Golden's tenure with the Hurricanes has been completely blanketed by uncertainty — the suspensions related to the investigation that were deemed necessary before his Miami debut last season, ongoing fallout ever since and the fact that he worked for four different athletic directors at Miami before even coaching 18 games at the school.

By next season, the sanctions should have arrived. The page, he hopes, can be turned. Golden and his wife have had plenty of talks about the future, and they always seem to come back to the same conclusion: He's supposed to be at Miami, supposed to see this saga through to, they hope, a championship end.

"I think it's a great place and we're destined for great things here," Golden said. "We're just going through some tough times."