In another season the Miami football program will have gone 20 years without winning a national championship. Stewart Mandel of The Athletic fairly downgraded the Hurricanes from Kings to Barons in his latest update of college football elite.
The Miami football program had one of the greatest runs in the history of the sport from the early 1980s through the mid-2000s. For most of that era, the Hurricanes were a dominant program with a chance to win the national championship nearly every year. It is an era the Miami fanbase has had to hold onto.
The perpetual question whenever the Miami football team gets off to a good start in a season is “Is the U back.” Until more consistency is developed on the field and first-round draft NFL picks are taken nearly annually the Hurricanes are just another college football program. For most of the past 15 years, Miami has been mediocre.
National College Football writer Stewart Mandel of The Athletic breaks his elite college football programs into Kings and Barons. The Kings of the sport are the program at the top. Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State and Oklahoma would have to currently be considered the Kings. The Barons are a bit more complex.
Mandel labeled Miami as a Baron with the possibility to return to King status over the next season or two. Other schools Mandel stated are Baron status are Georgia, Oregon and UCLA. The talent acquisition in the 2020 offseason has greatly upgraded the Hurricanes roster. Mandel explained the State of Miami football.
"Miami: I tend to be very cautious before downgrading one of the sport’s iconic programs from the top tier. Part of me still can’t believe I did it with Nebraska last time. And you sure as heck couldn’t have told me when I started covering the sport that Miami would ever again be anything but a King.But next year will mark two decades since the last of The U’s five national titles. That brand still carries a lot of clout in South Florida, as we saw when the ’Canes had their very brief resurgence in 2017, but nationally, they’ve been a laughingstock more often than a contender recently.Therefore, they are very much on the chopping block."
This week's Mailbag: Checking in on the status of "Kings" and "Barons" like Miami and Georgia that may soon be due for a change of title.https://t.co/etcZ9Dm3Rg
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) May 13, 2020
Miami has had three top 15 signing classes in three of the past five years. The problem has not been attracting the top talent to Coral Gables, it has been the talent has not developed enough or produced consistently on the field. Hurricanes writers and broadcasters often stated too many players have an eye towards the NFL.
The 2020 season could be a critical one for the Miami football program. It is a statement that has been said frequently over the past 15 seasons. The additions of quarterback D’Eriq King, defensive end Quincy Roche and kicker Jose Borreagales were made with the 2020 season in mind. It will be their only year as Hurricanes.
Miami needs to win now to set the foundation for the future. There has been some speculation that head coach Manny Diaz is on the hot seat. The Hurricanes need to show progress in 2020. Another year like 2019 and Diaz would be in trouble. The roster additions and staff changes made in the offseason should improve Miami.