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Former Temple coach inherits mess in Miami |
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Written by Mike Smith
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Saturday, August 20 2011 |
 MAC Musing ... and More is a periodic column - mostly about things in or related to the MAC,, but sometimes about athletics in general. _______________
I doubt that I really slept during the night, so I can’t really say if I “woke up” on that morning of Feb. 20, 1969. I was afraid to get out of bed; I was afraid to utter even one word aloud, But one sentence kept running through my mind – “What have I done?”
I had arrived at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas after midnight. The basic training “Welcoming Committee” of one – a Tech Sergeant who bore a striking resemblance to Sgt. Rock – had started in on us before we could even get off the bus. It continued through a brief in-processing period and a “midnight chow” that nobody wanted anymore. Turn your head two inches from straight ahead and Sgt. Rock was screaming at you from a strategic position two inches from one of your ears.
I don’t know if anybody really slept after he brought us to the barracks – maybe Sgt. Rock himself, because as it got to be 6:30 a.m. and then 7:30 a.m., the waiting seemed torturous. Rarely a minute when by when I didn’t wonder, “What have I done?”
Over the last few days, I started wondering if former Temple coach Al Golden isn’t asking himself a similar question. While Golden isn’t accused of wrong-doing, as the new head coach of the Miami Hurricanes football team, he finds himself in the eye of what is already a mammoth storm.
It has hit the proverbial fan in Coral Gables. Allegations abound - cash, women, yachts parties and more! The featured singer for this debacle is Nevin Shapiro, a former University of Miami booster who is now in a federal prison for “boosting” the money of investors in a $930 million Ponzi scheme. He’s not only singing like a canary about his “gifts” to players at the “U,” he is also providing pictures, bank/credit card statements, telephone records and sundry other evidence upon which investigators thrive.
In recent years, UM managed to somewhat distance itself from the Thug U. reputation it had previously acquired. A notable exception was the Miami-Florida International brawl, which didn’t do either school any favors. Other than that, the Hurricanes didn’t stir up many national headlines. With Shapiro’s recent allegations and the fallout from them, UM is now back on the front page.
Although the NCAA has been investigating Miami for some time, and the Yahoo investigation goes back a year, Golden was apparently unaware of the brewing storm at the time of his hire.
Like other college football coaches across the land, Golden will pour his energies into preparing his team for the quickly approaching season. Even as he does, however, investigations march on. Even some current players could be subjects of NCAA or media investigations. It’s going to get ugly, and Golden will have a sideline perch.
There are likely few coaches out there who haven’t lost sleep either worrying about opponents or football-related issues with their own squads. When you suddenly find yourself worrying about an NCAA investigation and daily national scrutiny, it can’t help. After years of working hard to put the Temple program on the Division I map, he was “rewarded” with a new gig at a national power. Coaches expect challenges. Golden couldn’t have expected all this.
There will be lots of questions to ponder in the coming months. Were I in Golden’s shoes, I think there would be at least a night or two when I might wonder, “What have I done?”
Our TI – Training Instructor – eventually showed up and the weeks that followed were both difficult and a blur. Golden noted he has experience in dealing with a troubled/struggling program. It looks like that experience could come in handy, because he – and the university - may have to take that to a whole new level. |
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