FSU Football: What Exactly Is Miami’s ‘Brand’ Nowadays?
By Kelvin Hunt
FSU football survived “The Lost Decade” by hiring a coach that was able to turn the program around in short fashion. Miami fans think Mark Richt is the guy for them.
They also thought the same thing about Al Golden and Randy Shannon. I saw a Miami fan going back and forth on Twitter vehemently with a FSU fan (go figure) about how Mark Richt was going to “bring the U back”.
Mark Richt was about as good a hire as they could have made considering what Miami is nowadays(we’ll get into that in a few). However, thinking hiring Richt is all they need to “bring the U back” is shortsighted.
As bad as the “lost decade” was for FSU football, it still never got as bad as what Miami football is dealing with on and off the field.
That’s the case while using the worst part of the “lost decade” for comparison sake.
The wins and loss records from each program from 2006-2015 is below:
- FSU
- 98 wins and 36 losses
- Winning percentage: 73 percent
- Bowl Record (7-3)
- One National Title
- Four ACC Atlantic Titles
- Three ACC Titles
- Miami
- 71 wins and 56 losses
- Winning percentage: 56%
- Bowl Record (1-6)
- No titles whatsoever
The reason I’m using the last decade is because this is what current recruits have been exposed to in their formative years. They were barely born the last time Miami won a National title.
They don’t really know what “Five Rangs Yo” means. They have never seen Miami play for an ACC title (neither have you or I). They have never seen Miami play in big bowl games.
The only thing these recruits know is Miami has been very mediocre for a long time and their facilities can’t compare with programs like FSU football or other powerhouse programs.
Their fundraising is light years behind FSU football too.
They know that fans don’t show up to home games (that are not really home games in a stadium a long way from that campus).
They know two coaches were supposed to “bring the U” back in the past decade and failed.
They know that Miami recruiting hasn’t been very good either. It’s still early, but recruits pay attention to rankings. Miami’s 2017 recruiting class is composed of 64 percent three star recruits.
FSU football has 80 percent of its 2017 recruiting class as four-star or better.
All of these factors matter, and you can bet your bottom dollar these factors are being used against Mark Richt.
The same Mark Richt that has gone 27-11 and had just one 10 win season in his last three seasons at Georgia.
Miami didn’t get a ton of recruiting momentum from Richt’s hiring either, so it looks like that ship has sailed too.
must read: Big Gap Between FSU/Miami On and Off The Field
So with all these factors going against Miami, what exactly is the brand they’re selling to recruits nowadays?
I guess it’s still the same old same old “help us bring the U back” huh?