Miami Hurricanes Football: Head Coaching Roundtable

Oct 24, 2015; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Miami Hurricanes quarterback Brad Kaaya (15) is helped by by teammates during the first half against the Clemson Tigers at Sun Life Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

How do you think the players will respond on the field after the firing of their head coach?

Juan Toribio: Well, all the Hurricanes need to do is look at the other team that lives in the home locker room at Sun Life Stadium for motivation. The Dolphins have played their best ball since the team fired Joe Philbin. Will it happen with the Hurricanes? Probably not. But I do expect this team to rally around each other and be a little bit more competitive. That might not result in wins, but I think this team is going to rally around each other. At least I hope so.

Andrew Ferrelli: I believe the team will rally together and play hard for Larry Scott. Scott is a great coach and is very well liked by current and former players. If Miami can come out and get a nice road win at Duke, they’ll build some momentum coming back home to face a bad Virginia team. This group will play hard for Larry Scott and I can still see Miami finding a way to somewhat salvage the season and win 8 games.

Daniel Nordwall: I actually think the players will respond well with Golden absent. It will be interesting to see if the interim coach Scott makes any philosophical changes. However, the scent of Golden will maintain a presence with Mark D’Onofrio and Paul Williams coaching the defensive backs. But, it will be interesting to see if James Coley calls games differently. Did Golden hold him back? I think Golden had some supporters on the team and some who did not support him. Maybe, we will see the Dan Campbell effect?

Sam Jacobs: The team will probably continue to play at its current level through the season. The same coaching staff is still in place aside from Golden, so I don’t think the team will suddenly play up to its potential now.

Shanon Culiner: I think Miami has a ton of talent on the team, regardless of how they were being coached. The system in place won’t get them too far, but they’ll win a couple. I think they’ll finish out the year 2-3, getting by just Virginia and North Carolina. Let’s not forget, losing defensive captain Raphael Kirby is also a big loss, especially regarding leadership. Nonetheless, I personally feel that even if Golden wasn’t fired and remained the head coach, they’d probably still only beat UVA and UNC. So in that case, I don’t predict anything changing results wise.

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