Miami football alums set the record straight with fans on Twitter

Panic has set in following two terrible losses for the Miami football team to end the 2019 regular season. A pair of former Hurricanes football players set the record straight with the fan base on Twitter.

The panic that set in a following the 27-17 loss by the Miami football team to Duke to end the regular season was vast on social media from the Hurricanes fan base. Fans flocked to social media to call for firings for any and everyone on the Miami staff to various administrators in the athletic department to get replaced.

Any changes a year after vast changes on the Miami football staff would be one step forward and two steps back. Starting with the Hurricanes tight win over MAC West Champion Central Michigan throughout every loss this season fans wanted coaching staff changes to occur immediately. The passion is there but not the insight.

Former Miami offensive lineman Rashad Butler and Kevlin Harris frequently butt heads with Miami football fans on Twitter. Some had the audacity to tell the former NFL linemen they don’t know football. Butler calmly explained what is going wrong with the Hurricanes on the official postgame show and on Twitter.

Butler and Harris both tried to lead intelligent conversations with the fanbase to illustrate what needs to be done going forward to returning Miami to at least contending for ACC Coastal Division titles each year. The demands of instant success at this point are unrealistic. The calls for Baker to be fired are completely offbase.

Bringing up the schemes are a broken record from last year under Mark Richt. Until the Miami offensive line gets fixed the offensive scheme will not matter. Manny Diaz and Dan Enos did not deliver on the promise of an attacking offense, but the porous offensive line played a huge role in that.

Football is the ultimate team sport that combines strategy with execution and athleticism. Fans have constantly complained about the level of talent Miami has compared to their opponents. Without execution by the players, the scheme and talent don’t matter. Miami has a lot to work on.

The calls for Enos’ job are more fair and complicated. The quarterback play for Miami was vastly improved in 2019 from the previous season. The rushing offense was a lot more anemic than the Hurricanes were throwing the football. Fans want his head. Placing blame in one place is easy but not accurate.

Miami’s inconsistent offensive line has been inconsistent this season and porous at times. The Hurricanes allowed 10 sacks in the season opener against Florida and nine in the regular season concluding loss to Duke. Part of what Kelvin Harris was talking about above was Miami losing Navaughn Donaldson and John Campbell to injury.

Campbell replaced Donaldson who is the starting right guard. When Campbell went out of the game it caused a lot of shuffling on the offensive line. There has been a lot of questioning about the level of dedication the players have throughout the Miami football roster. Even Manny Diaz has said they need to take opponents more seriously.

Harris and Butler took a thread that we began about their candidness and discussed what needs to be done to improve the offensive line in 2020. Harris took some of the poor play this year personally after working with them. The Miami football team finished 127th in the nation allowing 3.92 sacks per game.

One of the things Diaz did when he returned from his extremely short stint at Temple was to reinstate junior wide receiver, Jeff Thomas. Thomas had left or was dismissed, depending on who you believe under previous head coach Mark Richt. Thomas has had an up and down season and was suspended for two games.

Overall Thomas has numbers in 2019 that are fairly similar to 2018. Thomas had 35 receptions for 563 yards and three touchdowns in 2018. He led the Hurricanes in receptions and yards last season. Thomas has 31 for 379 and three TDs. this season. Harris responded to a fan that felt bringing Thomas back was wrong.

Thomas is a dynamic player with the ball in his hands, but inconsistencies have hindered his career. Three games have stood out for the junior in 2019. He had seven receptions for 51 yards in the loss at North Carolina, six for 124 and two TDs in the home loss to Virginia Tech and four for 83 and a TD in the win at Florida State.

If Thomas could be the consistent deep threat and big-play performer on a game in game out basis that Miami needs, the Hurricanes offense would be far better for it. Thomas is the perfect example of the type of player not always executing that Butler has talked about.

Diaz has routinely stated throughout 2019 that a measure of greatness is continued consistency. The Miami football team played exceptionally well in impressive victories over Florida State and Louisville. That was followed up with inexplicable losses against FIU and at Duke. Miami needs more leadership from the upperclassmen.

Another consistent behavior that Diaz has discussed is having a program that the players police themselves. That will take time to rebuild that culture. It has been since the 2000s that the players passed down from upperclassmen to younger players how things are done. It’s not what fans want to hear, but it has to develop.