The "U" Soon to be Useless?

Saying that the "U" (University of Miami's) football program will bounce back just like other big football programs who have experienced a downslide, is not a given and as simple as it seems. I had observed earlier this season after the ugly fight between the "U" and Florida International, there is a different dynamic with the program and it's players at the "U" than at most other major football university communities. They see themselves as a function of the minority community in their city without much of a connection with the traditional university-type setting.

I have read in Time and other publications how Miami is a city with many critical issues. More people are leaving the Miami metropolitan area than coming in. And those coming in are low income and poorly educated. It is a poor sports town as far as fans/loyalty goes; the "U" does not have a large alumni base and most citizens/fans are from someplace else. I think it will be tough for Miami to be a consistent, dominant team in college football in the future. It's already happened to FSU for other reasons; the 'Noles haven't lost fewer than 3 games in six years.

During the tough years at Notre Dame under the failed DaviHam regimes, Our Lady's University was still alive and well with buildings being constructed all over campus, plenty of money coming in from donors and a very healthy university. The Irish just needed better management from the top and down in their football program. They now have that and are focused to the real key: talent. Did you happen to see that Charlie Weis grabbed a coveted kid (4-star RB with 4.35 speed) in Miami's backyard this month from Hialeah-Miami Lakes HS?

Not only are the Irish picking off star players from the talent-rich state, but so is Rutgers and their hard-working coach and the new program at South Florida is also moving in on Florida players. Did Miami make a mistake like BC by moving to the ACC as far as recruiting goes? Did Miami being in the BigEast allow them to recruit the northeast as well as picking up Florida guys in their location in the southeast? Remember in Miami's initial strong years with Howard Schnellenberger moving upward in the 80's, they were an Independent able to schedule teams as they wished. We are just starting to see them stuck in playing almost all their games in one region. That region has many, many teams looking for players in the same area. At least with a team such as Michigan or Ohio State where those teams dominate their talent-rich states. (I'll leave USC out of it because they get every stud player from California it seems.)

Miami is a city and program in dire straits with money being the big problem. If they can't dig themselves out of their hole, this program will be an also-ran for years to come.