Ex-UM players offer suggestions in emotional meeting

It was more than an hour into this raw, emotional, spirited discussion among former University of Miami football players, when All-American center Brett Romberg synthesized the mood of the room succinctly:

“We have to worry every weekend if we’re going to win. That’s downright embarrassing.”

More than 30 players from different eras of Canes football — as well as longtime former assistant coach Don Soldinger — gathered in a ballroom at Shula’s Hotel in Miami Lakes on Thursday for what was billed as a solution-oriented session to fix the UM football program.

“It’s not a bashing party as far as Manny Diaz,” former Canes star running back Melvin Bratton said.

Bratton, who organized the event with help from

Canes4Life president Gerard Daphnis and others, said those in attendance will select six players to represent the group and present ideas to the administration. Bratton will request that those six get a meeting with the new athletic director — once the job is filled.

“We are going to let the group pick [the six],” Bratton said. “I’m not going to be one of them. [Former All-American safety] Bennie Blades will be one of them. He couldn’t be here tonight because of a death in the family. He was one of the ones who gave me the idea to get us all together.

“We want the university to understand that we are a unit, we’re educated, we have our degrees. We want to have a voice. We want these six guys to be representative of our voices [and] let the administration know the hurt, No. 1, that we want to get this back to the top. This is a business meeting. And we mean business.”

More than 10 Canes spoke during the session, including Bratton, Romberg, Earl Little, Darrell Fullington, Lamar Thomas, Jessie Armstead, Albert Bentley, Eddie Brown, Dale Dawkins and Tolbert Bain.

“Jessie flew in from New York to show he’s serious about this program,” said Bratton, who’s based in Atlanta. “That says a lot. He spent his own money. I spent my own money to come do this.”

Bratton also taped interviews with others who could not attend, including Chuck Foreman, O.J. Anderson, Edgerrin James and Randall Hill.

“When you see the footage [that will be released to the public on] Tuesday on the Crowdit app,” Bratton said, “it’s touching to see Chuck Foreman and O.J. Anderson, how hurt these guys are, to see this program fall back from where” it once was.

Among the suggestions offered and points made during the two-hour discussion, which was open to select media members:

Several — including Romberg, Dawkins and Fullington — said UM must make better use of one of its best resources — the accomplished former players.

Beyond having Ed Reed ina chief of staff role, Diaz has never invited the former players to speak to the team or work individually with them, multiple

Aplayers said, calling that approach a mistake.

“We’re five miles from the damn school,” Romberg said. “We’re all here.”

If Diaz or the offensive line coach called him, “I’ll be there” to work with offensive linemen on technique, Romberg said.

“We’re the ones that want to make it better! We’re pictures on the walls but we’re not able to” help the current players or stand on the sideline, Romberg added. “That’s the damn backbone that’s missing.”

Romberg said UM also should use them to evaluate recruits. “Shoot us scout tape,” he said.

Fullington said former players also should be utilized — within NCAA rules — as sounding boards for recruits. “Have Leon Searcy talk to a kid, tell them about your experiences at Miami. All they’ve got to do is ask.”

But Bain chimed in: “They don’t want us around.”

Little cannot understand why UM — at least until recently — under Diaz has been reluctant to make many early scholarship offers to eighth- and ninthgraders. Little said that has left UM at a disadvantage in recruiting.

Little said Diaz was asked about this and Diaz said: “I don’t want to give them a fake offer.” Little doesn’t agree with that philosophy.

Little said UM hasn’t aggressively pursued his son, Plantation American Heritage fourstar cornerback Earl Little Jr., who recently announced a final three of Alabama, FSU and Oregon.

“It’s sad when Florida and FSU are outrecruiting Miami” for some South Florida players, the older Little said.

Little said he was told that UM coaches sometimes don’t aggressively pursue top local

AAplayers because “they feel disrespected” that the recruits don’t naturally value UM and want to play here.

“They need to get off their egos down there because they haven’t won anything yet,” the older Little said, noting he has never been asked to work at UM’s annual Paradise Camp.

“Ray Lewis said Alabama is what we once were.”

Romberg said he and some other players, including Joaquin Gonzalez, want UM to hire Oregon’s Mario Cristobal.

“It’s been 20 years of meandering,” Romberg said of the program, noting that president

Julio Frenk has acknowledged knowing nothing about football.

Bratton and Romberg, among others, railed against what they say is UM’s overreliance on the transfer portal.

Bratton said “something has to be wrong internally” if a player can transfer from Buffalo — he was referring to former transfer K.J. Osborn — and immediately become a captain.

Because UM is taking players for one or two years in the portal — instead of using that same scholarship on a high school player who would be here longer — “it’s almost like you’re putting yourself on probation because you are giving a kid a scholarship for one year,” Romberg said.

Little put it this way: “I think you get these kids in high school, develop them. If you have 25 scholarships, I don’t think it should be 12 come from the portal.”

Several players reiterated the need to do a better job recruiting South Florida. UM doesn’t have a single commitment from a Miami-Dade or Broward player in the 2022 class.

“When you’re letting people eat out of the backyard, that’s a

AAAproblem,” said Armstead, who’s a special assistant to New York Giants general manager Dave Gettleman. “Guys came out of nowhere and became stars. So you can go out and find these guys in our backyard in Miami. We’re letting everyone else feed off Florida.”

To be fair, 15 members of UM’s 2021 recruiting class were from Miami-Dade, Broward or Palm Beach, including five-star recruits Leonard Taylor and James Williams.

Bratton spoke of the need for greater grassroots efforts: “Go to parks to show the U is watching them. Give a UM jersey and football to every kid born here. Plant that seed there.”

Little recommended UM hire Gino Torretta, Alonzo Highsmith or AC Tellison as athletic director because “they’ve been in the trenches and are qualified to do the job.” None of the three attended the event, though Highsmith taped a video.

Thomas spoke of the need to attract more businesses to compensate players under the new NIL rules. “NILs should be the way to attract kids,” he said. “As soon as we get back to those winning days this should be one of the prime places for kids to come because you should be able to make money [here] more than anywhere else.”

Eddie Brown said practices need to be more physical.

“When we were competing with each other, we were kicking each other’s [butt],” he said. “Practice, we were hitting each other one-on-one. Linebackers, blitz period, we were hitting. We were winning because we were [having hard, physical work] on that practice field.”

AAAABarry Jackson: 305-376-3491, @flasportsbuzz