Eye on the U

Dye, lawyer still waiting to hear back from NCAA

The criminal complaint filed by Hurricanes football player Dyron Dye against former NCAA investigator Rich Johanningmeier will not lead to charges being filed.

Spokesman Ed Griffith of the state attorney's office told The Miami Herald last week there was no evidence that a crime had been committed even though Dye said Johanningmeier "coerced him into providing favorable answers for [the NCAA's] investigation."

Darren Heitner, Dye's attorney, said he and his client are waiting with much anticipation to see what the NCAA plans to do with the 6-5, 261-pound's eligibility. He interviewed with the NCAA for a third time last month. 

"Right now there is no indication his eligibility is at risk," Heitner said. "That said, during his third interview they mentioned there was a potential 10.1 [unethical conduct] violation. We haven't heard from the NCAA since the conclusion of the third interview. We hope that if there is any negative consequence they make it public knowledge quickly."

Booker T. coach Tim "Ice" Harris says he's stunned UM pulled scholarship from Kirkland

This isn't the type of finish UM coach Al Golden had in mind.

With less than a week before National Signing Day, the Hurricanes have pulled a scholarship offer from a top recruit at a major high school power in Miami-Dade County and angered its head coach.

Booker T. Washington coach Tim "Ice" Harris said Thursday it was grossly unfair for the Hurricanes to pull their offer from All-American offensive lineman Denver Kirkland right after the team's state championship parade through Overtown.

Harris, who himself worked on UM's staff under Randy Shannon and whose son Brandon was a standout cornerback at UM, said he had assured UM coaches privately Kirkland had decided to sign with the Canes and was simply waiting until National Signing Day to announce. But because Kirkland wasn't willing to commit before then and make the announcement public, Harris said, assistant Micheal Barrow told him the program "was moving in a different direction."

"This had nothing to do with academics and everything to do with UM doing something unfair to a local kid," Harris said. "Denver has a 2.8 GPA and has the test score.

"Coach Golden visited the school today before our parade and told Denver everything he wanted to hear. Then, a couple hours later, everything changed. I told them Denver was all set to go there for the academics. This isn't the way UM should be doing business, not with the kids in their own backyard."

Harris said Barrow asked for a private meeting following the parade and asked Kirkland flatly if he would commit. Harris said Kirkland told Barrow UM was in the top three, but he wanted to wait until Signing Day to announce.

"I just don't understand why they couldn't wait," Harris said. "The same way [linebacker] Matthew Thomas is a big-time kid, Denver is the same big-time offensive lineman. Let the kid enjoy his moment. If they were going to do this to him, why not let him know well ahead of time so he could plan another visit. Don't come to us in the end and say you're going in another direction because of a defensive lineman."

Asked if this would affect Thomas' recruitment, Harris said: "I just look at this from a loyalty perspective. If we commit to something and show you love and tell you we're going to do something, just wait for it to happen. I've never seen anything of this magnitude. I'm not sure what this does for UM in Miami as a whole... I'll never tell a kid not to go somewhere, but it's tough for me to tell my kids to trust UM at this point.

"They don't know when an offer is going to get pulled, if they're going to do what they did to Denver today. He's an All-American. I just don't understand how they let him get out of here. I won't stop anybody from going to UM, but I can tell you I'll never help them again."

Kirkland: UM is out of the picture

Guess I should have stuck around for the end of Booker T. Washington's state championship parade.

All-American offensive lineman Denver Kirkland confirmed Thursday night UM is no longer in the picture for him, just a couple of hours after saying he loved the coaches and the program. 

What led to this surprising news? Kirkland said he had a private conversation with UM assistant coach Micheal Barrow and Booker T. head coach Tim "Ice" Harris following the parade in which they discussed an issue that came up with him going to UM.

Is it that you didn't have the grades or test score to get in? "No, not that," he said. 

Are you upset? "No. I'm still going to play college football somewhere," he said.

Kirkland said his final four is now South Florida, Florida State, Ole Miss and Arkansas.

CanesInsider, which first tweeted the news, said Kirkland was told by UM coaches he no longer had a scholarship available to him.

From CaneInsider: Kirkland’s stepfather, Shanton Crummie, informed XOFan/CaneInsider of the news earlier tonight. He said the explanation he’s receiving from the Miami coaching staff is that they over signed defensive lineman and therefore Kirkland’s scholarship was used up.

The Hurricanes have 13 commitments and are still in play for some major recruits. But Kirkland was expected to pick UM. This obviously will not sit well with teammate Matthew Thomas, who was also considering UM.

Denver Kirkland, other top UM targets ready to make announcements on national TV

Booker T. Washington's state championship football team finally celebrated its state title Thursday with a parade through Overtown.

Among those to savor the moment: hulking 6-5, 333-pound offensive lineman Denver Kirkland, who along with star linebacker Matthew Thomas have been highly-coveted and recruited by Al Golden and UM coaches. 

Now with all his official visits behind him and decision day right around the corner, Kirkland said Thursday he's enjoyed the process, but is ready to get in front of a national TV audience on ESPN's networks and tell the world where he's headed for college. Kirkland isn't alone. He's one of six highly coveted UM recruits who are planning to make their college announce on ESPN on National Signing Day.

The announcement list -- always changing -- looks as follows at the moment:

- Port St. Lucie Centennial DL Jaynard Bostwick, 8 a.m.
- Booker T. Washington LB Matthew Thomas, 9:15 a.m.
- Booker T. Washington OL Denver Kirkland, 9:20 a.m.
- Northeast WR Stacy Coley, 10 a.m.
- University School WR Jordan Cunningham, 10:15 a.m.
- Miramar LB Jermaine Grace, 1:30-2 p.m.

Golden knew he was going to have to wait until late in the game to find out if he was going to land South Florida's top players. Plan B? I'm not sure there really is one. But most recruiting experts don't believe the Canes will strike out. Grace and Kirkland are the two players Charles Fishbein of Elite Scouting Services said he's confident UM will land. The others? Iffy.

Thomas, who wasn't around for the parade Thursday at Booker T., is down to Miami, Florida State and Alabama. Kirkland said he's still down to a top five: "Ole Miss, FSU, USF, UM and Arkansas."

"The recruiting process went good, I really enjoyed it, got to know a lot of people," said Kirkland, whose mother is pushing him to stay in Miami. "I got to see the fans being open with the players and how much they love the players. I had steak on every one of my visits, biggest one was 16 ounces. The most fun was the house parties, track meets and basketball games.

"I like the Canes a lot. They're academic program is good and the bonds I have with the coaches are good. Micheal Barrow was my recruiter. He's a good guy. UM is recruiting me as an offensive tackle just like everyone else."

MORE RECRUITING TIDBITS

> Northeast coach and former Hurricanes running back Donnell Bennett said "mum's the word" with his star receiver, Coley, who had an in-home visit with UM coaches Wednesday night. "I tried to corner him today. I couldn't get him to talk," Bennett said. "Florida State will be visiting him Saturday morning. I think that will be it. Then, he has to make a decision."

> Bostwick's coach Ron Parker Going confirmed the big defensive tackle will be visiting Florida this weekend. "He's going to take a final visit and then sit down and decide what he's going to do," Parker said. "Miami was here yesterday. Alabama was on a final visit this week. He'll have Monday, Tuesday to decide.

"He said he had a good visit at Miami [where cousin Thurston Armbrister plays linebacker]. Is his mom is pushing Florida? I don't know. Maybe it's the setting she likes. Maybe that's the setting he needs versus Miami Beach. But it's going to come down to Jaynard. I asked him if he was going to commit after this weekend and he said 'No.'"

> Staten Island (N.Y.) Totteville's Augustus Edwards, considered the top fullback in the country according to Rivals, has officially decommitted from Syracuse and will visit UM this weekend. FSU is also in the mix. New Hurricanes offensive coordinator James Coley loves him, I'm told, and thinks he'll be just like Orange Bowl MVP Lonnie Pryor.

> Why is South Plantation blue-chip running back Alex Collins flying to Atlanta to make his announcement Monday night instead of waiting until National Signing Day? Not because he wants to avoid heat from UM fans if he chooses Arkansas instead, his coach said. 

"FoxSports called me and said they were doing a Countdown to Signing Day Show and wanted to have [FSU commitment John Franklin] and Alex talk about how the recruiting process goes," South Plantation coach Doug Gatewood said. "I didn't really get involved in it. I told Alex and John and they said yes. John's dad is the chaperone. They've pretty much taken care of the details on their own. They fly up Monday afternoon and film it in studio at 10 p.m. They will stay overnight before they fly back home in the afternoon.

"I can't speak for Alex, but if he waited until Signing Day he's just a blurb with 100 other kids. If he does it on Monday it's all him. That's why he's doing it."

UM compliance office urges fans to stay away from recruits; twitter war over Alex Collins continues

The University of Miami's compliance office took to Twitter Thursday morning to send a message it hoped its fans would receive and heed: leave recruits alone.

"Canes fans: We love when you support #TheU, but remember, only coaches can recruit prospects. #AskBeforeUAct," the tweet at around 10 a.m. from @UCompliance read.

Why the concern? Fans from both Miami and Arkansas have been a little too interested lately in trying to sway South Plantation blue-chip running back Alex Collins to pick their school. Collins is set to announce his college decision in an Atlanta TV studio Monday night after 10 p.m. on FoxSports Network.

It's against NCAA rules for fans -- especially those who provide financial aid to the schools they love -- to get involved in the recruiting process. Lucky for them, the NCAA doesn't have the time or resources to chase everyone down. But in this case, with Miami being under investigation, it's probably a good idea for Hurricanes fans to stop.

Collins, whose Twitter account is @Budda03, has been relatively happy with "the love" he's been receiving. But messages have been getting nasty lately. Some UM fans believe Collins' high school coach Doug Gatewood is steering him away from Miami because of an alleged connection to Arkansas.

Here is one example of one of those Tweets from Cane Flexin @ThatCaneZo: "Hey @Budda03 don't let your coach make your decision for you. It's your decision and yours only."

This morning Collins responded to some of those tweets: "It's crazy how people can make things up or assume things that's no where close to being true.. I've been hearin crazy things thats not true."

Gatewood has vehemently denied the claims and told The Miami Herald Thursday: "I get paid $3,100 to be a head coach and have caught more [expletive] this year than you can imagine. People sitting there saying I'm profiting from this, I'm going to send them a picture of my truck. It needs a paint job and is missing a window.

"I guess it happens. But I've never been a part of it. Everybody talks about my relationship with [Arkansas assistant] Charlie [Patridge]. At the end of the day, I use every resource I have to help my kids get recruited. I call every person I know when I have a kid. When [Collins] started playing last year nobody was recruiting him. I called everybody and said 'I got a kid. You got to come look at him.'"

"As much as I care about him, he cares about me as well. Nobody wants people talking [expletive] about their coach."

Some UM fans have responded positively to the UM compliance office's request. Victor Castro ‏(@BudussyCanes) tweeted Collins: "Mr. Collins, wherever U decide 2 play ur college ball, we Canes wish U nothing but the best of luck. #GOCanes"

Arkansas fans, meanwhile, have continued to pursue Collins. The running back shared a picture of a chain of papers he got in the mail which reads: WOO PIG SOOIE GO HOGS!

Here's a list of some of the tweets Collins has received from both Miami and Arkanas fans and retweeted:

From Randall Baker ‏@RSB416
"@Budda03 if you came to arkansas, I'd convert to Buddism."

From Kel Clarke ‏@kclarke56
"@Budda03 @HogCaller90 can u imagine 80,000 fans wearing dreads at all the games.. I know id buy one - that would be sick - RAZORBUDDA!!!"

From Purple Cane ‏@PurpleCane41
"I'd take a blindside hit from @raylewis if it got #AlexCollinsToTheU"

From Gene Esposito ‏@GeneEspo69
"@Budda03 u gonna play for Miami and hit up south beach or play for Arkansas where marrying your cousin is common?"

From Jonathon Zenk ‏@jzenk42
"@Budda03 You should go to Miami, unless you would enjoy getting your teeth kicked in by Bama and LSU every year..."

Perhaps the most interesting tweet came from Arkansas coach Bret Bielema himself. Of course, it wasn't directly sent to Collins. But it did mention Budda -- Collin's nickname. Bielema sent it to his running backs coach.

Here is the message: "Found a Budda in Dallas. Lucky charms everywhere we go. #wps #gohogsgo @coachjoelt"

The picture Beilema tweeted is below. Wonder if the NCAA will question Bielema for the Budda reference?

InsideTheU's David Lake discusses where UM stands with its top targets a week before signing day

Here's the latest edition of Eye On The U's recruiting podcast with Herald Sports Writer Manny Navarro and InsideTheU reporter David Lake. 

The two discuss where Miami stands with its top targets a week before National Signing Day. Among the players discussed: LB Matthew Thomas, RB Alex Collins, RB Augustus Edwards, WR Stacy Coley, WR Jordan Cunningham, OL Denver Kirkland, DT Jay-nard Bostwick, DT Keith Bryant and LB Jermaine Grace.

PODCAST LINK

Defense attorney for UM baseball conditioning coach says his client didn't break law or NCAA rules

The attorney for University of Miami baseball strength and conditioning coach Jimmy Goins told The Miami Herald his client hasn't broken any federal laws or NCAA rules and that the article in Tuesday's editions of Miami New Times has jumped to conclusions.

"I can tell you Mr. Goins has no knowledge of any wrongdoing and hasn't done anything wrong personally on the behalf of Miami. He's kind of been blindsided by this," said attorney Gordon Fenderson of Fenderson and Hampton, LLC.

"We're not going to talk about whether he was a patient or not. There are privacy concerns there. But as far as using or purchasing anything that would be contrary to any rules or laws, he's been blindsided by those allegations.

"It's very presumptive to just say because a list comes out and one person may be accused of wrongdoing everybody on that list is accused of wrongdoing."

Goins, who has been on staff at UM for the past nine years, declined comment when approached by The Miami Herald in person Tuesday and directed all inquiries to his attorney.

The New Times reported Goins' name was on multiple client lists at Biogenesis, the Coral Gables clinic that was allegedly supplying MLB players and others with PEDs. "In one detailed page dated December 14, 2011, [Biogenesis owner Tony] Bosch writes he's selling [Goins] Anavar, testosterone, and a Winstrol/B-12 mix and charging him $400 a month," the story said. "Another [report] from this past December includes sales of HGH and testosterone."

Former UM players Cesar Carrillo and Yasmani Grandal and South Florida-born baseball stars Alex Rodriguez and Gio Gonzalez were also mentioned in Tuesday's story. It's inferred Goins may have been supplying players with PEDs. It's not clear if it involved current or former players.

Fenderson said his client hasn't been charged with anything and they are representing him to be proactive in his defense.

Asked if Goins had been suspended by UM pending further investigation Fenderson said: "We're going to let UM do what they're going to do and we'll address it once they make it clear. Naturally the University is in a position that they're going to look at this because there are allegations. We're going to let them do what they're going to do.

"It's just some insinuations at this point. I haven't actually seen the list. It's unfortunate this conclusion has been jumped to."

Canes' RB Duke Johnson becomes target of Twitter thug after commenting on LeSean McCoy's baby mama drama

From the zany world of Twitter here's a new story making the rounds: UM running back Duke Johnson apparently became a target of one of LeSean McCoy's twitter followers for publicly voicing his opinion on the Eagles' star running back's baby mama drama.

BlackSportsOnline first got wind of the story Sunday and now it's spreading after a few retweets. Here is a link to the story and the details. 

In a nutshell, Johnson criticized McCoy publicly -- as other athletes have -- for his public battle with his ex-girlfriend. One of McCoy's fans @John082583 then began attacking Duke for his comments. 

Johnson hasn't paid much attention to it. His response on Twitter: "My mom always told me beware of the Internet thugs....✌"

UM fans have of course come to Duke's defense.

It will be interesting to see if UM coach Al Golden says anything about this. He's been pretty lenient on guys having Twitter accounts. 

UM releases statement on baseball strength coach Jimmy Goins

Unless you've been sleeping for three days you know by now a new scandal involving performance-enhancing drugs and a long list of major league baseball players and a Miami clinic has been in the news.

The Miami New Times released a report of a lengthy three-month investigation Tuesday morning and listed among the names of clients who allegedly purchased PEDs from this clinic is longtime University of Miami baseball and track and field strength and conditioning coach Jimmy Goins.

Goins, who has been at UM for the last nine years, is recorded in multiple client lists according to Tuesday's New Times story. "In one detailed page dated December 14, 2011, [Biogenesis owner Tony] Bosch writes he's selling [Goins] Anavar, testosterone, and a Winstrol/B-12 mix and charging him $400 a month," the story said. "Another [report] from this past December includes sales of HGH and testosterone."

It's not clear in the report how Goins was involved. But former UM players Cesar Carrillo and Yasmani Grandal and former South Florida baseball stars Alex Rodriguez and Gio Gonzalez are also mentioned. It's inferred Goins may have been supplying players with PEDs. It's not clear if it is current or former players. UM isn't commenting on anything right now. The feds are investigating. 

But Goins, who was listed on UM's baseball roster as of Tuesday morning, is no longer listed there. A source said he Goins was not at practice today and he'll likely be suspended pending further investigation. Here is a link to Goins' UM profile.

UM released the follow statement to The Miami Herald this afternoon: “The University of Miami is aware of media reports regarding one of our employees and an intensive review is underway. We will not comment further on personnel matters."

Stay tuned for more on this story.

Daughters of Ron Fraser share poem he wanted them to see once he was gone

This is the longer version of my story that will appear in Tuesday's editions of The Miami Herald

At one point before Alzheimer's disease began taking its toll, Ron Fraser saw a poem he liked, copied it down and put it in his briefcase -- a message he hoped would be delivered at the right time.

Monday morning, as the late father of University of Miami baseball was being remembered and honored with eulogies and choir songs, his three daughters shared the poem with a congregation of hundreds who gathered for Fraser's funeral mass at St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church in Southwest Ranches.

The title of the poem Fraser had intended for his daughters to see once he was gone: "I'm Free."

"[Fraser's wife of 24 years] Karen found it. It talked about being free and don't grieve for me and that while they're are things I've left undone, God wants me and I'm with him now," Fraser's youngest daughter, Elizabeth Fraser Kraut, said fighting back emotion.

"It was left for us from Popie to help us deal with the grief of losing him. We hoped it would help the congregation get through their grief -- because we are all family. I can't even express to you in words how wonderful the outpouring of support has been."

Fraser, who passed away a week ago Sunday at age 79, will continue to be honored in the coming weeks.

The University of Miami has planned "A Celebration of the Life of Ron Fraser" for Saturday, Feb. 23 on campus with another event scheduled later that night during the baseball game against Milwaukee. The Ron Fraser Wizard Fund plans on honoring the Hall of Fame coach with a bronze statue at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field. Current UM baseball coach Jim Morris said the program is committed to dedicating the season to Fraser in other ways not yet announced. Kraut said a private burial service will then take place in her father's hometown of Nutley, N.J. in March or April.

Monday's two-hour long mass -- as well as Sunday's eight-hour visitation at Stanfill Funeral Homes in Miami -- provided an opportunity for those closest to him to share stories and remember not just the man who was dubbed "The Wizard of College Baseball" but who served as a father figure for many young men, said Kraut and close friends.

UM Sports Hall of Famer Mike Fiore, part of Fraser's second and last national title team in 1985, was the first of five men who delivered a eulogy Monday. The others: former Catholic priest Leo Armbrust, longtime friend and former UM baseball sports information director Rick Remmert, current coach Morris, and family spokesman and TV personality Tony Segreto. Fiore, now the vice president for the company of famed baseball agent Scott Boras, called Fraser a "life coordinator."

"The family asked me to speak about him as a coach and what he meant to players like myself," Fiore said of the morning service. "I told one story today about how one time when we were playing Florida State my freshman year, down one run, late in the game, I'm standing on third thinking 'Do I let the ball go through? Do I run home if it gets past the catcher?'

"He walks up to me and looks at the crowd of six, seven thousand and says 'How many hamburgers and hot dogs do you think we sold tonight?' It was his unique way of alleviating stress from me, his way of saying I trust you, trust the way you play, go ahead and react. That was the greatest thing about coach Fraser. He always made you feel comfortable."

Fraser, who amassed a 1,271-438-9 record at UM and coached the Olympic team after retiring following the 1992 season, began coaching at UM for a $2,200 salary. He took a cow pasture for a field and raised the money for a ballpark with fundraising and marketing genius -- and not much financial help from UM.

Remmert, now UM's Director of Alumni programs, recalled how when Fraser first became coach of the Hurricanes he took a second job as athletic director of the Coral Gables youth center and borrowed equipment from there because UM didn't have any. The team's first uniforms, Remmert said, Fraser got those through his U.S. Military Academy connection.

"They took the A, R and Y off [the uniforms] and left the M on," Remmert said. "That's where the famous M came from.

"One of the first promotions he had after getting lights and fences for the baseball field and charging $1 for tickets was the 'Baseball from Outer Space.' The plan was to have a parachute jumper come in with a neon colored ball. The jumper got caught up in the wind and ended up landing in the old serpentarium instead. Coach also brought the first mascot to college baseball with the Miami Maniac.

"He saw the modern game of college baseball and what it could look like. [Former LSU coach] Skip Bertman said Ron was 30 years ahead of his time and proved to athletic directors baseball could be a revenue sport."

Kraut said she heard stories about her father on Sunday and Monday she hadn't heard before and that it has comforted the family.

"The phone calls, the tweets, text messages, the Facebook postings," Kraut said. "it's amazing how much people loved Popie and how much they've taken us under their wings."

UM men's hoops team jumps up 11 spots to 14th in AP poll -- highest ranking since 2002; Scott named ACC Player of Week

Jim Larranaga and the red-hot Miami Hurricanes men's basketball team has moved up 11 spots this week in the Associated Press poll to number 14 -- one of the biggest jumps in recent memory following blowout wins over No. 1-ranked Duke and rival Florida State. UM is also ranked 15th in the Coaches Poll.

It's the highest the program has been ranked since Feb. 2002. According to AP writer Tim Reynolds only four teams have gone up more spots in the rankings in one week since 1989.

The Canes (15-3, 6-0 ACC) hadn't cracked the AP poll until last week and were only receiving votes in the coaches poll before their big victories this past week. It's the first time the Hurricanes have been ranked in the Coaches poll since Dec 8, 2008 when they spent a single week at number 25. 

What's the highest UM's men's basketball team has ever been ranked? Eighth in the AP poll (March 1, 1960). They finished 10th.

Since the program was brought back, the highest the team was ranked was ninth -- back on March 1st, 1999. The Hurricanes didn't finish the season ranked in the AP poll.

The Canes travel to Virginia Tech on Wednesday and play at 19th-ranked N.C. State on Saturday. The Wolfpack (16-4) and Blue Devils (17-2) are the only other teams from the ACC ranked in the AP poll.

DURAND SCOTT HONORED

Guard Durand Scott was named the ACC's Player of the Week for the second time this season Monday.

Scott averaged 18.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists in UM's two home wins last week.

In Wednesday’s 90-63 win against the Blue Devils, Scott had 25 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals in 36 minutes. He was 9-of-14 (.643) from the field, 3-of-4 from three-point range and 4-of-5 on free throws. In Sunday’s win against the Seminoles, Scott had 11 points, four assists and two turnovers as UM rolled to a 71-47 victory.

News and notes from the start of Canes spring baseball practice

Al Golden didn't get a chance to see David Thompson rifle passes to receivers this fall, but Jim Morris will get to see him use his bat this spring.

The talented freshman, who set a state record for career home runs and wiped Alex Rodriguez's name from the top of the record books at Miami Westminster Christian School, said Friday he is healthy and ready to make an impact for the Hurricanes.

Although Thompson doesn't have a set position just yet -- he's working at third base, first base and left field – chances are he's going to find a spot in the starting lineup.

"He can hit," said Morris, whose team practiced for the first time this spring on Friday -- exactly three weeks before the season opening weekend series at home against Rutgers.

"He's a good athlete, knows how to win and works very, very hard. And he can hit. When you can hit, you find a place to play."

Thompson, who had right shoulder surgery in June to repair a torn labrum, is one of a handful of newcomers -- and a few players coming back from surgery -- Morris is counting on to help turn the program around.

The others: left-handed starting pitchers Bryan Radziewski (the only player who wasn't ready to go at the start of practice Friday coming off shoulder surgery) and Andrew Suarez (a ninth round pick in 2011 who only pitched three innings in an exhibition game against the Marlins before having shoulder surgery himself); middle infielders Brandon Lopez (who could get a chance to compete for the closer's role) and Alex Hernandez (a JUCO transfer from Palm Beach Central who was the team's unofficial MVP in the fall) and left-handed power hitting freshman outfielder Grant Heyman (an 11th round pick of the Blue Jays  whom Morris said was hitting balls into the upper deck of the parking lot in the fall).

The Hurricanes, coming off a disappointing 36-22 season in which they lost their first regional at home since 1990, were tabbed to finish fourth in the Coastal Division in a preseason poll by ACC coaches on Friday. That hardly bothered Morris as much as the fact UM is entering the season unranked in Baseball America's Top 25 poll for the first time since he took over in 1994.

"There's a lot of questions we need to answer," Morris said. "I think we're going to have a good club and surprise some people, but to be honest, the polls aren't showing us a lot respect, which I don't like. We've got to prove we're as good as we've always been."

Morris said his biggest concern is the bullpen. Even though 2012 team MVP and left-handed reliever A.J. Salcines (3-0, 1.40 ERA, 7 SVs) is back along with right-hander Eric Nedeljkovic (0-1, 1.78 ERA, 4 SVs), Morris said Salcines is "not a prototype closer" and the team needs to find "guys that are proven that can do it every day."

"I think our defense will be much improved,” Morris said. "Our starting pitching should be good. We just have to figure out the bullpen."

MORE NEWS AND NOTES FROM FRIDAY...

> Thompson said his arm strength is “getting back to what it was.” Although he experiences some natural soreness, it’s not hurting him at all. Thompson said he’s making sure to throw a football around every couple days to stay sharp.

“I play catch with a lot of these guys after practice,” Thompson said. “[Center fielder] Dale [Carey] is a pretty good receiver. He's got the speed.”

Although Thompson missed the majority of fall baseball practices recovering from surgery, he was able to get some work in, hitting .316 in 19 at-bats. Three of his six hits went for doubles. He also said he was able to hit one ball out of the park at Mark Light Field.

“I have to be more patient than I was in high school,” Thompson said. “I always thought I could any pitch in high school no matter where it was. The way the ball moves, speed, and location, it’s a big difference.”

Morris said although Thompson is full committed to play baseball in the spring and football in the fall, he expects he will sneak over to get some spring work in on the gridiron.

"I'm sure he's going to still be over there some," Morris said. "I just know his mentality. I know he's a worker and David feels like he can play sports at the highest level."

Heyman called Thompson "a great hitter, probably the best hitter I've ever seen."

"He doesn't miss," Heyman continued. "It was amazing. He came out here first fall ball game and faced one of our better pitchers and just ripped a double down the line. I wasn't like that. It took me a couple weeks just to see the pitching.

"I'm really looking forward to playing with him the next three or four years. It's going to be really fun. He's a great guy too. Hopefully we'll make a good duo in the future."

> Suarez, who had surgery on April 9th, 2012 to repair a slight tear on his labrum and a bone spur on the back of his rotator cuff, said he hasn't felt any pain in his come back. He pitched in a few scrimmages over the fall and expects to be ready for the season. But he expects to let loose for the first time over the weekend and test his velocity.

"They haven't really gunned me yet. Sunday I'll find out," said Suarez, who allowed only two hits and struck out one in three scoreless innings of work in his only start for the Hurricanes last March in an exhibition against the Marlins. "I'm excited. The hitters told me I was throwing hard and stuff. We'll see what the [radar] gun says."

Morris said Suarez "may have the highest ceiling of anybody on the pitching staff."

"He's the highest drafted player on the team," Morris said. "He was hurt in high school, had the surgery last year after a few weeks. He's doing really well. He's doing good and had absolutely no setbacks in his program. We think he has a very good chance to start for us on the weekends."

> Morris said senior Michael Broad, who hit just .243 with four home runs and 30 RBI last season, should start in left field and hit somewhere in the middle of the lineup.

"We've moved strictly from the infield to the outfield, it should help him relax a little bit at the plate," Morris said. "He was hurt last year, but didn't have the type of year he wanted to have."

> Morris said the baseball team will do plenty to honor the late legendary coach Ron Fraser this season.

"We're going to do a lot of stuff. It's going to be a big thing, rightfully so," Morris said. We're having a Ron Fraser night and doing some special things you need to be here for that nobody is going to know until game time. We've talked about the season being committed and dedicated to Ron Fraser. I wouldn't be surprised if we pull somethings out of the hat Coach Fraser did."

David Thompson isn't the only hitter at UM who can throw a football

Turns out freshman David Thompson isn't the only athlete at the University of Miami who can swing a big bat and fling a football around.

Outfielder Grant Heyman, a three-sport star at Pittsford-Sutherland High School (N.Y.) and 11th round pick of the Toronto Blue Jays in June, said Friday he's had discussions with the football staff about going out for football in the fall.

Heyman (6-4 1/2, 205) was an All-State quarterback and said he had offers from Rutgers, Syracuse and Buffalo as well as some Football Championship Subdivision programs. He said UM coaches told him he would come in as an athlete and potentially play "quarterback, receiver, really anywhere."

But right now, Heyman said, he's concentrated on trying to earn a starting spot on the baseball team and not worrying about football. Coach Jim Morris and the baseball Hurricanes held their first official practice of the spring Friday and have three weeks to prepare for the season, which begins at home against Rutgers Feb. 15.

"I guess when I originally came here they said I could play football. That's part of the reason I came, not the biggest reason," Heyman said. "I'm just trying to put on more weight before I go over there."

Heyman, who hit .424 with nine homers in just 18 games his senior year of high school, was the recipient of the Rawlings National High School Gold Glove Award his senior year. He said he was timed at 4.6 seconds in the 40-yard dash and 6.6 seconds in the 60-yard dash.

Unlike Thompson, whose first love was baseball, Morris said Heyman's first love has always been football. Morris said Heyman is certainly talented enough to play both, but he loves his raw baseball skills. Because he lived in the northeast, though, Heyman just hasn't had as much time as others to focus on baseball.

"He has to progress," Morris said. "He's the highest drafted player on our team to come in here [this season as a freshman]. [In fall practice] he hit balls on the deck [of the parking lot behind the right field wall at Mark Light Field]. He just hasn't had the repetition. So he has a lot of work to do to learn how to play the game. But that guy is going to be a very good player for us.

"He's got great tools. Number 1, the power. He can run. He's 6-5," Morris continued before slipping in a joke. "He's a prototype quarterback -- I mean outfielder."

Time for another beginning: Miami Hurricanes baseball on the horizon with preseason festivities

The Canes baseball season is nearly upon us.

As we reflect on the passing of UM Hurricanes legend Ron Fraser, we also can look forward to the coming season, which begins Feb. 15 with a three-game home series against Rutgers. You know that Coach Fraser loved this time of year, and I'm sure Coach Jim Morris can't wait to begin after a disappointing ending to 2012.

    Today marks the opening of preseason practice for the 2013 season. The season begins Feb. 15, when Rutgers comes to Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field for a three-game series.

    Get your calendars out and mark these dates: 

    *Thursday, Feb. 7 for the First Pitch Banquet

    * Friday, Feb. 8 for the UM Baseball Golf Tournament

    * Saturday, Feb. 9 for the Alumni Game

    The First Pitch Banquet, per UM, will feature a speakers panel comprised of UBaseball alumni Yonder Alonso (San Diego Padres), Jon Jay (St. Louis Cardinals) and Chris Perez (Cleveland Indians). In addition to the panel, there will be an auction featuring memorabilia and other Hurricanes merchandise, a presentation by Morris and a multi-course dinner. The reception, to be held at the multipurpose room inside the fieldhouse adjacent to the BankUnited Center, begins at 6 p.m. To purchase tickets, contact the Hurricane Club at 305-284-6699.

    The golf tourney, presented by the First National Bank of South Miami, will be at the Melreese Country Club. Fans can enjoy a day of golf with the head coach alongside current and former UM players. For more information, contact Celebrity International at 305-255-3500 or email tod@ci-mgt.com.

     The team's annual Fan Fest and Alumni Game will be at A-Rod Park. Pregame festivities start at 4 p.m., including an autograph session with players and coaches, inflatables and face painting for children -- and more. The game begins at 6 p.m. and will be between the 2013 Canes and a team made up of former UM stars. 

     Reminder: 

 Visitation For Ron Fraser will be held from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. on Sun., Jan. 27 at Stanfill Funeral Homes in Miami (10545 S. Dixie Highway). A funeral mass will be held at 10 a.m. on Mon., Jan. 28 at St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church in Southwest Ranches (5601 S. Flamingo Road).

 The burial will be private for the Fraser Family in Ron’s hometown of Nutley, N.J.

 “A Celebration of the Life of Ron Fraser” will be held Sat., Feb. 23 on the University of Miami campus. Details will be announced at a later date. The Fraser Family be in attendance and will receive friends following the program. Afterwards, the celebration will move to Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field for Miami’s baseball game against Milwaukee. The game has been designated as the “Remembering Ron Fraser” game, with game proceeds donated to the Ron Fraser Wizard Fund.

  To me, there's nothing like taking in a beautiful South Florida day at The Light and watching college baseball. And if you don't mind the lines, there's always those great shakes! Seriously, I am looking very much looking forward to baseball.

     SUSAN MILLER DEGNAN 

 

 

 

 

Golden talks Coley hiring; plus source tells our Barry Jackson UM may try to settle with NCAA

Here is what UM coach Al Golden had to say in a written statement about the hiring of James Coley as his new offensive coordinator.

“We’re excited about adding James Coley’s leadership, expertise and passion to our staff and Miami Hurricane Football,” Golden said. “I’ve been an admirer of his offenses output and execution, his commitment to student-athlete development as well as his relentless approach to recruiting Dade and Broward counties.

“Coach Coley will be a great asset to the University of Miami and we welcome him, his wife Kenia and their two children back to South Florida."

> Our Barry Jackson spoke to a UM source who told him that after Wednesday's NCAA bombshell the school is considering pushing for a settlement. Here's a link to his blog.

Coley has told FSU he's headed to Miami

James Coley has informed coach Jimbo Fisher and Florida State officials he's leaving to become the University of Miami's next offensive coordinator, multiple sources have told The Miami Herald.

The 39-year-old Miami High and FSU graduate made $390,000 last season to prepare the game plans for the Seminoles before Fisher called plays on game days. He was offered $500,000 to become UM’s next offensive coordinator, a source said. Although FSU matched the offer, Fisher appeared not to be willing to give up the play-calling duties.

Coley, who was offered the offensive coordinator position at Kentucky in December but turned it down, called plays for FIU in Mario Cristobal’s first season as coach in 2007. He then moved to FSU where he has worked as the tight ends coach, recruiting coordinator and most recently the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

The University of Miami has yet to confirm the hire.

Bylaw Blog writer weighs in on UM case after NCAA bombshell drops Wednesday

After Wednesday's bombshell fell from the lips of NCAA President Mark Emmert, I reached out to our friend John Infante, a former compliance officer at NCAA Division I schools who runs the Bylaw Blog.

Infante's expertise has been featured on ESPN, Sports Illustrated, USA Today and numerous other media outlets. Keep in mind he isn't privy to the information the NCAA has on Miami. He simply is giving his opinion based on what he's read from published reports and heard today.

Here is the transcript of my 20 minute, one-on-one Q&A with him today:

Q: How does this affect Miami? Most people assume here that the NCAA admitting its made mistakes in the investigation will be positive for Miami. Some think they might even just settle.

"It definitely will be positive. But I think people -- when they think positive -- it's significantly reduced sanctions. To me, that remains to be seen. I know President Emmert said in his press conference that this affected only a small portion of the information in the case. They still have to go through and find out exactly which allegations or specific violations [can't be used]. I don't know how much the NCAA follows the fruit of the [poisonous] tree doctrine -- which basically says if you gather information you wouldn't otherwise have gotten without the use of an improper lead, you can't use that new information either. But anything the NCAA cannot corroborate is helpful for Miami. The fewer student-athletes, the fewer former coaches, the less money, the fewer violations involved the better the case will be [for UM]. The question now is if it is going to better enough to result in a significantly different set of penalties."

Q: A lot of the investigative reports -- including Yahoo!'s -- came from the depositions and information through Shapiro's lawyer Maria Elena Perez. How could the NCAA still have much of a case if you have to wipe out whatever Shapiro's lawyer was involved with?

"Again, you have to wonder if the NCAA could have gotten this another way. It could be they look through their reports -- I don't know who makes this determination the law firm or the NCAA -- but they may say, 'We got this through this [improper] deposition, but then here's the other document we obtained properly that has the same information in it.' So I think you balance it with the idea that they wouldn't try to get subpeona power unless what they got was a game changer or real effective. The extreme [position] that the whole case is going to be gone, the NCAA certainly doesn't sound like the whole case is going to be gone. It sounds like something significant is still there... I think there is a big range -- in the middle -- of what exactly the case was going to look like. Frankly, the other problem is we don't know what the case would have looked like before. We know what Yahoo!'s case would have been and other media outlet's cases would have been. But nobody knows exactly, specifically what the NCAA has been able to corroborate given this abusive power. So, it's tough to know what was knocked out when we aren't even sure what's going to be in there in the first place."

Q: Worst day in NCAA history in terms of them policing themselves?

"As President Emmert said they've had better days. It's certainly up there. It's certainly one of the darkest days in NCAA history in terms of its investigative power. The thing to remember is that in these kind of scandals with the NCAA's investigative process that have come out in the last year -- Todd McNair's defamation case; the Shabazz Muhammad case and now this -- the NCAA has been accused of not following its own rules. One of the responses might be that the NCAA just had some bad seeds and 'we're going to clear out the bad apples that spoil the bunch. We're going to clear out the staff and we're going to have more money to bring in professional investigators and move on from there.' I think the real kind of devastating thing [for the NCAA] is if the courts say you followed procedure to a T and we're still ruling that improper. Then, that calls into question the entire way the NCAA does it's business rather than the idea that investigator or that investigator went rogue. The NCAA is dealing with the same sort of problems athletic departments deal with. There is a violation; now we got to find out what it is and fix it. Did the coach go rogue? Did the investigator go rogue? Did we fail to monitor? I know people are making jokes about it. People have asked me: 'Why would something like this happen?' Coaches are expected to deliver results and they cut corner sometimes. I think in a public case like this --- where the public says 'We had all the facts 15 months ago why isn't Miami punished yet?' -- there is that pressure to get your man, to deliver a result. Well, there would be pressure in that case also for an investigator to cut a corner."

Q: Isn't this unprecedented, the NCAA admitting it made a mistake before a notice of allegations isn't even sent?

"Yes. The leak of info with [UCLA basketball player] Shabazz Muhammad, we found out about that after he had been ruled ineligible and while they were appealing. It was kind of mid-process whereas this is kind of right before [the NOA]. In terms of how it helps Miami, I don't know if procedurally it really does [help] because you would hope that if the NOA went out and then the NCAA [did what it did Wednesday the NOA] would be pulled back and the NCAA would be doing exactly what it is doing now, which is pulling back and seeing what information should be in there and then re-doing the notice of allegations with the info it should have. Really, what it does is it delays [the case], but it doesn't delay it as long [as it could have been] because the NCAA would have had to restart its 90-day timeline. It sounds like the NCAA is fairly confident they can turn this around quickly. They're saying this is a delay of weeks rather than months. In terms of the timing of it, I really don't think its helpful for Miami in terms of what the penalties will be. I think it prevents a really long case from being delayed longer than it is now."

Q: Some people are thinking Miami can pounce here legally and say -- you fired these investigators, you went about this the wrong way, whole thing is a sham -- can Miami do anything here to put pressure on the NCAA that would help solve this case faster and lessen the penalties?

"That's tricky for all the parties involved because you are still down by the cooperative principal. You still have to cooperate with the NCAA's investigation. For Miami [to sue or fight it] that's a very high risk maneuver. Everything in this case has suggested that up until now they're not really putting up a fight. They might be exhausting their options to defend themselves, not digging in their heels to fight it every step of the way. I think the more likely scenario is Miami lets this play out and if the sanctions or the findings that come out of the committee on infractions' final report are excessive, I think that's the point Miami picks up on this and uses [Wednesday's announcement] as grounds for a lawsuit. Miami doesn't look like it's going to fight it like that. They're more likely to appeal anything now. But in terms of suing the NCAA that's always a drastic step. Very few schools have done it. It's generally individuals. As far as the individual coaches, a lot of them are still employed and working. If they had been fired or not working I think they would be much more likely to pounce on this and try to get themselves detached and the case thrown out. But since they're working, I think it's going to be more of a wait and see what their penalties are and if it harms their career. I can almost guarantee there will be a couple lawsuits against the NCAA trying to say this whole thing, none of it is proper."

Q: The NCAA is going to a new enforcement system in August. Can they avoid these similar problems from happening again?

"The new system doesn't really address what happens here. The new system is really more about penalties. It doesn't address how cases get to this point. Depending on the outcome of this external review -- and kudos for the NCAA being up front about it, talking about it publicly let's hope this continues -- I think this leads to a whole new initiative. This is not an isolated issue. This is kind of the third incident. Fool me once shame on you; full me twice shame on me. Three times is a trend. I do think it requires a big change. What that change is it's tough to say. I think the NCAA may take a more serious look at what people are calling them to do which is handing off investigations to third parties or creating an internal affairs unit. If this is a result of public pressure and an underfunded, undermanned enforcement staff, I'm not necessarily sure those things will fix the problem long term other than creating the same type of cycle where schools get caught, clean things up, fall off a little bit and break rules again. The NCAA isn't in a position or the public standing to keep things the same way. They have to come up with something to address this problem long term to sort of regain any public trust."

Q: Gut feeling in the end: Does Miami gets off easier?

"At this point I would be shocked about another post-season ban. I also would be surprised to see crippling scholarship penalties. I do think they will be let off a little easier than they would have been. The biggest challenge now for the NCAA is to explain [to other school] in a way that Miami didn't get a break on a technicality. That won't sit well with people either."

Sources: FSU's Coley weighing whether or not to take Canes' vacant offensive coordinator job

Florida State offensive coordinator James Coley could be on the verge of turning in the garnet and gold for green and orange.

Multiple sources close to Coley told The Miami Herald Wednesday afternoon the 39-year old Miami High and FSU graduate has been in discussions with University of Miami coach Al Golden to fill the Hurricanes' vacant play-caller position. Coley has told several people close to him he's been offered the job and is now weighing the whether to take it or not.

Coley, who makes $390,000 to prepare the game plans for the Seminoles before head coach Jimbo Fisher calls the plays on game days, was offered $500,000 to become UM's next offensive coordinator a source told our Barry Jackson. The source said while FSU matched the offer, Fisher is not willing to give up his play-calling duties.

Coley was offered the offensive coordinator position at Kentucky last month, but turned it down. He's been looking to get the opportunity to call plays on gameday.

Former UM offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch left the team over the weekend for the same position with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Coley called plays for FIU in Mario Cristobal's first season as coach in 2007 and then moved to FSU where he's worked as the tight ends coach, recruiting coordinator and most recently the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. 

Coley has always had strong recruiting ties to South Florida throughout his career and his addition to UM's staff would be a boon two weeks before signing day.

At Miami High from 1998-2000, Coley coached Roscoe Parrish and Andre Johnson. He then served as the offensive coordinator at Miami Norland when Dwyane Bowe and the Vikings won a state title in 2002. He was then a grad assistant at LSU under Nick Saban for two years before moving onto the Dolphins with him for two more years. At FIU, the Golden Panthers finished just 1-11, but were coming off an 0-12 season and were in the process of rebuilding when Coley left for the Seminoles.

NCAA admits wrongdoing in investigation into UM; with audio of Emmert press conference

The NCAA dropped a bombshell Wednesday afternoon, admitting it improperly obtained information through Nevin Shapiro's lawyer for the purposes of its investigation into alleged violations by the University of Miami's football and men's basketball programs.

NCAA President Mark Emmert told reporters in a national teleconference that college sports governing body has hired outside council to investigate its findings and will not move forward with a Notice of Allegations toward UM or any parties involved until it is completed.

Using phrases such as "grossly in appropriate" and "shocking," Emmert said the NCAA must sift through the information improperly obtained and throw it out. He said he hopes that process doesn't take any longer than a week to two weeks.

"We can’t have the NCAA bringing forward allegations collected by processes no one can stand for," Emmert said. "We have to go through all of the evidence to determine what has and has not been appropriately collected and influenced by improper conduct. One of the questions that has to be answered is 'What was the nature of that contractual arrangement [with Nevin Shapiro's lawyer Maria Elena Perez]? What was all the activity that she was involved with? How did this individual engage in these activities on our behalf?"

Because the NCAA does not have subpoena power, Emmert said NCAA investigators improperly used Shapiro's lawyer to depose individuals and question them in Shapiro's bankruptcy case. Emmert said the NCAA didn't learn until recently it had been going about its investigation this way -- despite multiple reports in many publications including The Miami Herald.

How did the NCAA learn investigators had been acting inappropriately? Receipts turned in by investigators for legal work by Perez, Emmert said.

Asked if this could be a mistrial and help Miami, Emmert responded: "It's premature to answer that question... This is a shocking affair."

AUDIO: NCAA PRESIDENT MARK EMMERT TELECONFERENCE

UM President Donna Shalala released the following statement moments ago in reaction to the NCAA's findings. 

“Since the University first alerted the NCAA to the possibility of violations more than two years ago, we have been cooperative and compliant with the NCAA and, I believe, a model for how institutions should partner with NCAA staff during investigations. In addition to encouraging current and former staff members and student-athletes to cooperate with investigators, we have provided thousands of documents to the enforcement staff.

"I am frustrated, disappointed and concerned by President Emmert’s announcement today that the integrity of the investigation may have been compromised by the NCAA staff.

"As we have done since the beginning, we will continue to work with the NCAA and now with their outside investigator hoping for a swift resolution of the investigation and our case.

"I want to thank our community for their continued support and patience. Stand with the U.”

Mike James gets a late invite to Saturday's Senior Bowl

Didn't get a chance to pass this along earlier because I was working the phones, but Canes running back Mike James has been invited as a late addition for Saturday's Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala.

James, replacing injured Clemson running back Andre Ellington on the South roster, will be the 63rd Miami Hurricane to play in the Senior Bowl and the first Canes running back since Cleveland Gary in 1989.

It will be James' second postseason college bowl invite; the Haines City, Fla., native rushed for 21 yards in the 2013 NFLPA Collegiate Bowl held on Jan. 19 in Carson, Calif.

James started all 12 games at running back for the Hurricanes in 2012, finishing as the team’s second-leading rusher with 642 yards and six touchdowns. He piled up 1,386 rushing yards and 17 TDs, while catching 67 passes for 585 yards and five touchdowns in his career. He was one of 11 FBS players named to the 2012 AFCA Allstate Good Works Team in September.

Kickoff Saturday is set for 4 p.m. The game will be televised on the NFL Network.

COUPLE ITEMS

> Be sure to follow our Michelle Kaufman for all updates on tonight's big Canes-Duke basketball game. Canesport.com reported earlier today that several big time recruits will be attending the game, set for a 7 p.m. tipoff. Among those expected in the crowd: Booker T. Washington linebacker Matthew Thomas, South Plantation running back Alex Collins, Oakland Park Northeast receiver Stacy Coley, Northwestern safety Artie Burns, Southridge safety Jamal Carter and Ely cornerback Rashard Robinson. Yes, there will also be tributes and moments of silence during the game for legendary baseball coach Ron Fraser. 

> Miramar linebacker Jermaine Grace, who was originally set to make his college announcement on Tuesday, will now make it sometime next week according to his coach Damon Cogdell. Louisville, whom Grace visited last weekend, is taking advantage of the extra time with an in-home visit this week. Cogdell said the delay is due to the fact he's working with producers to get Grace's announcement made on television.

Is FSU offensive coordinator James Coley a candidate for Jedd Fisch's old job at UM?

The rumors are spreading: Florida State offensive coordinator James Coley could be Miami's next offensive coordinator. 

Settle down Canes fans. This Coley story is just rumor-driven for now.

Nothing we've heard out of UM today or even FSU suggests Coley is in the running. We're not even sure he's been interviewed or spoken to UM coach Al Golden yet. But be patient. It's not out of the realm of possibility he could be. 

A source close to Coley told me this morning the 39-year old Miami High graduate and former offensive coordinator under Mario Cristobal at FIU in 2007 is definitely interested in getting into a position where he could call plays and make a name for himself. Right now at Florida State, head coach Jimbo Fisher calls play. Coley prepares the game plan all week and then on game days assists Fisher from the press box. 

Although Coley is a Florida State grad, a return home to South Florida for obvious reasons would be appealing. 

"I grew up on Northwest 4th Street and 18th Avenue, about two blocks from the Orange Bowl," Coley told our Susan Miller Degnan in the days leading up to this year's Orange Bowl. "The Orange Bowl was ‑‑ as kids in that community, that was our playground. Hide and seek and running onto the field and throwing the football, getting chased by the security guards, getting out of there, and parking cars. You might have parked at my house if you went to one of the games."

Coley has always had strong recruiting ties to South Florida throughout his career.

At Miami High from 1998-2000 he coached Roscoe Parrish and Andre Johnson. He then served as the offensive coordinator at Miami Norland when Dwyane Bowe and the Vikings won a state title in 2002. He was then a grad assistant at LSU under Nick Saban for two years before moving onto the Dolphins with him for two more years. At FIU, in Cristobal's first season as coach in 2007, the Golden Panthers finished just 1-11. It was Coley's only season as offensive coordinator (FIU was coming off an 0-12 season and terrible). Coley then moved onto FSU where he's worked as the tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator and now the offensive coordinator.

By taking Coley away from FSU it would also further help Miami's recruiting efforts and hurt the Seminoles, who lost a number of assistants. Is that a reason to hire an offensive coordinator away? No. But it's another reason to give Coley consideration.

Stay tuned to see if this develops into something legit. 

NCAA Bylaw Blog writer John Infante talks positives, negatives for UM with latest developments

With reports surfacing that former basketball coach Frank Haith and football recruiting coordinators Clint Hurtt and Aubrey Hill are expected to be charged with unethical conduct in the NCAA's investigation into wrongdoing done at the University of Miami, I sought the expertise of NCAA Bylaw Blog writer John Infante Tuesday morning to digest what we are hearing and how it might affect the program.

Infante, a former compliance officer at NCAA Division I schools, has been running the Bylaw Blog for over two years and his expertise has been featured on ESPN, Sports Illustrated, USA Today and numerous other media outlets. Keep in mind he isn't privy to the information the NCAA has on Miami. He simply is giving his opinion based on what he's read from published reports.

Here is the transcript of my 15 minute one-on-one Q&A with him:

Q: There were reports Monday that about four former basketball coaches and at least two former assistant football coaches will be cited for violating bylaw 10.1 "unethical conduct" in the NCAA's investigation. How does that affect Miami positively or negatively?

"Well, it sounds like nearly all the assistants are being charged with unethical conduct and it also sounds like Frank Haith is going to be charged with failing to create an atmosphere of compliance, which generally only head coaches are charged with. It can be helpful [for Miami]. The biggest thing is when you have that many coaches [charged with unethical conduct] and go in front of the Committee on Infractions there's going to be a lot of people in the room to spread blame around. When you talk about the presentations and the answers given in front of the COI, I think generally the feeling is amongst a lot of people who have gone through that process is that coaches tend not to perform as well as the institution does. In the end for Miami, it all kind of depends what kind of charges the school is facing. We kind of expect in addition to the specific violations the NCAA feels it has evidence of it's pretty much a guarantee there is going to be a failure to monitor charge. I would also be surprised if there is not a lack of institutional control charge as well. If Miami's cooperation is considered better and the coaches don't perform well in the hearing that could lead to the COI sort of finding that in spite of institutional failings by Miami this was more the coaches fault and bring the penalties down on the coaches more than on the institution -- especially considering the two post-season bans the [football program] has already imposed."

Q: How much does Miami taking a two-year ban help its case with football?

"You're probably looking at no more than [two years]. Three years of post-season ban is pretty rare -- given the USC case, which is some of the harshest sanctions. Being already two years, I'm not sure you add a third one to a school that has self-imposed two. In terms of scholarships or recruiting restrictions, I don't know if it will have as big of an impact there. I kind of feel like they took care of that post-season penalty. The COI will impose other penalties they see fit and not go into any further post-season bans. If they did that's something Miami would probably appeal."

Q: We've heard UM has done a good job cooperating with the NCAA. How much does that help?

"I forget where I saw it reported but I have seen more than just cooperation, but exceptional cooperation. One of the things fans see is that schools get rewarded for cooperating, but there is a level of cooperation you have to do to meet your obligation and then there's a level you get extra credit for. [Cooperation is] making sure you get to interview everybody you want. Going and suggesting you should interview this guy as well because he may have information too -- that's when you see something like exceptional cooperation. It could be that [the NCAA is] giving [Miami] a little bit of praise publicly just because it wants to. But it could also mean [Miami is] reaching a certain level of cooperation that has significance in the NCAA investigation where they might get a break on a penalty as a result."

Q: Would exceptional cooperation be telling former athletes that if they didn't cooperate they wouldn't be allowed back on the sidelines? We've heard that and our Barry Jackson reported that last week.

"If they were able to get people who normally wouldn't have replied to the NCAA or allowed themselves to be interviewed by the NCAA and Miami helped make that happen -- especially athletes UM has no jurisdiction over -- that's going above and beyond what the NCAA asks on the case. That may lead to a lessening of penalties. But there is already a high bar for cooperation. You have to go above and beyond that to get any sort of relief from penalties in front of the COI. Having the coaches there especially if Miami is going along with it and agreeing to the findings of the NOA and the coaches aren't the ones fighting, in the end you are dealing with people who are making a judgement call. Being the one that's not fighting and the ones who want to raise a fuss about stuff makes the school look better in comparison."

Q: Former coach Randy Shannon has not linked to any of this. In fact, we've heard stories and its been reported he was telling his players and coaches to stay away from Nevin Shapiro. Does that help Miami's football program in this case considering it appears Haith was involved with Shapiro.

"It certainly does. We've seen Shannon not being named in any of the violations and him not facing any unethical conduct or failing to promote an atmosphere of compliance charges. Because he is the head coach, he is supposed to be the one as the direct link to the administration and what they do in terms of monitoring and applying compliance. If he did that well, that helps show there was a chain of command of monitoring and promoting institutional control and thus the blame falls on the assistant coaches. If that's the case then, we may see kind of a smaller failure to monitor or lack of institutional control that could end up more centered on the basketball violations where it looks like the head coach was involved in some manner. While charges like failure to monitor are institution violations it can get to be more specific than that. It can focus on what sport led to that charge."

Q: Will UM's history play a factor? The school was still under probation for baseball violations through the 2005-2006 academic year.

"It will. It certainly will be brought up by the COI. But I think it's more important if [Miami] is considered a repeat violator in this case. I believe a lot of that depends on how far back the NCAA is able to prove the violations. I believe they had a case [in baseball] in the mid 2000s. If they did in that case -- as Yahoo! reported -- they would definitely be under a repeat violator status. The thing is we haven't seen with that repeat violator status -- outside of the USC case -- that there have been significantly harsher penalties as a result. UCF is one example. UCF was under repeat violator status -- kind of a similar violation as Miami in terms of a booster or third party who is providing benefits on a smaller scale. But again we sort of saw them impose sort of a standard penalty the COI has been imposing, losing scholarships, a one-year post-season ban, recruiting restrictions, going after the individuals and sort of move on. I think the Miami case is probably a little too big for that. But again, I do kind of think in some ways the COI is going through the motions until the new enforcement program starts up in August. There is a little bit of a sense of the current process having a lame duck quality to it. That play in Miami's favor as well."

Q: How is the NCAA's new process different and how does the fact Miami doesn't fall under the new rules help?

"The new rules are going to be harsher, it's going to be a different kind of process and involve different people. We just saw there are eight new people appointed. So, I think because of this reset almost, the NCAA sees there are flaws in this process and as of Aug. 1, 2013 were going to fix it. While the current cases are taken seriously, the fact the same penalties have been applied in the last two or three cases sort of suggests they're not going with the same fire and brimstone as they did with USC. That helps Miami."

PODCAST: Recruiting talk with InsideTheU's David Lake

Herald Sports Writer Manny Navarro talks recruiting with InsideTheU's David Lake after the Hurricanes' big weekend.

Among the players discussed: South Plantation RB Alex Collins, Port St. Lucie Centennial DL Jay-nard Bostwick, Ely CB Rashard Robinson, Booker T. Washington OL Denver Kirkland and LB Matthew Thomas and new commitment Butler (Kan.) JUCO DL Ufomba Kamalu.

PODCAST LINK

NCAA investigation, Canes' recruiting chatter

Long day Monday and I fully expect the rest of the week to be busy now that the NCAA appears ready to hand the University of Miami and others its notice of allegations any day now. 

> Ultimately what I've come to understand through two sources is that the NCAA reached out verbally to the lawyers of the parties involved in the investigation last week (that includes schools where former assistants are now at) to let them know what they will be receiving in the coming week and to be prepared for it. All parties are expected to receive their notice of allegations via email sometime soon (UM should be in the same boat because this is how the process works). All parties then have 90 days to respond in writing to the NCAA before appearing at a hearing in front of the NCAA Infractions Committee in four to six months. So, as has been reported many times, we are far off from the punishment phase. You can look at it as the first half of this 22-month investigation being over.

> A source close to former UM recruiting coordinator and receivers coach Aubrey Hill told me Monday what what CBSSports.com first reported -- that Hill is expected to be cited for "unethical conduct," better known as a violation of Bylaw 10.1. Hill resigned at the University of Florida prior to the 2012 season and had far less interaction with Nevin Shapiro according to my source than Clint Hurtt. But both will reportedly face the music for not being as forthcoming as they should have been when being interviewed by the NCAA.

> A source told me two former UM assistants who are not expected to be hit hard by the NCAA are Alabama's Jeff Stoutland and Joe Pannunzio because they were honest and up front with investigators. Pannunzio is now the director of operations at Alabama; Stoutland the offensive line coach. What they could and most likely will face as punishment for driving recruits to see Shapiro are suspensions and fines, but not the dreaded 10.1. FYI, information on all coaches at non-private schools is public record. So eventually what all former assistants are facing will come out. UM, being a private school, does not have to share its NOA. 

> Don't be surprised in the end if certain individuals who played big roles in the NCAA's investigation are not named in the report and do not face any charges. As we've mentioned in the past, some who cooperated with investigators are granted immunity. In some cases, as I was told by a source interviewed by the NCAA, people who broke rules may only end up being referenced in the report and not face charges. 

> In the meantime, as the NCAA investigation continues to unfold, UM coach Al Golden and his staff are busy recruiting and preparing for National Signing Day. After it's big recruiting weekend UM picked up just one commitment -- from Nigerian-born JUCO defensive tackle Ufomba Kamalu. But another commitment could soon be on the way this week in Miramar outside linebacker Jermaine Grace.

The Rivals.com 4-star recruit visited Louisville this past weekend and was supposed to announce his college choice Tuesday morning, but Miramar coach Damon Cogdell told me yesterday Grace will now wait until Thursday or Friday. Cogdell said he was "working with TV" to have the announcement broadcast. Grace, who has long thought to be a Hurricanes lean, will choose between UM, Louisville and Tennessee.

"He likes them all," Cogdell told me on Monday of Grace's final three. "Louisville is coming off the win against Florida and talking national championship. UM is young, but loaded. Tennessee has a new coach. We're going to sit down tomorrow and figure it out."

I'm fairly confident Grace will elect to stay home. He is close friends with Hurricanes cornerback Tracy Howard, his former Miramar teammate and Miramar's coaches believe he can come in and help UM's defense right away.

> Although the mother of Port St. Lucie Centennial defensive lineman Jaynard Bostwick told Canesport.com Sunday her son's "heart is at The U" and that she thinks he'll end up there, his coach sounded a little less confident Monday it was a complete slam dunk.

"He has a trip to Florida this weekend or next weekend and then he'll make his decision," Centennial coach Ron Parker said. "I think he wants to wait until National Signing Day. I told him if you want to let the coach of the school know ahead of time, that's fine too. But he'll make the announcement on Signing Day. It's between Miami, Alabama and Florida."

Bostwick, 6-3, 305-pounds according to Parker, is the cousin of UM linebacker Thurston Armbrister and has a sister that lives in Broward County. Parker said UM coach Al Golden already did an in-home visit with Bostwick last week. He finished his senior season as a third team all-state selection, registering 60 tackles, two sacks and 7.5 tackles for loss while also being a big-time run blocker at tight end.

"He's a moose -- strong, explosive," Parker said. "We had him mostly on the edge. His junior year he had a better year because he had better players around him. This year we had nobody of that caliber. We moved him around inside and out. If he gets a little more flexible he can play on the edge at the next level."

Parker said Bostwick maxed out at 353 pounds on the bench press and squated 535 pounds. "He's just a big kid -- not fat at all," Parker said. "He's only the third kid I've had to play all four years at the varsity level in my 23 years of coaching."

Parker said Bostwick still has some work to do in the classroom. He said Bostwick, rated a 4-star recruit by both Rivals.com, 247Sports and ESPN, has a 2.3 GPA and scored a 20 on his ACT.

"We don't want him to be close; we want him to have everything he needs," Parker said. "I want him to take on online class to replace some D's he made his freshman and sophomore year. By doing that he'll bring his GPA up."

> Rivals.com recruiting analyst Robert Cassidy said of the three JUCO recruits UM has in its class tight end Beau Sandland is clearly the best and the most ready to contribute right away. Sandland was rated the No. 1 JUCO tight end by 247Sports.com after catching 24 passes for 267 yards and 3 TDs at Los Angeles Pierce College this past season.

"There's going to be some work with [outside linebacker] Devante Bond and Kamalu, but Sandland is more of a slam dunk," Cassidy said. "He's a major Division 1 football player right now. All the tools are there. Good hands. He shines with blocking too, not afraid of laying a guy on his back. He's one of my favorite JUCO players in the country."

Cassidy said he's a bit surprised Sandland ended up at Miami, even though Sandland liked UM's tradition at tight end and sees himself as sort of Jeremy Shockey-type.

"Every school in the country was recruiting him. He had a bunch of offers. But he basically had to ruled out the entire SEC because they don't take online math he took as credit," Cassidy explained. "He really liked Florida. He was all geeked to visit Florida. But it ended up coming down to Miami, Arizona State and Nebraska and he felt like he could make the bigger impact at Miami."

> As far as UM's vacant offensive coordinator position goes, I haven't heard anything serious yet. Some have wondered if Mario Cristobal would do it. That's not happening. Cristobal isn't a play-caller. He's a great recruiter and very good offensive line coach.

Funeral Arrangements Set for Ron Fraser, the "Wizard of College Baseball."

Hello Canes fans,

    Here is the release we just received from University of Miami re: Ron Fraser's funeral arrangements. May he rest in peace.

Funeral Arrangements Set for Ron Fraser

 

“Wizard of College Baseball” died Sunday at age 79

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Funeral arrangements for Ron Fraser, nicknamed the “Wizard of College Baseball”, who guided the Miami Hurricanes baseball program for 30 seasons, have been set by the Fraser family.

 Visitation will be held from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. on Sun., Jan. 27 at Stanfill Funeral Homes in Miami (10545 S. Dixie Highway). A funeral mass will be held at 10 a.m. on Mon., Jan. 28 at St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church in Southwest Ranches (5601 S. Flamingo Road).

 The burial will be private for the Fraser Family in Ron’s hometown of Nutley, N.J.

 “A Celebration of the Life of Ron Fraser” will be held Sat., Feb. 23 on the University of Miami campus. Details will be announced at a later date. The Fraser Family be in attendance and will receive friends following the program. Afterwards, the celebration will move to Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field for Miami’s baseball game against Milwaukee. The game has been designated as the “Remembering Ron Fraser” game, with game proceeds donated to the Ron Fraser Wizard Fund.

 Fraser, who led the Hurricanes to the 1982 and 1985 College World Series titles, coached Miami from 1963-92, amassing a 1,271-438-9 record and ended his career as the third-winningest coach in NCAA history. He was the NCAA Coach of the Year four times while at the helm at ‘The U’. He was named World Amateur Coach of the Year for leading the U.S. to its only World Amateur Championship in 1973.

 Fraser led Miami to 20 consecutive NCAA Regional berths and 12 College World Series appearances. More than 100 of his former players went on to play professionally in Major League Baseball.  In 1990, he was named “Coach of the Decade” for the 1980s by Collegiate Baseball. Fraser also enjoyed international success in leading the U.S. National Team to a Silver Medal at the 1971 and 1987 Pan American Games. He also served as head coach of the first U.S. Olympic baseball team in 1992. He led the Netherlands to three European Baseball Championships in 1960, 1962 and 1973. He is a member of 10 different halls of fame, including both the University of Miami and Florida State.

 RON FRASER WIZARD FUND

In lieu of flowers, the Fraser Family has requested that contributions be made to the Ron Fraser Wizard Fund. 

Established by the University of Miami in recognition of his lifetime of accomplishments and a distinguished legacy of helping others, the Ron Fraser Wizard Fund will honor the Hall of Fame coach with a bronze statue to be placed at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field, and help maintain the Hurricane Baseball program as the nation’s finest.

Friends and fans of the man nicknamed “The Wizard of College Baseball” can make contributions to the Ron Fraser Wizard Fund by clicking here. All gifts are tax-deductible. For more information or to make a donation by check, contact Rick Remmert, UM's Director of Alumni Programs, at 305-284-9517, or by e-mail at r.remmert@miami.edu.

 SUSAN MILLER DEGNAN

 

 

 

8:13 a.m. Tuesday: statement by Frank Haith's lawyer reaffirming what he told us last night. Still hasn't gotten notice of allegations

 

   Michael L. Buckner, an attorney on former University of Miami and current Missouri head men’s basketball coach Frank Haith’s legal team, issued the following statement just now in response to CBSSports.com’s January 21, 2013, report:

“Until my client, Frank Haith, receives a notice of allegations from the NCAA, the CBSSports.com report is premature. The NCAA’s investigation in the University of Miami enforcement case is ongoing. Thus, if the NCAA had completed its inquiry, then Coach Haith would have received a notice of allegations. However, as of the morning of January 22, 2013, Coach Haith has not received the notice of allegations. Any speculation or information attributed to anonymous sources cannot be relied on until the NCAA makes a final decision on the evidence and issues the notice to the University of Miami and any other persons at-risk in the case. It is unfortunate that CBSSports.com’s unnamed source believed violating the NCAA confidentiality rules was worthwhile. The report did not advance anyone’s interests (except the source’s) and is making a mockery of what is supposed to be a fair process. Nevertheless, based on the testimony of my client, the media reports of other persons’ statements and the voluminous records we shared with the NCAA, any allegations asserted by Nevin Shapiro against my client cannot be supported.”

 

 

Reports on Haith, two UM assistants begin NCAA whirlwind

New reports emerged on Monday pertaining to the ongoing NCAA investigation and the University of Miami's men's basketball program and football team.

The first report -- courtesy of CBSSports.com's sources -- revolves around former basketball coach Frank Haith potentially facing charges of unethical conduct when he receives his notice of allegations soon. The source also told CBSSports.com that former Haith assistants Jake Morton, Jorge Fernandez and Michael Schwartz will each be charged with unethical conduct.

The other -- according to the Associated Press' sources -- involves two former assistant coaches being told they will be charged with unethical conduct for not cooperating with the investigation when UM receives its notice of allegations.

Haith's attorney has already told The Miami Herald the CBSSports.com story is "premature."

Canes land commitment from Nigerian-born JUCO defensive lineman

A handful of Canes recruiting websites reported that UM landed its 14th commitment on Sunday morning from Nigerian-born Junior College defensive end Ufomba Kamalu.

Listed at 6-6, 280 pounds, Kamalu led Butler Community College (Kan.) with 7.5 sacks and finished the 2012 season with 54 tackles, 14 tackles for loss, four forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries. He is the third JUCO player the Hurricanes have netted in their 2013 class, joining highly-touted 6-6, 260-pound tight end Beau Sandland (he's already signed and in school) and outside linebacker Devante Bond (6-3, 230).

Robert Cassidy, who covers JUCO football for Rivals.com, saw Kamalu play this season.

"Butler had the best defense in the country JUCO wise," Cassidy said. "They had a lot of good players on that roster. [Kamalu is] a really big kid, very raw because he's only been playing football a few years. He relies a little bit on bull rushes. He just runs kids over. He's one of those kids who is going to need some coaching. If the staff at Miami can mold him into a football player, he has the potential to be a great player. There is definitely some technique that he needs to work on."

Kamalu, rated a 2-star prospect by Rivals.com and a three-star by ESPN, will reportedly cancel planned visits to West Virginia and Auburn now that he's committed to UM. Canesport.com reported Kamalu could play defensive end, tackle or tight end at Miami - coaches will put him at the position where he can get on the field quickest.

This weekend was a big recruiting weekend for the Hurricanes, who hosted prized South Plantation tailback Alex Collins, Miami Booker T. Washington offensive lineman Denver Kirkland and Port St. Lucie defensive tackle Jaynard Bostwick. Several commitments including running back Ray Lewis III, quarterback Kevin Olsen and defensive backs Artie Burns and Jamal Carter also took their official visits to Coral Gables this weekend.

Stay tuned for recruiting updates as they come. Twitter will always have the news first.

Kevin Olsen's father says the four-star quarterback is "absolutely'' not wavering on his commitment to Miami Hurricanes

I just spoke to the father of Miami Hurricanes four-star quarterback recruit Kevin Olsen, who is in Coral Gables this weekend with his parents for his official recruiting trip.

Chris Olsen, who just retired as the Wayne Hills (N.J.) High School football coach after a storied 26-season career, said Kevin will "absolutely" still attend the University of Miami, despite today's announcement that offensive coordinator Jedd Fish has left to become the Jacksonville Jaguars' offensive coordinator.

"Al Golden is the main guy,'' Chris said of UM's head coach. "We certainly had a good relationship with Jedd and really liked him. And we certainly anticipate the next guy being very similar -- whoever it may be.

  "We weren't expecting this, but it's a great opportunity for Jedd and everybody has to do what's best for them. Jedd had a great opportunity and he was the perfect person for the job. To be a coordinator in the NFL, those opportunities don't come around very often. There's never a good time, but if that's something to which you aspire, if it comes around you've got to take it.''

  Chris Olsen, who is in South Florida with his wife, Sue, said Kevin had "a great day today and a great day Friday'' during his visit, and that he was taking a nap.

  Concluded Olsen: "I think things will fall in place. I'm sure Al Golden has a plan.''

  SUSAN MILLER DEGNAN

Al Golden and Jedd Fisch statements regarding Jedd leaving the Miami Hurricanes

Jedd Fisch statement:

“I want to thank President [Donna] Shalala, Athletic Director Blake James, Coach [Al] Golden, the coaching staff and all of the incredible student-athletes that I have come in contact with since joining the program [in] January 2011.  There are 32 NFL Offensive Coordinator jobs and the opportunity to become the Jacksonville Jaguars Offensive Coordinator this year was based on all of the successes our program has had in the past two years.  I am so excited to watch the Miami Hurricane and Jacksonville Jaguar football teams compete for and win championships this year and the years to come.  There is no doubt that this program is one of the premiere in the country and I am grateful that I can always say I am part of the Hurricane Family.”

 

Al Golden statement:

"It's been a great week for the University of Miami and the NFL as evidenced by the hires of Marc Trestman (Chicago Bears) and Rob Chudzinski (Cleveland Browns) as head coaches, having the most former players participating in the conference championship games Sunday and now the hiring of Jedd Fisch as the offensive coordinator with the Jacksonville Jaguars.  We are happy for Jedd and his family.  Jedd has done a great job for us here at the University of Miami and we are proud of the contributions he made to our program over the past two seasons.  We wish him and amber and the Jacksonville Jaguars the best of luck for years to come."

 

Unfortunate news for the Miami Hurricanes: OC Jedd Fisch leaves UM for same position at Jacksonville Jaguars

We all knew this would happen eventually.

I, for one, was hoping it wouldn't happen this season, but, naturally, not convinced that it wouldn't.

Hurricanes offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch, all-around good person, smart person, great communicator and teacher -- not to mention well-loved by his present and former players -- has left the University of Miami to become an offensive coordinator with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Great hire by the Jaguars. Big loss for the Hurricanes.

The breaking news, first reported by ESPN's Adam Schefter, came on the same day Miami quarterback of the future Kevin Olsen is visiting the Coral Gables campus with his parents. Kevin really likes Jedd Fisch, as well as Coach Al Golden, and repeatedly has said the coaches are a big reason he's strongly committed to the Canes.

Fisch did wonders with Stephen Morris, and former quarterback Jacory Harris for that matter. But we all had a strong feeling he wanted to return one day to the NFL. 

So now, in between hosting recruits today and dealing with the NCAA issues, Golden has to find an offensive coordinator that will make everyone feel willing to keep their commitment.

Hurricanes fans must feel like punching bags by now.

SUSAN MILLER DEGNAN

Former Canes CB Finnie, headed to court Thursday, expected to end up in pretrial diversion program

The lawyer for former Hurricanes cornerback Thomas Finnie expects him to end up in a pretrial diversion program after he makes a court appearance Thursday morning court appearance to face grand theft charges.

Attorney Ken Swartz said because Finnie is a first-time offender he should be able to wrap up his run-in with the law rather easily. The former Miami Central standout was arrested and charged with grand theft and burglary Dec. 11 for his role in a laptop theft on UM's campus the week prior. 

UM suspended Finnie indefinitely then dismissed him from the program earlier this month. Should Finnie complete the pretrial diversion (a four-hour class), all charges would be dismissed.

A family friend told The Miami Herald Finnie will likely end up playing at Bethune-Cookman next season.

Finnie started the first six games of the season for UM and finished with 30 tackles and one interception.

Alex Collins wants to see if he can envision himself as a Hurricane on his official visit

Alex Collins has been down to the University of Miami at least a handful of times since the Hurricanes became the first major FBS program to offer him a scholarship last year when he was a junior.

But those unofficial visits down to Coral Gables, Collins explained Wednesday, were usually just trips to have fun. Friday, Collins will head back down to UM with a different mindset -- to see if playing for coach Al Golden and the Hurricanes is something he can really envision himself doing.

"When I went there before I didn't go there with the mindset of 'Can I be here for the next four years of my life? Is this a school I can see myself at? Am I comfortable here?,' " said Collins, rated the No. 1 all-purpose running back in the country by 247Sports.com.

"I always would go down there and was just sort of happy to be there, like 'This is a nice place. I'm happy to see the coaches, players.' I never went there to envision 'Is this my future?' "

Collins (5-11, 200) hopes to figure that out soon. Once committed to the Hurricanes for almost a year until he decided in November to pull back and look at all of his options, Collins said he's still mulling over a top five or six with three weeks to go before National Signing Day.

So why has it taken Collins so long to narrow things down? Well, as his coach Doug Gatewood explained Wednesday, "it's hard for Alex to tell anybody 'No.'"

"I like to make everyone happy," said Collins, who ran for 1,276 yards and 14 touchdowns in 11 games his senior season. "It's always hard to make everyone happy. But to tell coaches no thank you makes you feel like you're missing out on an opportunity.'

"My worst fear is that after I make my decision I say 'Dang I made a mistake.' That's why I've tried to take every visit so I don't have a doubt in my mind."

AUDIO OF COLLINS INTERVIEW WITH MANNY NAVARRO

Collins, who already visited Florida, Wisconsin and Florida State, did say 'No' to somebody on Wednesday: Louisville assistant coach Clint Hurtt, who visited South Plantation in hopes of trying to sway him to take a visit there before Signing Day.

As it stands, the Hurricanes are a bit fortunate to be getting a visit from Collins this weekend. The University of Texas, who began recruiting Collins after he went out to California and played in the Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl in California, was pushing for Collins to take a visit to Austin this weekend instead of Coral Gables. But in the end, Collins decided to stick with his original plan.

Next week, though, Collins will take his last official visit to Arkansas, where former Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema and assistant Charlie Partridge are trying hard to sway him.

Collins, who at one point had a top three of Miami, Florida State and Wisconsin, explained Wednesday how coaching changes at FSU and Wisconsin really shook up the big picture for him. At one point after de-committing from Miami, Florida State was Collins' leader. But once FSU running backs coach Eddie Gran left to become the offensive coordinator at Cincinnati last month, that changed everything.

"Now as it sit down and think about it I don't have a leader," Collins aid. "Everybody is level. Everybody has the same opportunity."

As far as the Hurricanes are concerned, Collins said looming NCAA sanctions are no longer a serious negative for him because the program decided to self-impose a second bowl ban and is "starting to punish themselves" so the NCAA's sanctions "shouldn't be as harsh."

Ultimately, Collins said, reaching a decision on where to sign will not be easy. He said he's already tried sitting down and making lists of positive factors and negative factors for each school. "It's hard to go by a list," Collins said.

He's studied rosters; which majors are available at each school (he wants to study either criminal justice, broadcasting or sports medicine) and is listening to his mother (who is pushing UM because she wants him close to home) and his coach (a Hurricanes fan who wants Collins to make the best decision for himself in the end). Collins said ultimately it will probably just come down to where he feels most comfortable.

In terms of personnel at the respective schools and the way these programs utilize running backs, Gatewood said Collins "wants to be at a program that more of a featured back than a back by committee."

"That's what he always liked at Wisconsin," Gatewood said. "Even though they used three running backs, Montee Ball was the running back. Whenever he needed a break, they brought James White in. Whereas Florida and Florida State use the back by committee approach. Arkansas has the same staff as Wisconsin so you assume they'll do the same thing as Wisconsin.

"Miami is hard to tell because depth was an issue. They really couldn't do back by committee because there wasn't enough of a committee. Florida isn't going to change. They're going to be the same as they've always been. Florida State is going to be same. Jimbo [Fisher] is not going to change because Eddie [Gran] left."

The Hurricanes are looking for a bigger back like Collins to compliment ACC Freshman of the Year Duke Johnson, who will have senior Eduardo Clements and redshirt freshman Danny Dillard backing him up in 2013. Collins, who maintains a friendship with Johnson on Facebook and talks to him occasionally, said Wednesday he feels like there is an opportunity to play at Miami and that he can "come in and perform and get playing time as a freshman."

Said Collins of Johnson: "I would hate to go down there and take his spot."

Gatewood, who has maintained long-term friendships with Bielema, Gran and Partridge through recruiting in his time as a coach in South Florida, said anyone who gets the idea he wants Collins to leave South Florida "is off base." He said he would love to see Collins play at Miami, but is staying out of the decision-making process.

"In the end, I'm just hoping to get an answer after these next two visits," Collins said. "It's not going to be easy. I'm going to have say 'No' to a few people on Feb. 6.'"

> Miami Northwestern safety Artie Burns, who received a visit at school Wednesday from LSU coach Les Miles, said he and fellow UM commitments Jamal Carter and Kevin Olsen will take officials visits to Miami this weekend to help solidify this year's signing class. 

"We got a few guys like Alex Collins, Denver Kirkland and others we want to make sure become Hurricanes," Burns said. "Coach Golden has a good thing going. We're turning things around."

PODCAST: The latest on Canes' big recruiting weekend with InsideTheU's David Lake

The Miami Hurricanes have three visit weekends left before National Signing Day, but this next one will be a big one for Al Golden and his coaching staff.

Three four-star South Florida recruits -- South Plantation running back Alex Collins, Booker T. Washington offensive lineman Denver Kirkland and Port St. Lucie Centennial defensive tackle Jay-Nard Bostwick -- will be visiting Coral Gables this weekend. 

The Hurricanes, who currently have one player signed and 12 other commitments as part of its 2013 class, have another five to six spots they could end up filling (thank Thomas Finnie and Gionni Paul for the extra slots) by Feb. 6. Golden told WQAM last week the Canes were willing to wait until the end to land some big-time kids late. We'll see if the gamble pays off. 

I caught up with InsideTheU staff writer David Lake, who covers Canes recruiting about as deeply as anyone, on Tuesday to discuss the latest on the Canes recruiting front and this big weekend.  If you've got about 12-13 minutes tune in.

EYE ON THE U PODCAST

COLLINS UPDATE

As for Collins, considered the nation's No. 1 running back according to 247Sports.com, South Plantation High coach Doug Gatewood told me this afternoon the former UM commitment is really undecided with what he'll do. Miami, Florida State, Wisconsin, Florida and Arkansas are all in the picture.

Texas, Gatewood told me, is trying to make push to get Collins' last official visit next weekend. He's currently scheduled to visit Arkansas.

"I asked Alex today to try and give me some sort of idea of what he's really looking for to separate the school and he really couldn't. He has no idea," Gatewood said.

"As far as he's concerned the education, the campus, weight rooms, facilities, all that stuff is pretty equal in his eyes. You talk about playing time, Miami has Duke Johnson. Florida State has the kid from Central [Devonta Freeman]. Wisconsin has James White coming back. Arkansas has kids. Florida has quite a few coming back. He's been to Miami about five or six times on unofficial visits. Hopefully this weekend helps clear some things up for him."

Former UM Canes WR coach George McDonald leaving Arkansas already?

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette is reporting that "recently-hired Arkansas coach George McDonald will leave the Razorbacks for an offensive coordinator position at another school,'' according to the paper's sources.

The paper reported that SportingLIfe Arkansas.com columnist Jim Harris reported McDonald is leaving for Syracuse.

Wild.

http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2013/jan/15/sources-ua-assistant-mcdonald-leaving/

SUSAN MILLER DEGNAN

 

UM Canes football news: new quarterback you likely don't know -- and OT Henderson, DT Porter and G Linder staying for senior seasons.

First of all, great news for the Hurricanes that OT Seantrel Henderson, DT Curtis Porter and G Brandon Linder -- all of whom will be extremely vital for this team next season -- are returning for their senior years. More of that later, after the press conference later this morning.

In other UM news, a new quarterback is expected to be on the Miami Hurricanes football roster soon enough.

And actually, he's a baseball player -- or was a baseball player.

Garrison Lassiter, 23, of High Point, N.C., has enrolled at the University of Miami and is expected to be added to the football team, if he hasn't been already.

Lassiter, listed in various places as 6-1 or 6-2 and 185 pounds, was drafted as an 18-year-old by the New York Yankees in the 27th round of the 2008 MLB Draft. He played five seasons as an infielder (mostly as a shortstop and third baseman) in the minor leagues for the Yankees organization, ending 2012 in the Florida State League.

Lassiter, whose younger brother Landon is a freshman baseball player at UNC, played his final two years of sports at West Forsyth High in Clemmons, N.C., a suburb of Winston-Salem. In those final two years he only played baseball.

He played football his first two years, according to his former baseball coach, at Ledford High in North Carolina. He said he was a quarterback there, although I still haven't found out a whole lot about that part of his career. 

"His baseball career, evidently, didn't work out to his liking so he decided he wanted to go back to school and get his degree, which is commendable,''  West Forsyth High (N.C.) baseball coach, Randy Pope, told The Miami Herald this morning.

Pope said he sent Lassiter's transcripts to Miami.

"He said, 'I'm not really done with competing,' got back into training for football and I guess hooked up with Miami,'' Pope said.

 "I coached Garrison for two years. Great kid, great guy. Works hard and is real focused. Very mature for his age when he was here.''

 Lassiter originally committed to the UNC Tar Heels, which some reports say caused him to drop in the baseball draft. He reportedly signed with the Yankees for $675,000, which at that time was commensurate with one of the top three rounds.

 Garrison's Yankees contract reportedly stated that his college education after his pro baseball career would be paid for by the Yankees. So it sounds like he will be listed as a walk-on. But I'm not sure about that part.

He is not eligible to play college baseball. Bet he's already made friends with David Thompson, a UM quarterback who also will play for the Hurricanes baseball team.

SUSAN MILLER DEGNAN

Latest NCAA infractions involving UM similar to what happened in another Canes' case in the late 1970s

Unless you were completely zeroed in on the NFL playoffs or sleeping all day Saturday you know by now the arrival of the Letter of Allegations from the NCAA is imminent. 

A source interviewed in the investigation I spoke to Saturday told me that several former assistant coaches from UM have been told to wait by the phone Monday to hear from the NCAA, who will be sending them their own letter of allegations as it pertains to them. That's the sign the investigation is wrapped up and UM will be notified itself of what's in store. 

Does that mean we will know what penalties UM is facing this week? Absolutely not. That comes later, much later, likely May or June. But at least this long drawn out investigation will be over. UM could ultimately tell us absolutely nothing pertaining to the letter it receives this week because it is a private institution. We suspect, though, some information will be released and the rest will drip-drop out (as usual for UM).

As for the program, this will be the fourth time the football
team comes under NCAA scrutiny for breaking major rules (1954, 1981, 1995) and the sixth time overall the school is cited for major infractions (1964 men's basketball, 2003 baseball). Part of my job here in preparation for all this has been reviewing past cases against The U. Although most of you remember the pell grant scandal of 1995, I was only three years old when UM got hit in Nov. 1981 for major violations involving the team.

I was surprised to see just how similar today's allegations involving jailed booster Nevin Shapiro and former UM assistants are to what the school faced back when Howard Schnellenberger was building Miami into a winner. From 1976 to 1980, boosters and assistant coaches were found to wreak all kinds of havoc in terms of giving improper benefits to players and recruits. In fact, it almost seems like what the Canes were accused of doing back then was worse. You can find every NCAA investigation into major infractions here on the NCAA's Legislative Services Database (just type in the University of Miami to do a search on the Canes and the cases).

Again, I don't bring this up to rub salt on the wound of Canes fans. I've applauded Al Golden and the school with how they've handled this mess, skipping two post-seasons to show the NCAA they take these allegations seriously and want to move forward. But you can always learn something new from history. Here is a short summary of the 1981 case with information provided from the NCAA.

THIRD NCAA CASE OF INFRACTIONS AGAINST THE UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI

> Ruling date: Nov. 3, 1981

> Sports involved: Football

> Summary of Violations: All violations took place from 1976-80. Improper financial aid and extra benefits (booster gave cash gifts to a player for his good play; down payment for a car); out-of-season practice conducted by the staff (couple times including once involving a recruit); improper recruiting contact (12 cited cases involving staff and impermissible off-campus contact), employment (multiple examples of boosters and assistant coaches hiring a recruit prior to the completion of their senior year of high school to help in the recruiting process), entertainment (boosters, assistant coaches and one former head coach provided recruits and family members with food, drinks, "improper entertainment," tickets to pro games, a party on a yacht), inducements (booster offers to pay airfare for parents, plus provide spending cash; assistant lends his car to a recruit; recruits given free t-shirts, jerseys, equipment; free housing to two recruits on campus for five-to-six weeks), lodging (booster and assistant coach provided some on a few occasions), publicity (contact with media at the time a prospective student-athlete signed a National Letter of Intent with the university), transportation (17-related incidents); tryouts; improper administration of financial aid; certification of compliance.

> Summary of NCAA penalties: Two years probation; no bowl game following the 1981 season (UM finished 9-2 and ranked 8th in the Associated Press poll); reduction of scholarships from 30 to 20 for the 1982-83 season; reprimand an assistant coach for lying in reporting facts relating to a violation. UM did not appeal the findings or penalties. The committee found violations of NCAA legislation related to the principles governing extra benefits to student-athletes, financial aid, practice seasons, various recruiting regulations and certification of compliance with NCAA legislation.

Again, for a complete detailed look at previous UM cases and all cases involving major violations and other programs click on the link above to visit the NCAA website. It's all there. 

Seantrel, Linder, Porter to announce intentions on whether to go pro or stay on Monday

Hurricanes juniors Seantrel Henderson, Brandon Linder and Curtis Porter will announce their intentions on whether they will declare for the 2013 NFL Draft or return to the University of Miami for their senior seasons during a press conference Monday at 11 a.m.

My guess? None of them will be going anywhere but back to the weight room and film room.

None of the players are projected to be first or second day picks in April's draft.

According to NFLDraftScout.com, Henderson (6-8, 340) is listed as the 11th best offensive tackle at his position in the Class of 2014 -- the highest of any junior on UM's roster. But that translates to being a 6th or 7th round pick in April at best if he leaves early.

Linder (6-5, 312) earned All-ACC honorable mention and is the most accomplished of the three. But he ranks 29th at his position in the Class of 2014.

Porter, whose career has been marred by injury, isn't even in the database for NFLDraftScout.com.

College football players who completed high school at least three years prior have until Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2013, to declare their intention to forgo their remaining collegiate eligibility and enter the draft.

Golden talks Cristobal hire, recruiting, Gionni Paul, NCAA cloud

UM coach Al Golden spoke with WQAM's Joe Rose Friday morning on a number of subjects including how he was one of the first people to call Mario Cristobal the day he was fired from FIU last month.

""My first thought was 'How did he get let go? Look at the Colts. Any coach is a quarterback away from having that type of year," said Golden, who said he was recruiting in New Jersey when he first heard the news. "I thought he deserved an opportunity to continue despite not performing up to his standards."

Golden didn't have a job to offer Cristobal at first, but one became open when former receivers coach George McDonald left for Arkansas about two weeks late. Golden told Rose he interviewed some other candidates, but "ultimately came back to Mario."

"The one thing he brings right off the bat is head coaching experience," Golden said before making the point that offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch will still oversee the offense and make play calls. "Mario is somebody I can count on for some of the ancillary head coaching things and see the big picture a little bit better. His expertise as a tight end coach; o-line coach; a guy that has coached many positions and cultivated talent and recruited talent in this are was too good a package to pass up."

Ultimately, Cristobal should help UM out immensely with recruiting Golden said -- from the northeast during his time at Rutgers to South Florida.

"We're kind of kindred spirits," Golden said. We both took over programs that were absolutely abysmal and kind of turned them around. We have mutual respect from the outside..."

"I didn't know what direction he wanted to go in his career, but when I knew he wanted to be a part of the University of Miami and obviously the love he has for this place and the passion he's going to bring, I just think we improved our football program and our coaching staff yesterday."

> Golden said he's excited about the job UM has done in recruiting thus far alluded to how the program is waiting on a few top local prospects to make a late decision before National Signing Day.

There's a curse and blessing about recruiting in South Florida. The blessing is a lot of the high-end talent is here. The curse is that a lot of guys don't decide until late because they are so highly sought after... You got to be patient and we've done that I believe. I think we've demonstrated to a lot of young men that we're willing to wait for them. We're committed to them and their high school coaches. I think we're going to finish strong here."

> As for linebacker and third-leading tackler Gionni Paul, who mutually parted ways with the program last week, Golden said: "It wasn't going in the right direction. We've decided a change would be best. Right now we're trying to find Gionni a new home and get a fresh start and move forward."

Golden said he doesn't have a lot of rules in place and doesn't want to "micro manage."

"It's always the two percent, three percent that take up the headlines," Golden said. "I walk into a team meeting room Sunday night and there 90 guys there that don't know what the rules are because they do things right. If you got to continue to micro manage those five to eight guys, if you can't trust them, that leads to total control. I don't want to do that to Stephen Morris, Brandon Linder, Allen Hurns, Phillip Dorsett, Anthony Chickillo. I don't want to do that because guys can't follow basic principals."

> Golden said running back Duke Johnson will be joining receiver Phillip Dorsett on UM's track team Monday. Golden said he would eventually like to "see a 4x100 relay team made up of Miami Hurricanes." He alluded to a few recruits in his next class who he thinks will also run track.

Golden said football players who participate in track will continue to lift and participate in drills. "But if they can help our track team out and make us faster or more explosive, I'm all for it," Golden said.

> Golden said he has no idea when the NCAA will finally send its letter of allegations, but feels the program has acted like "a beacon in terms of how you should operate if something occurs. Hopefully we'll be a model of how you self impose and how you make restitution to move a program forward."

"The way I feel is we're having a junior day on Sunday and having some kids coming down. That's going to be the third class I've had to deal with this. People want to talk about probation. We've been on probation. This has been probation, this has been recruiting probation; PR probation. I think we've exhibited class in terms of being open and honest and reaching resolution. We're ready to move on, there's no question about it. We've got great kids on this team. Our graduation rates were tied for first in the ACC."

> Golden said he's done a lot of out of state recruiting in the past and will close in on Florida, specifically South Florida over the final three weeks leading up to National Signing Day.

Cristobal ready to hit the ground running with the Canes

Mario Cristobal was about as shocked as the rest of the college football world was last month when he was fired as the head coach at FIU.

The sting still doesn't look like it has worn off -- even five weeks later. But the 42-year old former Hurricane, who turned FIU from arguably the worst program in the country and built it into a conference champion, made it clear Friday he's ready to move on and happy to be in familiar colors again.

Cristobal, hired on Thursday to become UM's new tight ends coach and the program's new associate head coach, met with the media Friday and expressed his gratitude to coach Al Golden, who was one of the first people to call him on Dec. 5, the day FIU athletic director Pete Garcia dumped him.

"I appreciate the opportunity here, the opportunity provided by coach [Al] Golden, President [Donna] Shalala and the University of Miami," he said. "It's always been an honor to be part of this family. It's a tremendous honor to be back."

"Moments like that aren't the most fun for a family [getting fired]. But the support always was strong [from UM]. What coach Golden has always done around his family is what he's doing right now. He's doing things the right way -- a true care factor which always goes far when you're a teacher. As coaches, that's what you are, a teacher. You're teaching these young men how to be better at everything, not just football. Just knowing what he is about, what he wants for this program, those things aligns pretty well. So when the opportunity was presented, I was thrilled."

Cristobal, who coached with UM defensive coordinator Mark D'Onofrio at Rutgers in 2001 and 2002, said he didn't get to know Golden until around 2004, 2005. He said their relationship strengthened over time, especially when Cristobal and FIU's coaches were invited to come and watch UM practices over the last couple years.

"He's an intense, relentless worker with a vision," Cristobal said of Golden. "That's the most important thing. A goal without a plan is a wish. You're looking at a man that set a goal, a regimented plan, a very specific, goal-oriented plan. I don't think coach Golden and the staff has got enough credit for putting UM back on track like it is right now. I know the excitement is strong. People can see that this young crop of players is talented and more are on their way and being developed and that's just as important as anything else. It's okay to come in with talent but you have to leave better than you come in. The plan from top to bottom is impressive. It's one that I'm blown away by it. I've learned a lot in a day and a half."

Here is a transcript of what else Cristobal was talking about Friday:

Q: What's it like to be back?
"The last day-and-a-half has been pretty hectic with all the stuff going on. It's an incredible feeling. I think everyone knows how I feel about the University of Miami. I'm excited about getting back here and working and getting to work right away. When I was a player here it's embedded in your mind about being relentless about everything you do. Now joining on a staff in the same way, shape and form is incredible. It's hit the ground running, assisting the staff anyway I can.

Q: Is it awkward going from a head coach to being an assistant?
"Well I was the same person as a GA, less gray hair. I was the same person as an assistant as a head coach. I don't think that changes. You are what you are when you wake up in the morning, when you go to bed at night. I don't think that changes. If it does you were probably raised the wrong way. I'm ready to accept and excel at each and every role I'm assigned to so we can do whatever possible to make sure we flat out win at everything we do -- football, classroom."

Q: When you left here did you envision a scenario where you'd be back here?
"The way it turned out I don't think anyone can ever envision stuff like that. You have to understand how special this place is. I think people in this room do. The focus is on the now. Everything is about the vision coach has set for this program. The way the culture is continually cultivated more and more toward just becoming a champion, a very aggressive mentality in a positive way of making sure good isn't good enough and when great gets here it's not good enough either. It's demanding in the right ways. When you're part of a staff like that it's a tremendous situation."

Q: What does associate head coach mean, your responsibilities?
"A trick question right away [laughter]. To me what it means is I'm part of a great staff. That's how I want to be viewed. That's how I want to approach it. I'm part of the staff. I'm an assistant coach with some duties that go with it."

Q: Do you remember your last practice as a UM assistant in 2006? Randy Shannon said you were deliberating if you should go to FIU or not.
"When you play here, I think I'm speaking the truth, you're kind of trained to be very, very different. You're trained to be something special. There's something special within these walls that's not seen outside of here, not relent for anything. It's persistence to the core. That's a tough decision. In this profession that's the one thing I've learned - it's an unforgiving profession. At certain times some decisions the outside world will never know how painful they are, but when they take place it's done for what someone thinks is the right reason. I've grown tremendously from it, learned a bunch by it. You can't ever learn enough in this profession or life. Those are things that can apply daily in my new position."

Q: With recruiting, how involved are you in that already? Is Brennan Carroll still the recruiting coordinator?
"All of that stuff is going to be settled. The entire staff works on recruiting. There's always a recruiting coordinator title. Not everyone can sit in recruiting meetings, but you'd be amazed the detail and work that goes into it. The short time I've been here, it's been awesome. You look at a group of guys that are detailed in every single facet of what it is to be a recruiter on top of your assistant coach duties. Everyone's involved 24/7. And that's the way it should be. You see the overhaul of the roster. To me with three weeks to go in recruiting it's about attack mode. Wherever I need to go, where I need be sent, need to accomplish in 2014 and 2015, let's go. There is no time to rest. The contact period is on and we're rolling."

Q: How different is the program now vs. when you left it?
"Completely different. The facilities different as well and they're changing. Until you sit there with coach Golden, go step by step with the plan in detail, the expectations he has for himself, assistant coaches; players as well; it's a legitimate program built to win championships, it's not just football. When development on the human side goes hand-in-hand with the human side that's when you build a locker room full of winners. That's certainly what the goal. It's getting done."

Q: What's it like to have to not move anywhere?
"When you're in this profession you may as well live on the moon. The only time you see your kids is when they wake up at 3 a.m. and play wrestlemania on you. It's home, you know. It's a tremendous honor."

Q: How surprised were you that you were fired by FIU?
"It's surprising. Like I said `It is what it is and the focus is on the now.' To me, for those assistant coaches and taking what was considered the worst program in America to a conference title and a bowl game, every year sending guys to the NFL, all the kudos to the assistant coaches and the players. That's really about it in terms of what I have to say about it."

Q: Did coaching and knowing defensive coordinator Mark D'Onofrio from Rutgers help in the transition?
"He's on the road today, but we worked together over there in a different scenario. That was one of the tougher situations in America. We were under the same professor in coach [Greg] Schiano at the time. All those bits and pieces show up again. He's a great man, great coach, great father. As you walk down the hallway you'll find the same similarities in all the men that are on this staff."

Q: Rob Chudzinski was named the Browns coach. You worked with him. How happy are you for him?
"Very proud of him. He's obviously a great football coach. He got himself a great shot. I know everybody is excited for him. He's been working for a long time. You always have to applaud a guy who probably didn't come in as a the highest ranked player in the class, but somehow, someway he's starting the Orange Bowl against Oklahoma. You know his pathway through here. Not only is it well deserved, he'll do extremely well."



Q: How much have you seen your current tight ends on tape?
"Not enough yet. I watched a bunch of games last night. Everyone reports on Sunday, so that's critical to establish relationships, establish standards as well. They understand what's expected. It's another semester now under the program, the off-season program, which is very demanding."

Q: Are there certain areas of the state you'll recruit?"I don't know yet. I'm still trying to focus on how to long on; get my phone number still."

Q: Is there some overlap in recruiting at FIU to now at UM - it's a different recruiting pool, but you have relationships with coaches and things like that.
"Always. You're looking at - it starts as the same pool, ends up being a different pool. But that's okay, there are relationships formed. We'll work at it hard. We take a tremendous amount of pride in it. One of the gifts I thought I received here was learning how to work, learning how to really work and get after it. When you do that you can't help come across people you form relationships with. Sometimes it's a great get or an assist in getting a guy. All those things are being looked at to the max to help out in any way I can."

Q: You have two sons -- 3 and 1 1/2 years old. How are they?
"I feel like being a father has helped me as a coach. My mantra is treat every player like they are your own son. But until that little coconut head popped out, it just wasn't the same. As a coach, you are a teacher."

ACC announces Hurricanes' opponents in 2013 -- plus UM's nonconference opponents

Here's the release from the ACC everyone:

Basically, know that Pittsburgh is joining Coastal Division for next season, and Syracuse is joining the Atlantic.

Also, Miami will be at Duke, home vs. Ga Tech, at UNC, at Pitt, home vs. UVA, home vs. Virginia Tech, at FSU and home vs. Wake Forest next season. 

Miami's nonconference games, per UM, are FAU, UF, Savannah State and at USF.

The complete 2013 ACC football schedule, including specific dates, will likely be announced in early February.

THE RELEASE

ACC Announces 2013 Conference Football Opponents

Pittsburgh, Syracuse Join Coastal, Atlantic Divisions

Balanced Eight-Game League Schedule Allows for

One Primary and One Rotating Crossover Opponent 

 

Release: http://theacc.co/13FB-opponents-0111

Graphic: http://theacc.co/13FB-opponents-pdf

 

      Greensboro, N.C.—The Atlantic Coast Conference Friday announced the football conference opponents and sites for the 2013 season incorporating new members Pittsburgh and Syracuse into the 14-team league. As the conference did in its previous expansion schedule model in 2006, this year’s schedule of league football opponents is entirely a new scheduling model that is not based off the previous schedule.    

 

      The complete 2013 ACC Football Schedule, including specific dates, is expected to be announced in early February.

 

      Each ACC team will play eight conference games in football (four home and four away), six games within their division (three home, three away) and two games (one home, one away) with crossover opponents from the opposite division. In 2013, all Atlantic Division members will host their primary crossover opponent while Coastal Division members will host a rotating crossover opponent.

 

      Each school’s primary crossover opponent does not change, while its rotating crossover opponent will change each year. With the exception of Pittsburgh and Syracuse, all schools will be playing their rotating crossover opponent for the first time since 2009. Pittsburgh joins the Coastal Division while Syracuse will compete in the Atlantic Division and the two schools will play each other annually as primary crossovers. The other primary crossovers will stay consistent. The primary crossovers are:

 

      Atlantic Division………………  Coastal Division

      Boston College…………………  Virginia Tech

      Clemson………………………..  Georgia Tech

      Florida State……………………  Miami

      Maryland……………………….  Virginia          

      NC State………………………..  North Carolina

      Syracuse………………………..  Pittsburgh

      Wake Forest……………………  Duke

 

      Also, as in 2006, the new model of conference opponents will result in repeat site games in order to balance home and away schedules. This year, taking into account the existing schedule, there will be a total of just six repeat site games, all limited to the 2013 football season.

 

The games with opponents traveling to the same site as in 2012 are: Duke at Wake Forest; Duke at Virginia Tech; Miami at Duke; Georgia Tech at Clemson; Virginia Tech at Boston College; and Virginia Tech at Miami.

 

      Though the conference is releasing just the 2013 ACC opponents at this time, this schedule model may be used as the basis for a full, multi-year schedule in the future.

 

      Below are the 2013 conference football opponents for each ACC school. The games are listed with divisional games first in alphabetical order, followed by primary crossover (pc) and then rotating crossover (rc) games:

 

Atlantic Division

Boston College           Clemson                     Florida State              Maryland                  

at Clemson                  Boston College            at Boston College        Boston College

Florida State                Florida State                at Clemson                  Clemson

at Maryland                 at Maryland                 Maryland                     at Florida State

NC State                      at NC State                  NC State                      at NC State                 

at Syracuse                  at Syracuse                  Syracuse                      Syracuse

Wake Forest                Wake Forest                at Wake Forest            at Wake Forest

Virginia Tech (pc)       Georgia Tech (pc)       Miami  (pc)                  Virginia (pc)

at North Carolina (rc)  at Virginia (rc)             at Pittsburgh (rc)          at Virginia Tech (rc)

 

NC State                     Syracuse                     Wake Forest

at Boston College        Boston College            at Boston College

Clemson                      Clemson                      at Clemson     

at Florida State            at Florida State            Florida State

Maryland                     at Maryland                 Maryland

Syracuse                      at NC State                  NC State

at Wake Forest            Wake Forest                at Syracuse

North Carolina (pc)     Pittsburgh (pc)             Duke (pc)

at Duke (rc)                 at Georgia Tech (rc)    at Miami (rc)

 

Coastal Division

Duke                           Georgia Tech             Miami                         North Carolina

Georgia Tech              at Duke                        at Duke                        Duke  

Miami                          at Miami                      Georgia Tech              at Georgia Tech

at North Carolina         North Carolina            at North Carolina         Miami

Pittsburgh                    Pittsburgh                    at Pittsburgh                at Pittsburgh

at Virginia                   at Virginia                   Virginia                       Virginia                      

at Virginia Tech          Virginia Tech              Virginia Tech              at Virginia Tech

at Wake Forest (pc)     at Clemson (pc)           at Florida State (pc)     at NC State (pc)

NC State (rc)               Syracuse (rc)               Wake Forest (rc)          Boston College (rc)

 

Pittsburgh                  Virginia                      Virginia Tech

at Duke                        Duke                           Duke

at Georgia Tech           Georgia Tech              at Georgia Tech

Miami                          at Miami                      at Miami

North Carolina            at North Carolina         North Carolina

Virginia                       at Pittsburgh                Pittsburgh

at Virginia Tech          Virginia Tech              at Virginia

at Syracuse (pc)           at Maryland (pc)          at Boston College (pc)

Florida State (rc)          Clemson (rc)                Maryland (rc) 

 

SUSAN MILLER DEGNAN 

 

Al Golden upholding the legacy: Mario Cristobal hiring is a hit with JJ, former Miami Hurricanes

UM Hurricanes football coach Al Golden always reminds his players to "uphold the legacy.''

Al is doing a pretty good job of it himself.

Bringing in Mario Cristobal as an assistant coach and associate head coach makes him the third former Hurricanes player to serve as one of the main assistants.

The others, of course, are linebackers coach Micheal Barrow and offensive line coach Art Kehoe.

Former UM players are thrilled. I spoke to a couple of them who were coached by Mario when he was a graduate assistant. Both were on the offensive line and started on the 2001 national championship team -- right tackle Joaquin Gonzalez and right guard Martin Bibla.

"I think Mario is a great hire because of his personality and attitude,'' Gonzalez told me. "He’s a winner. I was shocked when FIU let him go. It will be hard to find anybody that is filled with more passion to win. He’s ready to rock ‘n roll… that’s why he’s so good at recruiting.

 "If Mario has to drive 18 straight hours to talk to a recruit, you bet your ass he’ll do it. He won’t wait for the plane. His intensity to work and be a winner is second to none. 

 "When he was a graduate assistant, Mario would be breaking down film from two years prior, and he’d stay up until 2 or 3 in the morning doing it. He really wanted to win. You Have to admire a guy who’s willing to work that hard. If you’re a lazy person, he’s not for you.

"I was never the biggest, the strongest or the fastest,'' concluded Gonzalez, "but I really worked my ass off to get where I got to at UM, in the pros, my whole career, and Mario did it the exact same way.''

Also happy to hear the news: former guard Bibla.

    “That’s outstanding,’’ said Bibla, now a state trooper in Pennsylvania. “He’s a phenomenal guy. I’d go to bat for him no matter what. Art Kehoe was my coach, but if I couldn’t get a hold of Art I had total confidence in Mario. He’s a wealth of knowledge.’’

    Bibla said Cristobal goes out of his way to help players progress.

    “He’ll bend over backwards to help players better themselves,’’ Bibla said. “He puts a different spin on things. It seems like he’s up on coaching techniques and whatever you’re doing that’s relevant to the game.

    “He evolves with the game.

    “If I was 17 again and trying to find a college to play ball at, I’d look at him as a good father figure. And if I was the father, I’d trust him to cultivate my son into not only a good football player but an outstanding person.’’

     Former UM coach Jimmy Johnson, who had Mario for one year, told me he first met Cristobal in his Miami home when he was recruiting his older brother Luis – a guard at UM. “Not only will he help the coaching and enthusiasm,’’ Johnson said of Cristobal, “he’ll be an outstanding recruiter as well.

    “He’ll do a great job. I’m really happy [coach] Al [Golden] got him.’’

  SUSAN MILLER DEGNAN  

 

Mario is back in green and orange with his alma mater, the Miami Hurricanes.

 

   He's baaaack.

   Mario Cristobal is returning to where it all began for him in college.

    Cristobal, who has long been discussed as a potential head coach at UM should Al Golden ever leave, was fired last month as head football coach of FIU, and will be the University of Miami’s new tight ends coach, according to a source close to the situation.

    Cristobal played at UM from 1988 through 1992, and won two national titles there. He coached at UM as a graduate assistant from 1998 through 2000, then as an assistant from 2004 through 2006.

   Brennan Carroll, who has been the tight ends coach at UM, will shift to wide receivers coach.

    Cristobal, who led FIU to its only two bowl games, was dismissed from FIU on Dec. 5 after coaching there for six seasons. He finished 3-9 with the Panthers in 2012 and 27-47 overall.

    Cristobal is replacing former UM wide receivers coach George McDonald, who left UM for the same position at Arkansas.

    Cristobal grew up in Miami and was an offensive lineman for the Hurricanes.  

    He is a good recruiter and knows the area as well as anyone.

    His whole family is here, and this is the place he really wanted to stay. How do you all feel about him coming back to UM?

   SUSAN MILLER DEGNAN

Cristobal's return to Miami surprising, but a very good thing

Although no one at the University of Miami has announced it as official yet, Mario Cristobal has been hired as the program's new tight ends coach and associate head coach.

For Cristobal, who was fired as FIU coach last month, it's yet another Hurricane homecoming. This will be his fourth stint with the program. He won two national championships as an offensive lineman in 1989 and 1991; was a graduate assistant at Miami from 1998 through 2000; and returned as an assistant coach from 2004 through 2006.

Smart move for the Canes? Absolutely. With pending NCAA sanctions hanging over head and the possibility that coach Al Golden could always bolt if the right job opens up, Miami has hired someone who loves the program beyond belief and will not only step in as coach should Golden leave, but help the Canes battle through the rough times.

Cristobal's addition will instantly be a major help for Miami in recruiting, particularly in South Florida. He's always had strong ties to all of the region's top high school programs, and recruited all parts of talent-rich Florida extensively when he was at FIU.

Are some surprised he took this job? Yes. According to someone close to Cristobal, he was seriously considering taking an assistant NFL job with Greg Schiano and the Tampa Bay Bucs. While the UM job had been discussed for more than a week I've been told, some one close to him believed Cristobal was leaning toward the NFL.

Ultimately, Golden, who always had a good relationship with Cristobal, did enough to convince him to join the staff at Miami. Defensive coordinator Mark D'Onofrio, who coached with Cristobal at Rutgers (2001-02), also had to have played a role making Cristobal feel comfortable. D'Onofrio has the title of assistant head coach at Miami.

Finnie latest Hurricane to part ways with the football program

There's another scholarship available for use at the University of Miami.

Cornerback Thomas Finnie, suspended indefinitely last month after surrendering to police and admitting he was involved in a laptop theft on campus, is no longer a member of the Hurricanes football, a UM spokesman confirmed Sunday.

Friday, the team mutually parted ways with linebacker Gionni Paul, who was the team's third leading tackler and a starter for seven games.

Finnie, a former standout at Miami Central, is coming off a sophomore season in which he played in 12 games and made 30 tackles, three pass breakups and one fumble recovery. He started UM’s first six games.

According to Finnie’s arrest affidavit, on Dec. 4 the 21-year-old cornerback entered a nearby dormitory room on campus and took the laptop while “there were two human beings [victim] and roommate in the structure.”

The laptop belonged to former walk-on defensive back Robert Wright, who was with the team in 2011 but not 2012.

Finnie has a hearing set for Jan. 10 in Miami-Dade County court. No word yet on where he might be headed.

Canes land big commitment at U.S. Army All-American game

The Miami Hurricanes picked up a huge commitment Saturday afternoon at the U.S. Army All-American game when defensive end Al-Quadin Muhammad, a standout at Don Bosco Prep (N.J.), announced he'll be heading to Coral Gables.

Tabbed the fourth-best weakside linebacker in the country by Rivals.com and the 97th-best prospect regardless of position, Muhammad (6-4, 225) had a sack and a forced a fumble he recovered in the first half of Saturday's all-star game in San Antonio. He picked up a second sack in the second half.

Rivals.com's Mike Farrell calls Muhammad that "a tremendous edge rusher" who "can stand up, work in space." Muhammad chose the Hurricanes over Rutgers, Notre Dame and Alabama.

"They showed a lot of support, they were hungry," Muhammad said during the NBC broadcast. "I went to the University of Miami and I visited. They came to see me and they showed a lot of commitment."

UM signed JUCO tight end Beau Sandland (6-6, 260) last month. He's considered the team's top recruit according to 247sports.com. Muhammad, the team's 12th, non-binding oral commitment, is considered the second-best commitment behind quarterback Kevin Olsen.

Olsen played six series and went 5-of-13 for 21 yards and no interceptions in Friday night's sixth annual Under Armour All-American game in St. Petersburg.

Defenses reportedly dominated the nationally televised game as offenses had difficulty earning first downs and quarterbacks were afforded very little time in the pocket. Olsen's two teammates on Team White combined for four interceptions. Receivers dropped a lot of catchable balls.

Gionni Paul, Hurricanes part ways "mutually" spokesman says

The University of Miami said good-bye to linebacker Gionni Paul Friday, a decision that was mutual according to a school spokesman.

The sophomore from Lakeland, Fla., who finished third on the team with 61 tackles and started seven of the 10 games he played in, posted the news earlier in the day on his Facebook page.

"Not playing for UM next year. I thank all of UM fans for their support & wish UM the best," Paul posted.

A two-time ACC Linebacker of the Week, Paul (6-0, 230) was suspended twice throughout the season for unspecified reasons.

Paul was listed as the backup at outside linebacker to Denzel Perryman on the team's final depth chart. UM has nine scholarship linebackers left on its roster.