Behind the Mic with Joe Zagacki
Forty years ago this month I walked into radio station WIOD and started my journey in radio and TV. From my time as an intern 40 years ago to the New Era Pinstripe Bowl, which will be my 25th bowl game and 250th straight broadcast as the Voice of the Hurricanes with Don Bailey Jr., what an adventure it has been.
Bowl games are always interesting to me. Local communities rally together, doing their best to show off their hospitality. Often the opponent is a team you haven’t seen much of – this year the game against Wisconsin is an exception rather than a rule.
The Canes will be in their 42nd bowl game, 20-21 overall. I remember the 60s and 70s and Miami was never in a bowl. Since 1980 Miami has pretty much been a fixture in a bowl game, playing in some of the most compelling, historic and controversial bowl games.
This year Miami plays Wisconsin in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl at iconic Yankee Stadium. It’s a rematch of last year’s Orange Bowl game. A win by Miami would give them three straight wins to propel them into the offseason.
Playing in New York during the holidays at Yankee Stadium is pretty cool. It might not have been the ultimate destination, but you get what you earn.
Congrats to Manny Diaz on becoming head coach at Temple. It’s been a dream he’s been chasing for a long time. He persevered and was rewarded.
Also rewarded were Ephraim Banda and Jonathan Patke, who were named as co-defensive coordinators for the Hurricanes. There is no reason to start worrying about who is calling the defensive plays. Co-coordinators are more common than many think. It has worked out just fine for Clemson on offense. Banda and Patke will work in harmony.
They know the defense inside and out. Both are excellent recruiters and game planners, plus their energy is contagious. Jess Simpson has done excellent work with the Miami defensive line, preaching to his line the impact of getting into the backfield and creating chaos. Simpson is now associate head coach.
Since 2009 the Canes and Badgers are meeting for the third time in a bowl game. The keys are always the same when playing Wisconsin: hold up physically versus the power run game, create big plays on the perimeter and don’t beat yourself.
It was a challenging season in many ways, but Mark Richt kept his team fighting and engaged in competition. Richt has won a lot of football games in his career and I trust he will win many more games at Miami.
In the end it comes down to building a championship roster. That takes time. Building is why Coach Richt was brought here. When he arrived, the roster was not championship caliber. Richt knows what it looks like and he knows how to build it.
When I started 40 years ago, Miami was barely a blip on the radar. They’ve been to the top of the college football mountain, been knocked down and climbed back up.
Let’s enjoy this journey. Finally, as I get ready for broadcast No. 250, thanks for listening over the last 40 years. You have given me a great life.
