the ball for Miami almost two decades prior. The 2001 Miami Hurricanes were the greatest college football team ever assembled. End of story. Thirty-eight overall draft picks and seventeen first-rounders. A four-headed monster at running back with Clinton Portis, Willis McGahee and Frank Gore—all first rounders—while Najeh Davenport moved to fullback due to the all the logjam, Andre Johnson at wide receiver, Jeremy Shockey as starting tight end and the immovable Bryant McKinnie at left tackle—while the secondary had three first rounders in Ed Reed, Philip Buchanon and Mike Rumph. Sean Taylor and Kellen Winslow II were on special teams and Vince Wilfork was a back-up defensive lineman. That wasn’t a roster—it was a fucking problem—and more-importantly, the version everybody saw was Miami with the governor still on once Larry Coker took over, after UM didn’t get their shit together, locking down Butch Davis’ contract extension. Davis spent five of the previous six years eating shit for a mess he didn’t create—NCAA sanctions, 31 lost scholarships, Sports Illustrated telling Miami to drop football in June 1995 and an 0-10 run against Florida State and Virginia Tech while he stripped this thing down to the studs and rebuilt the program from scratch; every recruit needed to hit—there was no margin for error. By 2000, the monster was ready (after a stumble at No. 15 Washington the second week of the season, 34-29.) Over the coming weeks Miami beat No. 1 Florida State, beat No. 2 Virginia Tech, finished 11-1 and got screwed out of the national-title game—so they handled SEC champion Florida, 37-20, in the Sugar Bowl—and kicked the Gators fat asses in a bar brawl on Bourbon Street days before the game. The quick trip down Hurricanes’ memory lane—to drive home that had Davis returned after that fall-short 2000 season, it would’ve been a scorched-fucking-earth revenge tour for Miami in 2001. Instead, the keys to the Ferrari were tossed to Country Club Larry—and he drove it like a Buick LeSabre in the slow lane. Coker was from Okemah, Oklahoma and this was his first head coaching gig since Fairfax High back in 1976 in his home state—so when he faced off against Joe Paterno in the season opener, he wasn’t even going to attempt to put things in overdrive. Back in 1999, Davis was one step closer with his Canes—upsetting No. 9 Ohio State in the Kickoff Classic and two weeks later, having No. 2 Penn State on the ropes, after a monster comeback. Miami went from being down 17-3 to up 23-20 late in the fourth quarter—where a fourth-down Canes' run to put the game away got a bad spot. Turnover on downs and a play later, the Nittany Lions hit an 80-yard touchdown-bomb (Kevin Thompson to Chafie Fields) and the Canes lost, 27-23. Fast-forward two years, Coker sees Miami up 30-0 at the half in Happy Valley … taking his foot off the gas and cruising to a 33-7 victory, whereas Davis would’ve put a foot on that throat and snuffed out Penn State in statement-making fashion. In the national title game at season’s end, No. 1 Miami was up 34-0 on No. 2 Nebraska and Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Eric Crouch—the mobile quarterback stealing the trophy from the Rose Bowl co-MVP, quarterback Ken Dorsey. Coker again cruised to a 37-14 victory, when that game was on track to be an even worse mismatch than what USC did to Oklahoma to end the 2004 season in the Orange Bowl, 55-19—the Oklahoma native refusing to rub it in against former Big 8 foe Nebraska. Get the lead, call off the dogs, put in the backups early, run the clock out, don’t embarrass the opponent and on to next week. That soft-ass mentality almost cost Miami in the regular season finale, too—up 26-10 at Virginia Tech with nine minutes left in the game—before the strategy backfired and Miami was up 26-24 needing to bat down a two-point conversion attempt with 6:30 remaining; the Hokies scoring 14 points in two-and-a-half minutes. (Note: Miami forced Virginia Tech into five turnovers and held Grant Noel to 4-of-16 and 81 yards on the day—with four interceptions—and had to escape with a two-point win, due to Coker’s management style.) But there were a few moments, where this Miami roster basically took themselves off of Coker Air autopilot and raw emotion took over. An 18-7 escape at Boston College—where Miami turned it over five times and Dorsey had four picks in the howling wind—the Canes caught the y’all-ain’t-shit chatter and used the next few weeks to make big statements. No. 1 Miami 59, No. 15 Syracuse 0 No. 1 Miami 65, No. 12 Washington 7 These were bonafide ass kickings; the Orangemen in the wrong place at the wrong time, while the Huskies were an old school revenge game—payback for 2000 in Seattle (as well as residuals from 1994 and UW ending the NCAA record 58-game home-win streak.) They were also the second- and fifth-ranked worst beat-downs in college football history between ranked opponents—Miami overcoming soft coaching with a chip on their collective shoulder. Two ranked teams, two weeks and a 124-7 combined score—that’s who the 2001 Canes were when the gloves came off. The defense scored eight touchdowns. Buchanon housed two punts. Winslow blocked a punt for a safety. If the 2001 Miami offense hadn’t scored a single touchdown all season—defense, special teams and the kicking game would’ve still gotten those Hurricanes to an 8-4 record—and maybe even 12-0 with a driven Davis at the helm. 2019 LSU had a historic offense and a great résumé. Cool story, bro. Miami had the better TEAM—offense, defense, special teams, depth, speed, violence and across-the-board talent with authentic swagger. This squad was back to kicking ass on Greentree; to the point where weekly practices were harder than Saturday scrimmages and guys would play hurt to not slip on the depth chart or lose their jobs. The only blemish for that otherwise flawless team; a nice-guy head coach content to not run up the score and with a mindset that a win was a win—coasting weekly instead of crushing. How else can you even attempt to explain a 38-7 win over Troy and 38-7 over Temple, when the world saw weeks later what a pissed-off Miami did to ranked teams like Syracuse and Washington? Give that 2001 roster back to B-Diddy for a seventh season as head coa—angry, disrespected and looking to collect six years of receipts after a massive rebuilding effort—and nobody is having this conversation today. 2019 LSU; nothing more than recency bias by those who didn’t see the Canes ball-the-fuck-out—or who simply hate ‘The U’ and refuse to tip the cap. 2001 Miami. Greatest ever. Period, full fucking stop. #MiamiHurricanes #TheU #CollegeFootball #2001MiamiHurricanes #2002RoseBowl #UFAMILY #ButchDavis #OrangeBowl

Such flawed "logic" from #MikeBianchi here. I'll avoid the cheap shots I want to take about him being a perennial Gators homer all the decades I've read his work at the Orlando Sentinel—but this low-hanging fruit article is based on a flawed premise out the gate, as he tries to pander to Florida fans while knocking Miami and Florida State at the same time. "𝐶𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑔𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑜𝑡𝑏𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑑𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑠 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑠𝑝𝑎𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝑔𝑜𝑙𝑑𝑓𝑖𝑠ℎ. 𝐸𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑎 𝑠𝑢𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑜𝑛, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑖𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑝𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑐 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑦 𝑒𝑙𝑠𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑎𝑐ℎ. 𝑆𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑟𝑢𝑠ℎ 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡 𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠𝑛'𝑡 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑢𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑢𝑛𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦." Florida State got bamboozled by Mike Norvell's agent Jimmy Sexton, who played their athletic director Mike Alford after the 2023 season—scaring them to believe Alabama was coming for Magic Mike to replace Nick Saban—so they bit with the massive extension and banked on a guy they hoped was their answer. News flash, Mike—there isn't ONE PERSON AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI "IMMEDIATELY PANICKING" THAT SOMEBODY IS COMING TO "STEAL" MARIO CRISTOBAL. Did you really miss the non-stop interviews and articles last post-season, when Miami was on their magical post-season run as a ten-seed that came up a drive short of a national championship? Cristobal repeated the mantra over and over. "𝐼 𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑑 𝑀𝑖𝑎𝑚𝑖, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑢𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑤𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ, 𝑤𝑒 𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑑 𝑀𝑖𝑎𝑚𝑖, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡. 𝐵𝑢𝑡, 𝑤𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑎 𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑣𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑢𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑖𝑡 𝑀𝑖𝑎𝑚𝑖, 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒, 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑜𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑛-𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑜𝑡𝑏𝑎𝑙𝑙, 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑀𝑖𝑎𝑚𝑖 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑙𝑒𝑓𝑡 𝑏𝑒ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑑. 𝑀𝑖𝑎𝑚𝑖 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑏𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑙𝑒𝑡'𝑠 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑖𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑠, 𝑚𝑎𝑛. 𝐼 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑𝑛'𝑡 𝑔𝑜 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑀𝑖𝑎𝑚𝑖 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑀𝑖𝑎𝑚𝑖 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛. 𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡'𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑡𝑡𝑜𝑚 𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡'𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑦 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘." Does ANYTHING about that sound like a guy with a foot out the door or an eye on a bigger job? Ever? @Coach_Cristobal is in it for life—this is his dream job. Coaching back home at Miami is winning the lottery, cashing in the ticket, buying another ticket at the same time and hauling in another grand prize. His entire life and coaching existence led to that December 2021 hiring by his alma mater. Coming home to "The U" and resurrecting these Miami Hurricanes back to national prominence, into a perennial contender and reestablishing the culture that existed in Coral Gables when he left everything on Greentree and on the grass at the Orange Bowl for four years as a two-time national champion... he literally believes it is his destiny on this planet—couldn't go to his grave without making Miami into "Miami" again. So yeah, Mike—you reward the shit out of that. You extend that missing piece head coach you've been waiting for since Butch Davis pulled out of town in January 2001, sending this program into a two-decade purgatory. To quote the legendary Teddy-KGB, you "PAY HIM. PAY THAT MAN HIS MONEY." Why would Miami ever "point across the state" and say maybe they "shouldn't make the exact same mistake" when Norvell and Cristobal couldn't be any more different as head coaches, leaders, alpha dogs and CEOs of their programs? Not to mention the resources Miami has and the promises the program's top brass made—as Cristobal wasn't leaving Oregon and endless Phil Knight money to come back home if "The U" wasn't all-in on building a champion? Did we see Norvell spend four years studying every move Saban made at Alabama from 2013 through 2016 as Recruiter of the Year—watching, learning and absorbing everything that the sport's most-legendary head coach did to rack up a pile of national championships during his tenure in Tuscaloosa? Did we see Norvell take over an Oregon program that had slipped under Willie Taggart and Mark Helfrich—an 11-14 combined record the two seasons before Cristobal took over and went 35-12 over the next four seasons; winning two Pac-12 titles, a Rose Bowl and notching and upset of No. 3 Ohio State in Columbus his final season there? No, all Magic Mike did was take over a Memphis program Justin Fuente went 19-6 with his final two seasons with the Tigers—before an 8-13 run his first two seasons at Florida State before catching lightning in a bottle when Jordan Travis overachieved for two seasons and Norvell hit a few good portal cycles. Since then, a 7-18 run as the portal hasn't hit as hard for the Seminoles, the funds aren't there and Norvell is an absolute amateur when it comes to recruiting high school talent and building the future of his program; national rankings for his classes coming 23rd (2021), 20th (2022), 19th (2023), 12th (2024), 20th (2025) and 17th (2026). While Cristobal and staff are jockeying for the top-ranked, 5-Star heavy class in the 2027 recruiting cycle—Norvell and Florida State are currently sitting 31st with zero 5-Star talent. Cristobal is also doing this with one of the strongest, on-brand, hardest-working staffs in college football—right-hand man Alex Mirabal building the offense line, Shannon Dawson a top-flight offensive mind, Corey Hetherman fast-becoming one of the best defensive coordinators in the game—while the other side of the ball has Jason Taylor and Damione Lewis building an NFL pipeline with their defensive line? (Not to mention assistant coaches like Kevin Beard and Will Harris—or peeling running backs coach Favian Upshaw from the NFL and veteran Mike Viti from his long-time position at Army, to revamp a tight ends room that wasn't up to par.) Dead Norvell Walking saw an off-season where Gus Malzahn abruptly retired and they tossed the offensive keys to Tim Harris, promoting from within—while Norvell expects to get more hands-on with play-calling—and now Florida State has desperately brought on retread Tom Herman as some back-up option, should the wheels come off this season and they need a "name" as interim coach. The two situations couldn't be further apart. Bianchi says Miami shouldn't "mortgage their future" with the massive extension for Cristobal—Hurricanes faithful in the know and top brass ask, why not? When you've found "the one" and your perfect-fit you go all-in. Miami believes wholeheartedly in Mario Cristobal and leaders like Joe Echevarria and Rudy Fernandez both bleed orange and green and will give him every resource he needs to keep this thing moving the right direction. I've covered these Hurricanes for over three decades now and started going to games at the Orange Bowl in 1979 when I was five years old—and over that time I watched Miami win five rings with four different head coaches; a common denominator with most of them as greener pastures were always on the horizon. Howard Schnellenberger got his ring in 1983 and left Miami after year five for what he thought was a better opportunity with a new USFL franchise that never came to fruition. Jimmy Johnson got his ring in 1987 and left Miami after year four when his college buddy Jerry Jones bought the Dallas Cowboys and tapped him to run the franchise—and even after two Super Bowl rings in Dallas—Johnson, an Arkansas grad and national champion for the Razorbacks ... he still calls the Canes his team, Miami his home and says his four years at 'The U' were the best of his life and career. Dennis Erickson won in 1989 and 1991, leaving after year six when the Seattle Seahawks called and his path was paved to return to the Pacific Northwest—and while Davis never got his ring, his six years in Coral Gables built a dynastic that produced the best-ever and most-talented team the sport has ever seen; the 2001 national champion Miami Hurricanes. It's also worth mentioning that 25 years ago, the mishandling of a contract is what sent Miami into a downward spiral and abyss—the ass-dragging on Davis' extension during that 2000 season where the Hurricanes exorcized demons, knocking off No. 1 Florida State and No. 2 Virginia Tech—and then taking out No. 7 Florida in the Sugar Bowl, after getting snubbed of a title shot ... it's the reason Cleveland was able to come in to poach Davis in the first place. Larry Coker. Randy Shannon. Al Golden. Miami fans saw Davis' roster and dynasty erode within years under Coker, before that lost decade where Shannon and Golden ran this thing into the dirt. Mark Richt was the right guy at the wrong time—beat up in the SEC for 15 years before Miami called as he was headed for retirement; but enough was done during his three-year run to change the infrastructure and to put the Canes on a better path ... albeit one Manny Diaz ran into the dirt as was the polar opposite to Cristobal in regards to culture and an alpha-dog mentality. I said it in December 2021 when this last coaching change was made; it was Mario Cristobal, or bust for the Miami Hurricanes. "The U" had seen and tried everyone and everything else—and it was painfully aware it would take "one of us" to resurrect this program; a guy who would die on a hill to save the Canes—a guy who was physically sick looking at what this program had become and was tired of hearing all the talking heads (and newspaper hacks) talking mad-shit about how the mighty had fallen. It's the dream of every program to find their Bobby Bowden-type; someone who can give you several decades of top flight success and stability as you chase titles and become a machine—Alabama the last to experience this at a high level after 17 years and six rings. Miami believes Cristobal is their Saban—and then some ... a tireless worker, a world-class recruiter and that unicorn who is also an alum with zero aspirations to go elsewhere; "The U" a destination job that he'll stay at until he retires. So yeah, you pay him and you extend him and you give him every f**king resource he needs to win big—as he turns around and put a big chunk of that raise right back into the program and NIL. Honestly, the backflips and bullshit done to write this piece ... not sure if it's just stupidity or jealousy and bias ... but it's absolutely the wrong take on Miami's investment in Cristobal and I look forward to revisiting this five and ten years from now. #MiamiHurricanes #TheU #ItsACanesThing #MarioCristobal #CollegeFootball #UniversityOfMiami sports.yahoo.com/articles/mi…

31 summers ago we were gearing up for the kickoff of the #ButchDavis era of @CanesFootball at #TheU—working at @allCanesShop for the signing session—with no clue as a 21-year old fan (who didn't see Miami lose a home game at the #OrangeBowl between sixth grade and sophomore year of college) just what was on the horizon. This was around around the time Sports Illustrated rolled out their June 1995 "Why The University of Miami Should Drop Football" cover—as Davis inherited probation, sanctions, 31 lost scholarships and a fan base (used to winning) that fast-blamed all that losing on him. 0-10 against Florida State and Virginia Tech over those next five seasons; also got to sit through 47-0 in Trailerhassee in October 1997 and the true bottoming-out of this program—the boys and I took it out on some FSU co-eds that evening that we pulled out of Potbellies that evening. To go from those depths to what Davis fielded by year six—#Miami going on a 34-game win-streak, a national title (2001), a stolen title (2002) and snubbed of a title shot (2000)—it felt like the #Canes were invincible and a new dynasty was born ... until it wasn't; UM dropping the ball on Davis' contract an tossing the keys to Country Club Larry, who couldn't maintain the expectations and high-level of recruiting. It was two decades of wandering in the desert before the Canes were back on track; the optimum going into last season and the vibes for 2026 after a 13-3 run, a national title game berth and a post-season run with wins over No. 6 Ole Miss (Fiesta Bowl), No. 2 Ohio State (Cotton Bowl) and No. 7 Texas A&M—the optimism going into this fall isn't something I take lightly at 52 years old, after such a brutal couple of decades nobody saw coming. Props to Butch for pulling Miami out of the depths of hell all those years ago ... and to not knowing what we don't know, because six months removed from that 1995 Orange Bowl loss to eventual national champion Nebraska, I had no clue in this photo just how shitty the next five years of Hurricanes fandom were going to be.

Went all in with @BrandedBills for a new @CanesFootball season—best lids in the biz these days. 🙌🏽🇺🇸🙌🏽

I'm not giving @CanesBaseball a pass; this program has been a shell of itself since Jim Morris was extended in 2012 (after getting run out of the Coral Gables Regional by Stony Brook and Missouri State)—two internal hires since and 14 years later, Miami has never been more in need of new blood. All that to say, we have to acknowledge that college baseball as a whole has changed and yesterday's powerhouses are as ripe for upsets more than ever before in history. Our fans made a big to-do that Miami lost to Troy ... only to see the Trojans craws out of the losers bracket to beat Florida—in Gainesville—in back-to-back games, outscoring the Gators, 26-13 in those two games. Florida State also got wiped out of their Tallahassee Regional as St. John's is advancing to the Super Regionals. No. 1 UCLA got knocked out by St. Marys; No. 2 Georgia Tech was sent packing by Oklahoma. Southern Cal took out host Texas A&M; Ole Miss took out host Nebraska. Little Rock won the Hattiesburg Regional; Southern Miss losing a home regional again (Miami advanced last year)—and they're taking on Troy, in what most expected to be a Florida / Southern Miss match-up. Does it suck that Miami baseball is a shell of itself; absolutely—but for all the shit the Canes ate on Saturday night from Gators and Seminoles fans, their seasons ended within 24 hours of Miami's as both got run out of their home regionals by much lesser programs ... a reminder that baseball is a fickle sport where getting hot at the right time is everything, and a slew of underdogs advancing was a much bigger story this weekend the the Canes not being the power they once were.

I mean the easiest way to debunk this bullshit from the click-bait site #TheNILstandard is to just bring up that @CanesFootball is a private university and this type of information isn't available the way it would be a public or state school ... so no. They are also lumping the $4,000,000 payment to Duke to reimburse #DarianMensah's NIL deal in Durham this fall. Most-aggressive, they really believe that Ethan O'Connor is making $719,262 and #MarkFletcher is really only at $685,428—coming off of last year's #CFP run and returning as a senior team leader and heart and soul of this team? GTFOH. I also don't buy #MalachiToney at $1,500,000 and Matthew McCoy is at $1,100,00? There is so much bullshit being thrown at the wall here—and none of it is sticking; a joke of a hit-job to shame #Miami for big spending.

Q: “How long have you been a Miami fan?” A: “The tie I wore to senior graduation after that fourth ring; it had Sebastian with the pipe and bandage.”

Pretty wild how 25 years later the 2001 Miami Hurricanes GOAT argument still rolls on—these guys with their top five teams who might've been able to beat 'The U'. 2019 LSU predictably tops the list; laughable that the Tigers were all offense and no defense that year—so Miami is putting up points, while that defense comes to play. Again, a secondary with three first rounders in Ed Reed, Mike Rumph and Philip Buchanon—while James Lewis balled and went third ... first rounders like Jon Vilma and DJ Williams at linebacker ... recency bias kicks in with the explosiveness of that LSU team, but the adage "defense wins championships" exists for a reason and that 2001 Canes defense wasn't playing. 1995 Nebraska always enters the chat, but again when has a stout Miami defense ever had issues with an option quarterback or that Huskers' one dimensional ground-based offense? Never. Great team, but a pedestrian regular season schedule and then took on Florida and Spurriers' "Fun N Gun" in the Fiesta Bowl, with a barely above average defense ... Frazier gets a spy and Miami's secondary ball-hawks his ass anytime he goes to the air. 2005 Texas with Vince Young on this list over 2004 Southern Cal didn't make sense—and being that Miami stuffed Michael Vick in a locker in 2000, again, full faith in that 2001 defense going up against Young. 2017 Alabama and 2018 Clemson made the list; those were both loaded rosters—and the minute peak-era Nick Saban was on the other sideline, it's a conversation ... but again everyone making this argument against the 2001 Canes always leaves out the x-factor and it takes true Miami fans of that era to remind them of what was. Outside of UM being on a mission in 2001 after feeling snubbed of a title shot in 2000—losing a close early game and then going on to beat No. 1 Florida State and No. 2 Virginia Tech in the regular, as well as No. 7 Florida in the Sugar Bowl—Miami knew they were the best team in the country by year's end, but didn't get to prove it. Butch Davis convinced Ed Reed and Bryant McKinnie to return for their senior seasons, as the key pieces for a title run ... before Miami's top brass dropped the ball on the sixth-year coach's contract and he left for the NFL. Had Davis stayed on in 2001, the entire season would've been a revenge tour and college football would've been put on notice—a disciple of Jimmy Johnson, Davis would've been out to prove a point. Lest not forget, this man took over in 1995 and was blindsided by sanctions he didn't know were coming—the Sports Illustrated article that June with a "why Miami should drop football" cover story ... followed by sanctions, probation and the loss of 31 scholarships over a three-year run—Davis was the fall guy in fans' eyes. The "From Champs To Chumps - Thanks Butch!" banner that flew over in 1997 during a loss to West Virginia—in a season that ended 5-6 and had a 47-0 loss to Florida State mixed in—it was a five-year slog for Davis, before turning a corner in 2000. Country Club Larry stepped in as to not mess with the formula; but Coker was a nice guy who hadn't had a head coaching job since 1978 at Claremore High in Oklahoma—the man was tossed the keys to a Ferrari when all he'd ever drive was a Ford Tempo. Miami opened the 2001 season at Penn State and was up 30-0 at the half, before Coker took the foot off the gas for a 33-7 win, as to not upstage Joe Paterno. 38-7 win over Troy ... 38-0 over Temple ... Coker didn't care about style points or running it up; he wanted to get in and out without any fanfare. Miami rolled into Tallahassee mid-October and was in a 21-13 game at the half—where they should've been rolling Florida State; the iconic intermission speed where Reed went off about being hurt and not "dominating" before players took over and outscored the Noles, 28-14 down the stretch. That too close for comfort win at Boston College— a wind-tunnel at Alumni Stadium where Ken Dorsey threw four interceptions and four red zone trips ended in field goals, before Reed put the game away—the next few weeks were the only time the foot went on the gas and players seemed to take over ... and there were now questions surrounding this team's greatness and a wake-up call in place after getting so close to pissing things away. No. 1 Miami 59, No. 15 Syracuse 0 a week later ... and when No. 11 Washington came south for a revenge game from 2000 ... the top-ranked Canes kicked the ever-loving shit out of them, 65-7. Coker danced with the devil once again; almost blowing a 26-10 early fourth quarter lead and not putting the game away—it coming down to a deflected two-point conversion to escape 26-24—before a Rose Bowl that looked and felt a lot like Happy Valley in the opener; up 34-0 at the half before cruising to a 37-14 win, as Nice Guy Larry from Oklahoma didn't want to embarrass a proud Nebraska program. Long story longer, 2001 Miami's legacy is only ever questioned because Lay-Down Larry took over a team he didn't build, so didn't have the same fire, vengeance or point to prove that Davis would've as the face of this program for half a decade of that probation era. Davis was part of the Johnson era at Miami—as well as two Super Bowl runs in Dallas—and with the Canes finally back going into the 2001 season; it would've been kick-ass-and-take-names time. Going back into Doak Campbell where Miami hadn't won in a decade? Four years after the embarrassment of 47-0 and out to break the Noles' 54-home game unbeaten streak? That game would've been circled on the calendar all summer and sure as shit wouldn't have been 21-13 at the half—it would've been a massacre in Trailerhassee and a point to prove. Same with the opener at Penn State; that 1998 late-game home loss and 80-yard bomb—after that bad fourth-down spot where the Canes looked to have put the upset away—and it's a 27-23 loss to the second-ranked Nittany Lions. Anyone thinks Butch gives two shits about JoePa's feelings and not showing him up in Slappy Valley? 30-0 at the half doesn't end 33-7; it's 54-0. Same for that Rose Bowl against Nebraska; it would've been a fucking clinic and a 58-7 type game like he saw Jimmy drop on Notre Dame in 1985—to hell with the blue bloods or traditional powers. 2001 Miami remains the greatest team in history; the only shame is that it got there with a substitute teacher as head coach, opposed to the mad scientist who rebuilt a squad that put 38 kids in the NFL and produced 17 first rounders. After six years of eating shit, that 2001 squad—snubbed the year prior—was kicking the ass off of anyone who lined up against them on January 2nd, 2002. Period, full fucking stop. #MiamiHurricanes #HurricanesFootball #TheU #CollegeFootball #GreatestTeamEver facebook.com/reel/2042935259…