Miami and FSU Down But Not Out

Once again, Rumors and Rants pointed us in the direction of this article from Dr. Saturday concerning the paucity of players drafted from FSU and Miami in this year's draft. Of course this is not news to me and Dr. S hits on an issue which I have been harping on for the 5 years with my beloved Canes; the offense sucks. With Jimbo Fisher and the newly hired Mark Whipple at the helm, the offenses should improve and that is the only way these two programs will re-ascend the college football ladder.

Yesterday I heard a local radio host who shall remain nameless put the blame for the lack of ACC football national relevance squarely on Miami's shoulders. I realize that the Canes' program has fallen into a state of disarray but there are 11 other teams in the ACC, is their lack of performance on the national stage due to Miami's decrease in football productivity? These are the kind of arguments that are inane and not worth the time to discount, but the bottom line is that these two programs want badly to re-enter the national conversation.

Can their fall from the top really be something of a mystery? Larry Coker, while a tremendous human being, was not the man needed to take Miami beyond their 2001 national title. Bobby Bowden, while he has earned the right to step down whenever he chooses, has not run the smoothest ship in Tallahassee. Add to that the poaching of top Florida talent by the other schools in Florida, mainly the Gators and coaches from all over the country invading the turf and the top guys were no longer seeking to play for the two programs in many cases. The talent level though cannot be seen as the main excuse, other programs have done more with less in recent years. This is a critical year for both programs; can Whipple mold Jacory Harris and the offense into a productive force? Can Fisher put points on the board consistently while preventing his players from having Battle Royals in the student union? If they prove to be successful, the Canes and the Noles will once again be churning out multiple first-day draft picks. As fate would have it, they open the season against each other this year on September 7 in Tallahassee. Miami's season could be decimated by the first week of October though as after FSU they have Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, and Oklahoma. If they go 0-4, XM better check his pond out back.

Have Florida State and Miami passed into irrelevance? The draft says yes (but not so fast) [Dr. Saturday]