Like old times

Miami back in title game after long decade

Larry Coker has helped rebuild a Hurricanes program that was racked by scandal and NCAA sanctions in the early 1990s. AP

By Stewart Mandel, CNNSI.com

PASADENA, Calif. -- So here we are, about to celebrate another New Year's in the U-S-of-A.

With the country at war, a Bush in the White House and the University of Miami playing for the national championship, it could be 1991 and you'd hardly know the difference. It's as if things have never changed.

Except for the fact the Hurricanes haven't played for a national championship nearly the entire decade since. And no one’s wearing flannel.

Hard as it may have been to imagine during an earlier time when, seven times in a 10-year span, the 'Canes entered their bowl game one win from a national title, they haven't been in that situation since 1992. Last year was close, with No. 2 Miami beating Florida in the Sugar Bowl and hoping for an Oklahoma loss to Florida State that never happened.

This time, destiny is firmly in the hands of a team whose members include eight fifth-year seniors whose 5-6 record as freshmen represents the lowest of lows for a formerly preeminent, probation-ravaged program. Those eight holdovers don’t want to waste the opportunity.

"These young guys might think they're going to be here every year," said offensive lineman Joaquin Gonzalez. "They don’t realize how some years, you work real hard for this, but no matter how hard you work, you might have a loss here or there. To actually be 11-0 is a dream come true, especially for the fifth-year seniors who have been through some tough times."

That there would be a drop-off, particularly in recruiting, was to be expected following the scholarship reductions that resulted from Miami’s Pell Grant scandal of the early '90s. But upon taking over for Dennis Erickson in 1995, head coach Butch Davis repeatedly issues his "no excuses" mantra to players, fans and media. That the 'Canes would one day return to their rightful place among the national elite was viewed not as a goal but an entitlement. And national championship-caliber talent continued to flock to Coral Gables even in the darkest days.

Fifth-year receiver Daryl Jones, a Dallas native, chose Miami over schools like Texas, Michigan and Notre Dame despite knowing the team would still be under probation when he arrived.

"I felt like that coaching staff had us headed in the direction where they could get us back to be a big-time program," said Jones. "Even when I came on my visit, they had guys like Damione Lewis and Edgerrin James. You could tell there was something about those guys that said Miami was going to be back on top. That first season, going 5-6, that was the worst season I ever had, it was tough. But I could tell the coaches weren’t giving up, they were working even harder to bring in the next group of players."

Plus, says current head coach Larry Coker, who served as Davis' offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach throughout, things were never as bad as they seemed.

"People were talking out there about how, 'We're bad, we're down, we're down, we're never going to be back,'" said Coker. "Two of those years we were co-conference champions at 8-3. … Probation is really foreign to our guys now."

So, too, are Miami’s "bad boy" days of Jimmy Johnson and Michael Irvin, Luther Campbell and army commandoes. It's probably fitting, then, that its opponent as it tries to make the transition to a new dynasty is Nebraska.

Once upon a time, Miami and Nebraska playing in January was as intrinsic with college football as fight songs and the Heisman. The Huskers were Miami's opponent in the Orange Bowl when the 'Canes won their first of four national titles in 1983. Same thing for their last one in '91. And it was Miami who Nebraska beat in the game in '94 to earn their first of three championships during a four-year span that just happened to coincide with Miami's plummet to rock bottom.

Now, the two meet again, and not only is the Rose Bowl venue a change from the past, but both schools are seeking a win to put the past firmly behind them.

For Nebraska, a title would allow head coach Frank Solich to finally step out of predecessor Tom Osborne’s shadow for good. Coker, meanwhile, has a mandate to deliver.

For it was he who Gonzalez, Najeh Davenport, Ed Reed and the other veterans hand-picked as the man they wanted to steer the ship following Davis' sudden departure to the Cleveland Browns last winter. With defensive coordinator Greg Schiano already gone to Rutgers but the offense coming off its most prolific season in school history, it seemed only logical that Coker's ascension would make the most seamless transition.

And allow those five-year guys to finish what they started together.

"The pressure really was on the players," said Coker. "This is why Ed Reed came back to this program, why Bryant McKinnie came back. I’ve never been around any group in 30 years that took it for granted they were going to be here.

"Some of our guys remember being 5-6. That’s a good memory to have, because it’s painful. And if it isn’t painful, it should be."

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