Greetings,
Like many of you, I have been coping with this period of decline and chaos. For comparison purposes (i.e., to feel better) I checked the last 10 years of U of Miami and Crimson Tide football. As most of you know, the Hurricanes were penalized some years ago and had to weather a similar loss of scholarships. You can see my data below. The numbers in parentheses reflect the number of scholarships lost due to NCAA sanctions, but my data do not take into account a cap in overall scholarships.
A few things stand out for me. The Hurricanes' worst season (1997) came during the third year of scholarship losses. This occurred despite the fact that Butch Davis (a good/excellent coach by any measure) had his system in place for two entire seasons before the 5-6 disaster.
Coach Shula took over a team in the third year of scholarship losses without spring practice. He "adopted" half of his coaching staff. In the 9 months leading up to Coach Shula's debut 2003 season, our team lost 2 coaches and their respective "systems". Our team "learned" the new system a few weeks before the start of the 2003 season. Too, it seems to me Miami was never afflicted with bad coaching. Ethics aside, Erickson and Davis were both good coaches and Coker was well respected when he took over. Coach Dubose may well have been over his head. But I digress.
Butch Davis improved to 8-3 in 1998. Mike Shula is 5-3 thus far in 2004 despite losing every starter in the offensive backfield. Butch Davis coached in the Big East. Mike Shula is coaching in the more competitive SEC. Yes, I want a "signature win". At the same time, I am impressed with how this team has played under the continuous adversity (scholarship losses, lack of depth, plus really bad luck with injuries). In perspective, I think what Coach Shula has done is pretty extraordinary.
But that's just my opinion.
1994 Erickson 10-2
1995 (18) Davis 8-3
1996 (12) Davis 9-3
1997 (14) Davis 5-6
1998 Davis 8-3
1999 Davis 9-4
2000 Davis 11-1
2001 Coker 12-0
2002 Coker 12-1
2003 Coker 11-2
1994 Stallings 12-1
1995 Stallings 9-3
1996 (12) Stallings 10-3
1997 Dubose 4-7
1998 Dubose 7-5
1999 Dubose 10-3
2000 Dubose 3-8
2001 (17) Franchione 7-5
2002 (18) Franchione 10-3
2003 (19) Shula 3-8
2004 Shula 5-3
Like many of you, I have been coping with this period of decline and chaos. For comparison purposes (i.e., to feel better) I checked the last 10 years of U of Miami and Crimson Tide football. As most of you know, the Hurricanes were penalized some years ago and had to weather a similar loss of scholarships. You can see my data below. The numbers in parentheses reflect the number of scholarships lost due to NCAA sanctions, but my data do not take into account a cap in overall scholarships.
A few things stand out for me. The Hurricanes' worst season (1997) came during the third year of scholarship losses. This occurred despite the fact that Butch Davis (a good/excellent coach by any measure) had his system in place for two entire seasons before the 5-6 disaster.
Coach Shula took over a team in the third year of scholarship losses without spring practice. He "adopted" half of his coaching staff. In the 9 months leading up to Coach Shula's debut 2003 season, our team lost 2 coaches and their respective "systems". Our team "learned" the new system a few weeks before the start of the 2003 season. Too, it seems to me Miami was never afflicted with bad coaching. Ethics aside, Erickson and Davis were both good coaches and Coker was well respected when he took over. Coach Dubose may well have been over his head. But I digress.
Butch Davis improved to 8-3 in 1998. Mike Shula is 5-3 thus far in 2004 despite losing every starter in the offensive backfield. Butch Davis coached in the Big East. Mike Shula is coaching in the more competitive SEC. Yes, I want a "signature win". At the same time, I am impressed with how this team has played under the continuous adversity (scholarship losses, lack of depth, plus really bad luck with injuries). In perspective, I think what Coach Shula has done is pretty extraordinary.
But that's just my opinion.
1994 Erickson 10-2
1995 (18) Davis 8-3
1996 (12) Davis 9-3
1997 (14) Davis 5-6
1998 Davis 8-3
1999 Davis 9-4
2000 Davis 11-1
2001 Coker 12-0
2002 Coker 12-1
2003 Coker 11-2
1994 Stallings 12-1
1995 Stallings 9-3
1996 (12) Stallings 10-3
1997 Dubose 4-7
1998 Dubose 7-5
1999 Dubose 10-3
2000 Dubose 3-8
2001 (17) Franchione 7-5
2002 (18) Franchione 10-3
2003 (19) Shula 3-8
2004 Shula 5-3
:wink:
