MIAMI – When Miami athletic director Blake James watched the Hurricanes get pummeled by Clemson 58-0 on Oct. 24, he saw problems too big for for Al Golden to fix.
If he looked across the field, he could've also seen how to fix them.
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When Clemson promoted Dabo Swinney from wide receivers coach to interim head coach in 2008, few outside of Clemson thought it would stick. When Swinney was officially named the permanent head coach later in the season, the move was laughed at. How could a program like Clemson, with great facilities, an 80,000-plus-seat stadium, pretty rich history and SEC-level backing from fans and boosters, hire as a head coach a guy who hadn't ever even been a coordinator? Sure, Swinney was incredibly passionate and had a reputation as a strong recruiter for a position coach, but the 39-year-old certainly couldn't have the chops to be a head guy, right?
Seven years later, the Tigers are atop the ACC mountain. Swinney is about to lead the Tigers to their fifth straight 10-win season. He's also led the Tigers to their first ACC title in 20 years, five straight top-20 recruiting classes, victories in three straight bowl games (including an Orange Bowl win after the 2012 season) and, oh yeah, the current No. 1 ranking. (If you want to see an example of the passion Swinney brings, check his postgame interview after Clemson's win over FSU.
But Swinney hasn't done it alone. To make up for his lack of Xs and Os experience, Clemson has surrounded Swinney with some of the best coordinators in college football. They hired the mad-scientist of the spread offense, Chad Morris (now a head coach at SMU), then kept him as long as they could by giving him a seven-figure annual deal. They also stole defensive coordinator Brent Venables away from Oklahoma and opened up the checkbook for him. The result is a head coach who is a recruiting machine and coordinators who he can trust to take care of the Xs and Os.
What can Blake James learn from this? This is the new model for success in college football. It's less important to have an "Xs and Os" guy as your head coach. It's more important to have someone who is relentless on the recruiting trail and trusts his coordinators enough to delegate much of the game-planning to them. It's also incredibly important to have someone who is passionate about his school and can infect boosters and recruits with that same passion.
Miami's recruiting rankings didn't suffer much under Al Golden, especially when you consider what he was facing on the trail: questions surrounding an NCAA investigation early and whispers about his potential firing later.
Golden, though, had two main problems that doomed his tenure:
The right hire at Miami would fix both those problems. Someone with a strong Miami background will know the recruiting region and will know to hire coordinators who will build offensive and defensive systems around that talent. He would also know how important former players are to the culture of the "U" and will bend over backwards to make them part of the program and recruiting process to the extent the NCAA will allow.
The good news for James is there is no shortage of qualified candidates that could fit this mold. We've heard names like Mario Cristobal, Butch Davis, Chuck Pagano and Rob Chudzinski, who all know the importance of the U's history and could bring back that passion. There are certainly others, and while being a former UM player or coach isn't necessarily a prerequisite, an understanding of what made Miami great at its peak is essential.
James will undoubtedly conduct a thorough search for the best candidate. But, just like on Oct. 24, he may not have to look further than his own backyard to find a solution.
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