As the 2014 Miami Hurricanes football season gets going tonight, excitement and anticipation is through the roof. Aside from that, another common factor displayed amongst social media by ‘Canes fans, is the hype surrounding Brad Kaaya being the “next great Miami quarterback.” Sound familiar? If so it is because we, as Canes fans, seem to hold the same optimism with every new quarterback in hopes that they will be the one to restore our glory days…which were over a decade ago.
While I don’t want to sound negative, because I also experience these high hopes every year, I cannot help but feel that the expectations we put on an incoming quarterback is unfair. Yes, we are the []__[], and yes, we have been spoiled by decades of dominance and great QB’s but when one sits to think about the last good QB we had, Ken Dorsey is usually the answer. Although Brock Berlin led us to a victory in the Orange Bowl game against rival FSU and unforgettable comeback victories, he is overshadowed by the legendary Ken Dorsey.
So, you ask, what is my point? My point is this: since Brock Berlin (record wise) every other QB that has come into UM has been seen as a “disappointment”… a “flop” in the eye’s of our fan base. Wright, Marve, Harris, and Morris were all considered top ranked QB’s coming out of highschool but every year, our predictable fan base called for each of their heads “knowing” that the second string players were better. What happened after they had their chance? Everyone wanted the original starters to return to play.
No one took into account the different systems that Wright and Freeman had to learn after the controversial firing of coaching greats Kehoe, Marks, and Soldinger. No one stopped to think how difficult it was for Harris to learn THREE different offensive systems during his tenure at Miami. Maybe if there had been more consistency with the offensive coordinator position, the outcomes of success by our QB’s might’ve been different.
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I am not taking away any recognition and honor Brad Kaaya accomplished during his high-school career. I just don’t want to hear or see the same bashing of a true freshman quarterback as we’ve seen in previous years. One must take into consideration that he isn’t a redshirt freshman; he doesn’t have a year under his belt becoming familiar with the system or practicing. He is fresh out of highschool. By saying he is the next great thing without him playing a single collegiate game is unfair. We, as Canes fans, need to give him time to grow and learn. Like every player he will go through tribulations and triumphs and I hope a stadium full of booing fans isn’t part of his learning experience. Maybe Kaaya IS the one we have been longing for to bring us back to relevance. Maybe he is the one who will bring us back to being that []__[] other teams feared when they saw us on their schedule. I sure hope so, and I’m sure you do too.
Canes fans will agree with me when I say this: there is no greater feeling than walking into that stadium and seeing our Hurricanes take the field for the first time after nine agonizing months. Sharing those chills and goosebumps one gets after an amazing play or epic comeback with our fans is true euphoria. So yes, I hope Kaaya is the answer. I hope with him alongside the talents of healthy Duke Johnson and Stacy Coley that we will shine once again. I hope that we will become living proof that a dynasty may fall, but it will stand back higher and taller than any other once again.
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