Back to the Future
By Carter Toole
HurricaneSports.com
As the sun set on a gorgeous late December night in Orlando, Miami head coach Mark Richt gathered his Hurricanes for one last chat inside the home team locker room.
Just outside those walls, a legion of vociferous orange and green fans had filed into Camping World Stadium. There was an electric feel inside the building, a sense that tonight Miami would defeat West Virginia in the Russell Athletic Bowl and remind the college football world that The U was well on its way back to crashing the sport’s elite.
Richt knew the stakes and he knew he had a massive, collective ball of energy wound up and ready to explode the moment he pointed it towards the field. But he also knew that emotion alone wasn’t going to defeat the 16th-ranked team in the nation. Football is the ultimate team game because it requires 11 men on the field on every snap to do their particular job – and do it well. It’s that attention to detail that Richt had preached all season long. And it was that attention to detail that would ignite the best performance of this 2016 season.
“Think about all the effort that’s been put into this season,” Richt said. “Now let’s think about how we want to finish.
“It takes every man to do his job. Every little detail matters…the detail of every assignment, the detail of ball security, the detail of where you put your hat when you’re blocking or tackling. And the detail of discipline. You all got me?”
“Yes, sir!”
His words were brief, yet direct; compact but powerful.
It’s in those moments, measured not so much in seconds but in impact, where Miami’s hiring of Richt resonates.
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The previous December, Richt was sitting across from Miami athletic director Blake James and other UM officials inside a board room at a hotel outside Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Richt had recently been relieved of his duties as head coach at the University of Georgia, where he had won 74 percent of his games over 15 seasons. Miami needed a head coach. Perhaps more importantly, they needed a leader, somebody who understood the history of the program and how to make some history of their own.
Richt graduated from the University of Miami in 1982. It was the place where he first learned to deal with adversity, as a backup quarterback to a future Pro Football Hall of Famer. It was the place where he first learned that coaching might be his professional calling. Actually, it was more than a place – it was home. And Richt wanted to come home.
What stood out to James during that interview, beyond Richt’s impressive credentials, was his preparation.
“We wanted a proven leader,” James said. “And Mark came across as thoughtful, thorough and prepared from the outset. He already had a clear vision for where he could take this program.”
Those qualities would come in handy on a night that didn’t start out exactly as the Hurricanes had planned.
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West Virginia received the opening kickoff in Orlando and three plays later, Miami’s defense let the Mountaineers know they would be in for a tussle unlike any they had experienced all season.
On 3rd and 5 from his own 30, West Virginia quarterback Skyler Howard scrambled to his right with first down yardage in sight, but defensive lineman Chad Thomas stripped the ball and fellow lineman Kendrick Norton pounced on it at the Mountaineers 40.
But the offense couldn’t take advantage. In fact, for most of the first half, the offense couldn’t get out of its own way.
Six drives. Six three-and-outs. Nothing was working. Balls were sailing. Blocks were missed. The Hurricanes were stumbling and their fans, so loud at the start of the game, were getting restless.
But despite all of the adversity on the offensive side of the ball, Miami trailed just 7-0. The defense trotted back on the field time after time. And time after time, they delivered, keeping Miami in the game when it could have easily gotten away. Meanwhile, the offense, while understandably frustrated, kept plugging away.
And nobody panicked. Richt has always urged patience from his players in the face of adversity. There will be times when things aren’t going well. There will be times where you will get frustrated. There will be times where doubt starts to creep in.
That’s when you have to dig in. That’s when you have to look into the eyes of your teammates and say, “We’re good. We’ve got this.” Remember your assignment. Remember the details.
Why? Because if you trust your instincts, if you trust what you’ve been coached to do since spring ball, all it takes is one play to change everything.
“We had six drives with nothing,” Richt said. “They did a great job of stoning us and then, thankfully, we made a couple of plays throwing the ball and the dam kind of broke a little bit.”
The first 25 minutes and 30 seconds of the game could not have gone worse for the Hurricanes. Yet in a split-second…well, 14 seconds to be exact, they were back in it.
Quarterback Brad Kaaya, who completed just 5 of his first 13 passes for a paltry 29 yards, threw a quick hitch to freshman wide receiver Ahmmon Richards. Richards shed a tackle and then raced 51 yards to the end zone. The score was tied. The stadium was buzzing again.
That throw seemed to relax the junior quarterback. Miami’s defense got the ball right back and on the next drive Kaaya completed a 30-yarder to wide receiver Stacy Coley before executing a beautiful play fake and lofting a three-yard scoring toss to Malcolm Lewis.
Now the Hurricanes had the lead. They wouldn’t relinquish it.
Freshman Joe Jackson sacked Howard for a 13-yard loss on the ensuing drive, forcing a Mountaineers punt with just a few minutes left before halftime. Kaaya proceeded to run the two-minute drill to perfection, moving Miami 70 yards in just 52 seconds and capping it with a 26-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Braxton Berrios. The Hurricanes were now up 21-7.
“You know, the defense could have started pointing fingers and getting mad and all that kind of thing,” Richt said. “We just don’t do that here. It starts with the coaches and the players follow suit.”
On the Mountaineers’ final six drives of the half, they didn’t gain an inch of real estate. In fact, they lost four yards. Meanwhile, UM’s offense gained 180 yards on its final three drives, all ending in touchdowns.
Miami got the ball to open the second stanza and kept pushing the pedal on the accelerator. Kaaya again marched the Hurricanes down the field to the Mountaineers’ 23. He threw a bubble screen to tight end David Njoku, who shed a shoestring tackle, raced down the sidelines and promptly dove into the end zone for a touchdown to make it 28-7.
Over one staggering stretch (overlapping the second and third quarters) Kaaya completed 19 of 21 passes for 253 yards and four scores. What sparked such a sudden turnaround?
“I just said, ‘just let it rip,’” Richt said. “Just throw those BBs that I’m used to seeing in practice. Once he just kind of turned it loose and started drilling the ball with confidence, it was over after that. He did a great job.”
Indeed, it was over after that. West Virginia scored once more to draw a little closer, but the outcome was never in doubt. Defensive coordinator Manny Diaz’s unit continued its relentless approach in the second half. The Hurricanes finished with four sacks and nine tackles for loss. The Mountaineers, who entered the bowl game averaging nearly 507 yards of offense, managed less than half that output – 229 yards. Their lowest previous total had been 383 yards in a win at Texas.
West Virginia wideout Shelton Gibson, he of the 40 catches that averaged 23.2 yards per grab during the regular season, has just three receptions for 24 yards. Justin Crawford, who rushed for 1,168 yards at 7.4 yards per clip, had just 16 yards on six carries.
“Coach Diaz came in and did a great job,” cornerback Corn Elder said. “He was very aggressive. Everybody bought in. I think that was the biggest thing. I think the defense played very well throughout the whole season and definitely tonight.”
The final was 31-14 in favor of the Hurricanes. No more questions about bowl wins. No more questions about finishing.
After the obligatory Gatorade bath and the Russell Athletic Bowl trophy presentation – Miami’s first bowl trophy in 10 years — Richt returned to the locker room and gathered the 2016 team one last time before heading to his press conference.
“Some history has been made as far as what’s happened in the bowls,” Richt told the team. “We know how long it’s been. We are in a position to really make this place great again.”
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Historically, when the Hurricanes have been at their best – their electric, fast and devastating best – a high-octane, rhythmic offense has always been accompanied by a ferocious, swarming defense. That’s what we saw in Orlando.
But while the present is pretty darn impressive, the future was firmly on display and that has to excite Canes fans going forward. Leading rusher Mark Walton is just a sophomore. Richards broke Michael Irvin’s single-season freshman receiving yards mark. Jackson finished the season with 8.5 sacks. Zach McCloud, Michael Pinckney and Shaquille Quarterman formed Miami’s starting linebacker corps. All true freshmen – all from Florida – all making plays in a bowl game in Florida. Just like old times.
“I think it’s going to bless our program in recruiting,” Richt said. “I think it’s going to help us, even our current players, to be looking forward to the future. I hope that people that watch this game that have a say in who’s who or whatever in college football, hopefully they’ve got a good feeling about us and that we’re on the rise and I think our fans are going to get even more energized.”
Richt knows a nine-win season is a step in the right direction. But it’s just a step. He believes in his long-term plan and he is surrounding himself with coaches, players and staff who believe in it, too.
“No matter the circumstance, he’s always the same guy,” ESPN’s Greg McElroy said during the bowl broadcast. “For a young team, that’s exactly what you need. You know what you’re going to get from him every day and he is one of the best when it comes to developing talent.
“They’re poised for big things at The U for years to come.”
Canes fans certainly hope that’s the case. The Hurricanes lose some valuable seniors as well as Kaaya and Njoku, who declared early for the NFL Draft. But Miami returns a strong nucleus on both sides of the ball. The returning players now know exactly what to expect during the off-season program, from conditioning to lifting to nutrition. And Richt and his staff will hit the recruiting trial for one final flourish, looking to add to an already impressive 2017 class before National Signing Day on February 1.
In short, Richt has Miami’s football program right where he wants it – on the rise and on the path back to national prominence. It’s what he envisioned when he came back home.
“Well, I think everybody wants to be great,” Richt said. “I think a lot of guys came to Miami because of the tradition. It is part of the reason why I am back. I am back partially because it is my alma mater, but more than that it is a team and a place that history has proven that you can be great there.
“We are not trying to be somebody from the past, but I think what we are striving for is excellence in everything we do. If we do that in all areas as coaches, players, administrators and everybody, then we will be as prominent as we have been in the past, and that is what we are all excited about — the future.”
The future starts now. Buckle up…it’s going to be a fun ride.
