A journey through a quarter century of Miami Hurricane fandom ahead of their return to the National Spotlight
If you ask people how they became fans of a team, many will have interesting stories. Some attended the school or had family that were alumni. Some root for the local team. For me, it was simply a speaking error as a young child. I couldn’t pronounce the Gr at the beginning of the word, so when talking about my Grandma I would say “My Ammy”. I know that sounds incredibly silly, but that confusion is what led me to becoming a fan of a college program 1,000 miles from home as a young child.
It was great initially. At nine years old, I’d watch as the greatest college football team of all-time (argue with a wall) would decimate opponents on its way to a National Championship in 2001. I still vividly remember James Lewis returning an Eric Crouch pass for a pick six and to take a 21-0 lead in what would end up being a lopsided 37-14 win. If I were older, I might have thought “This sports thing is easy, huh?” but I was still young enough to not fully grasp what the collegiate level of football was or how it operated. It wouldn’t take long for that to happen, as I often say that while most kids were watching cartoons I was raised on a steady diet of ESPN, Seinfeld, and the Simpsons.
2002 comes around and Miami is still incredible. For a second straight season, the Hurricanes go undefeated in the regular season while never being below 2nd in the national polls. I’m now beginning to think about how easy it is to be a sports fan. They head to the desert to play Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl for the National Championship. At this point, aside from in-state power Penn State and my beloved Hurricanes, I have no concept of the history of the sport or Ohio States standing within the sports legacy. The only Buckeye game I consumed that season was the Holy Buckeye game, in which Craig Krenzel hit Michael Jenkins for a late touchdown to beat Purdue. My assumption based on that performance (and miracle) was that Ohio State wouldn’t put up much of a test. Boy, was I wrong. We all know what happened that fateful night. Terry Porter (a man I have cursed one million times in my life at this point) throws a late pass interference flag that extends the game. Ohio State pulls the upset and I am on my living room floor devastated. This was my first (and still most severe) sports heartbreak.
A lot of folks point to that game as the moment Miami began to lose its luster, but in my opinion that wouldn’t come until October 30th, 2004. Miami joined the ACC that year after over a decade in the Big East, and on that fateful Halloween Eve they’d travel to Chapel Hill to play a North Carolina team that had gone 5-19 in its previous two seasons. They gave up almost 300 yards on the ground that night in a back and forth affair before true freshman kicker Connor Barth would drill a 42-yard field goal as time expired for the Tar Heels. I had witnessed Miami lose games, but not to a team like North Carolina. This just felt different.
After finishing 9-3 in 2004, they’d finish 9-3 again in 2005 but it would come with two brutal bookend defeats: a loss to Florida State that would end a six game win streak for Miami in the rivalry, and a 40-3 Peach Bowl loss to LSU. It would fully collapse in 2006 as the Hurricanes finished 7-6 before head coach Larry Coker would be removed in favor of Randy Shannon. In Shannons first season, Miami would finish 5-7 and suffer one of the programs most embarrassing defeats: a 48-0 loss to Virginia in the programs final game at the iconic Orange Bowl. Kyle Wright, a former five-star quarterback recruit that fans would hope to be the next superb quarterback after Ken Dorsey and Brock Berlin, would finish with three interceptions and less than 100 yards passing on 21 attempts. In the span of five years, the program had reached rock bottom.
After a few average years under Shannon, highlighted mostly by the sporadic play of Jacory Harris, the Hurricanes would end up dealing with the Nevin Shapiro scandal that rocked the college football world. They already weren’t very good and sanctions wouldn’t do them any favors. They’d hire Al Golden, a suit and tie wearing former tight end from Penn State who led a revival of the Temple football program. On face value, it seemed like a good move as the Hurricanes looked to change their image but it was a poor match. The highlight was 2013, in which the Hurricanes started 7-0 before getting railroaded by Jameis Winston and the Seminoles. As would be customary of the program at this time, this loss would lead to a tailspin and the Hurricanes would lose the next two as well. Meanwhile, I was forced to watch Florida State reach the pinnacle of the sport while also beating the Hurricanes every season. They’d finish 6-7 in 2014, and in 2015 Al Golden would be fired after a 58-0 home loss to Clemson. At this point, I’d become pretty numb to embarrassment when it came to Miami football, but that loss was a real eye opener. Miami was SO FAR away from the top of the sport. It felt like the school simply didn’t care about athletics and in turn I had to ask myself if I even cared anymore if averaging 7 wins a season was the only goal.
For once, though, the Hurricanes got lucky. A week after Clemson nearly killed the program, Miami would win a wild walk-off against Duke. My heart was still frozen over but it was the ounce of fun I’d been seeking for years at that point. Then, Georgia would move on from long time head coach Mark Richt. The former Hurricanes quarterback would end up coming home and reenergizing a destitute fan base. He’d go 9-4 in year one, but in 2017 the Hurricanes would stay in the Top 25 from beginning to end and reaching 10 wins for the first time since 2003. Things were changing. A Malik Rosier pass to Darrell Langham with six seconds left would give the Hurricanes a 24-20 win over Florida State to break the Seminoles seven game win streak in the rivalry. They’d follow that up with a game winning field goal against Georgia Tech. Was there magic in the air? It felt like it.
In mid November, College Gameday would host from Miami as they prepared to face Notre Dame in a Top 10 matchup. They’d smack around the Irish in a 41-8 victory that featured one of the most iconic plays in program history:
When the clock struck 0:00 around 11 pm ET, I had to immediately go clock in to work a 16 hour shift at Panera Bread as we prepared copious amounts of food as we catered a local Marathon in Harrisburg. That win (and some coffee, of course) was enough of a buzz to get me through that shift with literally zero sleep. 9-0, The U was back.
Until they traveled to Pittsburgh a few weeks later. A freshman quarterback named Kenny Pickett would upset the 2nd ranked Hurricanes in his first start and Miami would drop to 7th, but they’d have at their first ACC Championship when they faced off against Clemson. As one should have expected, the wheels fell off when they left Pittsburgh. Miami would lose 38-3 to Clemson before losing a postseason home game to Wisconsin in the Orange Bowl. What was a dream season for 11 weeks completely fell apart and hope dwindled yet again. Richt would go 7-6 the next year before retiring and handing the keys over to his defensive coordinator Manny Diaz.
Diaz would have the Hurricanes right back to square one in 2019. They’d add to the list of embarrassing losses by losing to local G5 team Florida International. They’d follow that up with a 14-0 loss to Louisiana Tech in the Independence Bowl. Rock bottom yet again. Diaz would rebound with an 8-3 record in the COVID season before a 7-6 season in 2021 that would be the nail in the coffin. Kirk Herbstreit went on College Gameday and basically eviscerated the program with a scathing speech about the programs lack of desire to make the school a power again. Thankfully, some took that to heart. That offseason, Miami would make the necessary moves to bring Mario Cristobal home, though Cristobal wouldn’t leave the comfort of the well monetized Oregon program without assurances that Miami would invest heavily in athletics, and they have.
It wasn’t easy at first. Miami missed a bowl game in year one as Cristobal began the process of churning the roster and bringing in his guys. Current stars like Rueben Bain and Francis Mauigoa bought into the vision without seeing a shred of evidence, a move that will cement their status as Canes Legends. A loss to Middle Tennessee certainly daunted some, but those of us who followed the program all these years still believed in the vision and could see the investments being made in the backend. With a new President who’s passionate about athletics and bringing fellow alum Dan Radakovich over from Clemson to run the athletic department, Miami was perfectly positioned for the new era of college football.
It’s been a challenging 25 years for me as a fan of this program. There were A LOT of Saturdays in which I had to make peace with the idea Miami would simply never compete for National Championships ever again. That’s easy to do if you’re a fan of a program without the rich history that Miami has or teams that don’t reside in talent hotbeds like South Florida. I’ve had to endure nearly twenty years of being the butt of the joke amongst college football fans and media. Had to watch my arch rival hoist the Championship trophy. Watched my team hit with NCAA sanctions while being nothing more than average.
It’s been a dream ride for all of us Hurricane fans. Wins over rivals Florida, Florida State, Notre Dame. A redemption fiesta against Ohio State. Two playoff wins against the SEC, including one at Texas A&M. Unlike previous small successful runs, it actually feels like this is sustainable. Cristobal has elevated the high school recruiting to levels it hasn’t seen since the pre-recruiting site days. The University is investing in the team heavily in the new big money era of the sport. The climb back to national power has been chock full of humiliation and depression riddled Saturday nights, but this is what it’s all about as a sports fan. We suffer an unhealthy amount for the opportunity at moments like this. On Monday night, I’ll live and die emotionally on every snap. I deserve this moment. WE deserve this moment. Go Canes!
