Miami Follows Familiar Path with Golden Hire
Dec. 13, 2010
By: Rob Dunning
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The first three sentences of Jimmy Johnson’s first bio as the University of Miami’s head football coach read as follows:
Five years ago Jimmy Johnson took over as head coach of the ailing Oklahoma State football program. He built that team into a Big Eight conference contender and led the Cowboys to two bowl appearances.
Now that challenge is a different one.
A 41-year-old rising star had just been hired to lead the Hurricanes. Sound familiar?
The similarities between Johnson’s hire – and even Dennis Erickson’s to a lesser extent – and that of Al Golden’s are significant.
Johnson and Erickson were both in their early 40’s when Miami’s administration gave them their first big breaks. Both hirings were met with skepticism and concern, as neither had eye-opening credentials.
They had a combined record of 47-41-4 as Division I head coaches prior to coming to Miami, with Johnson going 29-25-3 at Oklahoma State and Erickson going 18-16-1 in stops at Wyoming and Washington State.
Nothing spectacular, but both had turned hapless teams into contenders. Both had proven enough to be handed the keys to one of the most prominent programs in the country and both followed through.
Johnson went 52-9 as Miami’s head coach from 1984 to 1988, winning a national championship in 1987. He went a combined 34-2 in his final three seasons before handing it over to Erickson, who proceeded to go 63-9 in six seasons, winning titles in 1989 and 1991.
Both hires were home runs. The decisions to bring Johnson and Erickson to Coral Gables were initially questioned but ultimately praised.
Now it’s Golden’s turn to make his own mark at Miami after bringing Temple’s program to life quicker than anyone thought possible.
“He has learned, he has grown and he has developed,” University of Miami Director of Athletics Kirby Hocutt said.” He is ready for that next step. He is ready to come to a program that can compete and win national championships.”
Golden’s pedigree and vision mirrors some of the same qualities Johnson and Erickson had at the same point in their careers. Though the landscape is different and times have changed, the most important factors remain – the talent, resources and support are all in place.
When Erickson first arrived at Miami in 1989, he had this to say of the program he was taking control of:
“At the University of Miami, your goal is to compete for the national championship every year,” Erickson said. “That’s what we’re going to continue to do. Keeping that level of consistency will be a primary goal, and hopefully we can accomplish that.”
He followed through on his proclamation. Expect the same from Golden at today’s introductory press conference.
Those aspirations have become a requirement at Miami, thanks to the precedent set by Erickson, Johnson and Howard Schnellenberger before them. From the cheap seats to the president’s office, winning titles is expected.
“The University of Miami has the one of the nation’s most successful winning traditions in all of college football, illustrated by our five national championships since 1983,” Hocutt said at the beginning of the coaching search that started and ended with Golden.
“This tradition has been built and established by those who came before us and they have established the expectations that we continue to embrace today,” Hocutt added. “At the U, we expect to compete for championships and nothing less. “
Sound familiar?
