South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
ESPN’s Herbstreit, Howard blast struggling UM program
MIAMI GARDENS — Longtime ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit took a shot at the University of Miami’s struggling football program on Saturday, offering his opinion why the Hurricanes are no longer a national powerhouse.
During ESPN’s College Gameday broadcast, Herbstreit cited issues in the athletic department as reasons why the Hurricanes haven’t been relevant in more than a decade.
“I go back all the way to 2006,” said Herbstreit. “That was the last year that Larry Coker was the coach there. That’s 15 years. Miami has averaged 7-5 since 2006. They’ve had five head coaches. You just think with the Orange Bowl gone, the student body has to drive 45 minutes to go to their games. You have an athletic department that clearly is not really showing that this is something they are willing to try and make changes. There was an article this week from [Miami Herald reporter] Barry Jackson that came out and said that the president basically told Blake James, the AD, ‘Hey, sports, you’re on your own. That’s your thing.’ I don’t know if that’s true, it was in an article.
“To me, college football, you look at the powerhouse programs, Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State — president, AD, coach — same vision. They’re aligned in their vision for what needs to happen. Recruiting, budget, staff. Whatever it needs, that’s what it takes.
“Miami doesn’t have that. So I don’t think it matters who the head coach is. Until you get a president and an AD and a coach together on the same page, I guess football doesn’t matter. It matters to the alums and the brotherhood — The U — but I don’t know if it matters to the people making decisions at Miami. If they don’t change that, it doesn’t matter who the head coach is.”
The Hurricanes entered Saturday’s matchup against Central Connecticut State, a lower-division FCS program, with a 1-2 record and had lost four of their last five games, dating back to last season. Three of those losses were by at least 20 points.
Coach Manny Diaz has been under fire after last week’s 38-17 blowout home loss to Michigan State, which knocked UM out of the top-25 rankings. The Spartans outscored Miami 21-3 in the fourth quarter. It was Miami’s worst home non-conference loss since 1996.
Fellow ESPN college football analyst Desmond Howard, a former Heisman Trophy winner who played for Michigan before an 11-year NFL career, was also critical of Miami during an appearance on College Football Live.
“When I watch the Hurricanes play, there’s such a lack of effort out there by guys,” he said about Miami, which entered Saturday with the most missed tackles among FBS programs with 64, according to ESPN. “I’m not just talking a lack of basic effort — I’m talking about championship effort. It’s almost like these guys show up in Coral Gables and they just think that because this program is historically a strong program, that they’re going to be the ‘Canes and be The U. It seems like they’re more about the symbolism than substance.
“Things like the Turnover Chain. That was really cool for about 1 ½ years. After that, you guys got to get out there and start playing ball again and win games. It’s so much about symbolism than substance, and they’re not living up to the exceptions based on their stars, whether they’re four stars or five stars in their recruiting classes.”
The Hurricanes opened the season ranked No. 14 in the AP poll. They dropped to No. 22 after a season-opening 44-13 loss to Alabama and fell two more spots after needing a late field goal to beat Appalachian State.
WR Payton to transfer portal
Wide receiver Jeremiah Payton, who was UM’s highest-rated recruit in its 2019 class, announced that he’s entered the transfer portal.
Payton hadn’t been on UM’s roster since the start of fall camp in August, with Diaz saying Payton was, “just not in a place right now where playing football is what he wants to do.”
“First off, would like to thank The University of Miami as a program and also the coaching staff,” Payton said in a tweet. “This experience in my life’s journey was more than just a blessing to me, I would take it as a growing and learning experience, and again thank you for all of the kind and wonderful people that I encountered over these past years. With that being said I will no longer be a Hurricane and I will be entering the transfer portal.”
Payton was a four-star prospect out of Fletcher High School in Neptune Beach when he joined Miami, according to 247 Sports Composite score.
He redshirted his true freshman season in 2019, recording one reception in four games, before having five receptions for 35 yards in 2020.