Miami Hurricanes

The Most American Sport on the Brink Because of Modern Americanism

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The first college football game I ever attended was some time in the mid-80s. My dad, a university professor, taught at Texas A&M University and the local Dairy Queen would always give out cheap tickets when the Aggies played Rice. So we went.

And I was hooked. College football is something I’ve always known and loved. That only grew when I moved to Miami, and eventually went to the University of Miami. It serves as a bond in my personal life. An excuse to see friends and family, to meet in person when we otherwise wouldn’t have the time, unite for common cause, to be irrationally depressed when Dan Enos calls a tight end reverse, to over-analyze things that we have no control over.

One of the great things about it is that it is the most American sport, more so than even baseball. We view college football how the rest of the world views soccer. Regional identity with a school/club, “legends” that are beloved in certain circles, long forgotten the rest of the world over, bands, songs…identity. Even if you never went to college, you can identify with a college and feel part of something. College football transcends cities and rural communities alike. When people ask me why soccer never got into the American ethos like it did the rest of the world, the answer is simple…that space is occupied by college football. 

I never once envisioned a time when we would seriously have to consider how important it is, in the greater context of a society, because it all of a sudden feels so secondary. How important is this “game”?

More Than A Game

But that’s the thing…it’s not just a game. Sports is powerful because it is a reflection of society, the best and worst of it. It’s humanity laid bare, often subject to human error, including non-sensical pass interference flags after the national championship game is over. But the community-binding, the relationship building, the common cause…college football thrives in that.

I would never dismiss this as merely a game. It’s important..important to our communities, important to our states, important to rural areas. Athletes all over the country worked their entire lives to get to this point, and I don’t think a decision to not play should be taken lightly.

The American identity is wrapped in college football. You cannot separate the two.

And as the rest of the world heads towards normalcy under a global pandemic, we are faced with the mortality of a sport no one but Americans will miss. A mortality that we caused in a uniquely American way.

Selfishness Masquerading as Individualism 

No one could have predicted when a pandemic would arrive, but we certainly knew it would, at some point. The two previous presidents spoke at length about it.

Given the advance warning and the resources available to our country, why is it that we, a country that received a tertiary infection outbreak (China, then Europe, then here) lead the world in deaths from COVID-19? And why is college football, of all sports, the one that is up for the chopping block?

The answer lies within, the reason is in the mirror, and we as a society failed because for too long our selfishness has been draped in individualism and our wealth disparity excused as deserving haves and have nots. Those two forces combined to exacerbate the pandemic, driving it from something that could be dealt with reasonably to something raging out of control and left college athletics uniquely positioned to be unable to deal with it.

The primary failing is societal (and yes, political, very much political). The easiest way to get back to sports is to make society safe. But poor or non-existent public policy, rampant selfishness, fact denial, ignorance, and putting oneself above the collective good sent this country down a path that deviated from the rest of the first world and resulted in our society being disproportionately impacted. But that was always going to happen here. Why? The reduction of our free press into both-sidesm, conflating opinion with fact, operating under the guise of a marketplace of ideas, but whose real motivation is profit over information, resulted in an ill-formed public that struggled to discern the difference between an infectious disease doctor disseminating the best known information at the time and a carnival barker that was strategically placed opposite that doctor to offer a different perspective.

And “at the time” is an important phrase. We learn more about this virus every day, and with it, guidance can and should change.

Which is where gotchaism and confirmation bias come in, two things that lead a vocal minority to say, “this one doctor said this one thing that turned out to be inaccurate, therefore I can discount the entire pandemic because that’s what I really want to do anyway.”

The problem isn’t as harmless as some ignoramus claiming that the Spanish Flu Pandemic occurred in 1917 and ended the Second World War. The problem is that the actions of the vocal minority effects all of us, because they make us all less safe. And our society’s active willingness to give voice, agency, and platforms under the guise of fairness left us uniquely susceptible to the counter-factual bile that exacerbated and continues to exacerbate our COVID-19 impacts.

Eating vegetables is better for you and everyone, but there is a lot of money to be made in serving crap, which is the state of our public discourse. We’re suffering from lack of intelligence obesity. 

Indentured Servitude Masquerading as Economic Policy

If you’re wondering where the sports come in, and why you’re reading this here, well we’re getting there. But the preamble about why we were disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 is important to understand why college football is uniquely at risk. Because the challenges facing sports in our country are unique.

In Europe, there are still outbreaks, but they have a robust system of testing and quarantine after a positive test. Formula 1 driver Sergio Perez has missed consecutive races because he tested positive. Atletico Madrid will play a critical Champions League without a pair of key players. But these are the outliers, and it’s easy to isolate those cases because positive cases are so infrequent that it is easy to put in Draconian rules in the case of a positive result. Contact tracing, repeated testing, isolation of infected people…all possible when the infections are limited to a one off here and there.

We can’t do that in the United States because the virus is so prevalent. People are going to test positive. When MLB tried to quarantine “all over” it was only a matter of time before outbreaks resulted in massive cancellations. Any such outbreak would eliminate the football season.You can’t cancel games with opponents and opponents-opponents and then try to make them up later in football. Game-to-game recovery time is too long.

So administrators of the schools were essentially faced with 2 choices: (1) Admit they have been exploiting athletes for years, admit the athletes are not only actual employees but some of the most highly skilled people on earth, and provide them with a fair, market determined wage which would also empower players to participate in a bubble together similar to other sports that have been successful thus far, OR (2) try to figure out some way to get cute and appear they care while still managing to maintain the student-athlete fallacy that allows their enablers to give them cover while they exploit highly profitable labor. One guess at what they chose.

I’m not going to pretend to be able to predict the future. I’m also not going to pretend I’m in meeting rooms with these college administrators. But none of the plans rolled out were actually designed with the idea that players wouldn’t test positive. This isn’t subtext. This is text. ““We’re going to have positive cases on every single team in the SEC. That’s a given. And we can’t prevent it.”

So instead, administrators went pretzel twisting in an attempt to reduce the number of instances of positive tests (not the actual spread, just the number of cases they would have to acknowledge), to delay what they viewed as an eventual critical mass of poor test results arriving that would force the cancellation of the season. And before the B1G took a holier than thou disposition, they actually moved the Michigan-Ohio State game forward because they had no confidence of reaching the end of the season without having to shut down, and they wanted their marquee game to be played. Intentions are not being hidden. 

And, as momentum built toward the idea that the season might not go forward, the disingenuous hand-wringing started. Like this:

When was the plan ever to have “college towns” flooded with people like there wasn’t a pandemic? Or do you just want your football? As our Alfredo Arteaga of Three Yards Per Carry pointed out, schools are going to be out significant revenue even playing with empty stadiums, and that might have been the impetus for the recent shift in focus.

Further complicating things is the bad faith arguments from people who never cared about the players having agency, never cared about their well being, constantly telling them to shut up, that they’re lucky to play a “game,” all of a sudden deciding that what players care about is really important because they want football. The death rate could go to 50%, and they’d still say, “but football.” People like this windbag:

If the pandemic has taught us one thing, it’s that we can easily separate the people we disagree with in good faith from those bad faith clowns that reverse engineer logic based on the conclusion they wanted to believe in anyway. As Jadon Haselwood put it:

What the Bad Faith Brigade doesn’t realize is their overall behavior in fact denying, in pervasive anti-player stances enabling exploitation, and in continued objection to anything that contradicts their preconceived biases greatly increased the threat to society as a whole and college football specifically. College football players should have been paid long ago because in a free and fair society, markets determine your wage. Alternatively, you can collectively choose to unionize, believing collective negotiating power gives you more leverage, but with the negative effect of allowing your employer(s) to band together and enforce agreed upon rules, something expressly illegal in other circumstances. The NCAA operates in option 3. Make up some fake status of Student-Athlete, but exist in a society so resistant to change and so comfortable with exploitation as long as they aren’t the ones being exploited, that politicians will protect a system that actively prevents capitalism from happening.

Even in shamelessly using the players, this time attempting to give them the voice that they have long been denied, those nefarious people have once again reduced them to a pawn to placate their selfish motives. There are roughly THIRTEEN THOUSAND FBS players. Can we at least allow them the human dignity of having diverging opinions? Some will want to play with the plans the schools laid out, others will want to play with stricter safety protocols and an isolation bubble, others with different safety mechanisms that have yet to be openly discussed among all players mainly due to the complete lack of a recognized universal union (again, goes back to the student-athlete fraud), others will not play regardless (and many have already opted out). The players’ opinions are as diverse as America itself, and reducing them down to a soundbite and acting like they speak in unison so you can say “the players want” exactly what you happen to want (WOW! What a coincidence!) is the ultimate act of exploitation. 

The more people shout “open it up” unconditionally regardless of changes in how the virus acts, the more their selfish desire to have whatever they want whenever they want regardless of consequence is laid bare for all to see. America has become this exchange from the Sopranos:

Meadow: I’m a grown woman. I’m over 18 years old. I can I do what I want, how I want, where I want and can date who I want.

Carmela: Alright, Jesus Christ, we get it! Is that your only point here?! Because always getting what you want is for babies, not adults!

Who knew Americans would watch that and collectively think, “that Meadow has a point!”

Life inherently entails risk.  I’m not going to pretend to know what the tipping point is where we determine it’s too much risk for the players. You would think this is it:

And I certainly didn’t expect to be quoting Booger McFarland here, but:

I’m American, so I’m nothing if not inconsistent. I can’t definitively say where I land on this spectrum of should or should not play. I do know that if there are games, I will watch and write about it, and argue about it like it is the most important thing in the world, in an environment where my fellow Americans are suffering. I will not pretend otherwise.

But, anyone that argues that players should not be compensated for playing a game, that professional athletes are “lucky” to play a game, that have flippantly dismissed the hard work and skill it takes to rise to the top of a profession, reducing players to commodities, must surely be of the opinion to shut it down. How could an irrelevant game be so critical it must continue during a pandemic? And if they’re not advocating a complete shut down (spoiler alert: the Venn Diagram of those that think players should not be paid and those that think we should play football no matter what is damn near a circle), then we must logically deduce that they don’t care at all about the players, never have, and their opinion in matters of public health in relation to players must be dismissed. They only care about being selfishly entertained.

For the rest of us that have argued that sports are a public good, that they enrich our society, that they are of importance, the matter becomes significantly more complicated. It’s not just a game, but there is a point where the risks outweigh the rewards. Everyone can individually make that determination. The challenge for college football, however, is that there is no one to negotiate for the group. The QB of Clemson should have no more power in making health decisions than the backup tackle at Rutgers. And the decision is not binary. Each player has a point where they will no longer be willing to play, so it’s not simply to play or not, but under what conditions, who negotiates the conditions, and how does a school negotiate with people they insist are not employees?

And while some choose to trivialize a player’s stance for selfish reasons, the reality is that the devil will always be in the details. One of the things that is extremely powerful, but oft unused, is the ability to admit that we don’t know. COVID-19 is new, we don’t know a lot about long-term health impacts, indicators, and certainly how football players will cope. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey struck that note here:

My question is if we don’t know, should we not err on the side of caution? I’ll echo Sankey…I don’t know. More people than can fit in any college football stadium are dead. Most did not have to die. This is a global pandemic, but an American tragedy. We killed them. Now what? I don’t know.

But, I think the larger concern centers around the premise that college football is a quintessentially American endeavor. We, as Americans, collectively, have failed as a society. Failed to protect our most vulnerable, amplified stupidity, ignored facts and science, and completely fumbled our pandemic response. Several people involved in that now tell us it’s safe to play, don’t worry, the kids will be fine. Why should we believe them?

I want nothing more than to watch D’Eriq King sling passes to Brevin Jordan, to beat FSU again, to watch 15 SEC teams somehow be ranked in the Top 10, to try and figure out why Notre Dame is ranked in the Top 5 with 7 losses. That is a dream at this point. So is simply sitting in a restaurant and having a meal. The normal is now the aspirational.

We’ve put everyday Americans at greater risk because we couldn’t be inconvenienced, because we had to party, because we would rather believe in fairy tales than reality. We’ve decided that the desires of individuals were more important than societal good. We keep saying we can, no one bothered to ask if we should. We reached out to our fellow citizens and decided that they weren’t worth even the slightest of sacrifices for. And we’ve therefore created a disaster. The question I leave you with is this….does a nation of Veruca Salt’s even deserve college football in 2020?

 

Vishnu Parasuraman is a contributor for @FiveReasonsSports and generally covers the Miami Hurricanes. You can follow him on twitter @vrp2003

5 conclusions we can draw from Miami’s recent recruiting momentum

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If you are a Miami Hurricanes fan, it’s no secret that the Canes have been killing it on the recruiting trail lately, getting commitments left and right. That flame will still carry a lot of fire into August with the impending decisions of the Palmetto trio of five-star DT Leonard Taylor, five-star CB Jason Marshall, and four-star S Corey Collier. But what have we learned from all of the excitement up to this point?

 

Ephraim Banda is an elite recruiter

 

Yes, I wholeheartedly believe this even though he doesn’t work for Nick Saban, Dabo Swinney, or Kirby Smart. But the recruits he’s been able to reel in the past five years has been incredible, considering the circumstances. A lot of critics (fans really) have zeroed in on the recruits he missed out on but let’s take a look at the guys he’s been able to close the deal with. 

 

We all remember that abysmal 2019 class when Banda could not catch enough flack for missing out on Tyrique Stevenson when he opted for Georgia instead of Miami. Shoot, on the morning of National Signing Day earlier this year, that whole mess with Jaiden Francois also ended with Miami on the losing side to Nebraska of all schools. 

 

Missing out on Francois hurt for about two hours. However, it was practically forgotten about when Avantae Williams shocked the world and chose the Canes over highly-favored Florida. You know why? Because Banda had been laying the groundwork in Williams’ recruitment since Williams was in the 8th grade. Avantae initially committed in February 2017 and was in the fold for 15 months. He de-committed, but Banda kept working his magic enough to regain his signature on Signing Day. On top of that, he landed a couple of other high-level South Florida safeties in four-star Jalen Harrell and three-star Brian Balom. 

 

Banda was also the primary recruiter for five-star James Williams, whom everyone thought was a LOCK for Georgia. 

 

It also helps that he currently has 7 (!!!) safeties that he’s coached at Miami currently in the NFL.

 

As of right now, Banda is the 11th best recruiter in the country according to 247Sports but he absolutely deserves top 5 status should he snag the Palmetto duo of five-star CB Jason Marshall and four-star safety Corey Collier. 

 

Miami’s 2021 recruiting class will be South Florida-heavy

 

Out of Miami’s 21 commitments, 19 currently hail from the state of Florida. Out of those 19 in-state commitments, 17 hail from the South Florida tri-county area. In addition, 2 of the 4 not from South Florida (Deshawn Troutman and Elijah Arroyo) actually have Miami roots. 

 

Enough numbers, but you get the gist. I’ve always felt as if there were a time where we could comfortably say “The U is back”, it has to start from recruiting heavy down here. You have to lock down South Florida. There’s so much talent in Miami alone, from Overtown all the way down to Florida City and Homestead, and the reality is that they’re not going to get everyone

 

Miami’s initial rise to glory was back in the 80’s when Howard Scnhellenberger did what every former Miami coach was afraid to do and that was to recruit in the inner city. From there, he basically unlocked Pandora’s box containing the talent-rich schools in the area that would later elevate the program to national prominence. 

 

It was important for Diaz to emphasize South Florida in the 2021 class not only for future success but also because of how talent-heavy South Florida is in this current class. 

 

16 of the top 36 prospects in Florida are from the tri-county area. And out of those 16, 7 are currently committed to Miami and that number could reach as much as 10 by the end of the cycle should they land Leonard Taylor, Jason Marshall, and Corey Collier. In reality, the Canes are not going to get every prospect they want down here, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing if you consider how talent there is. But they’re already operating at a good percentage.

 

Miami is not that far from achieving championship-level depth at safety

 

There’s a reason why you always see teams like Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, and Ohio State in the College Football playoff. Okay maybe there’s a like a few but a big one is the story told by the depth chart. You have your 1st-team and 2nd-team All-American starters on both sides but when they get hurt, there isn’t much of a drop off when the next guy is called. 

 

Miami had a great haul in 2020 with Williams as well as Harrell and Balom. And as it stands, they’re slated to bring in five-star James Williams and four-star Kamren Kinchens. That’s a good two-deep at both safety spots in 2021 and it could be even better if Gurvan Hall and Bubba Bolden decide to stay for their senior years. So yes, that’s the depth we can possibly see when Miami plays Alabama in the 2021 season opener. 

 

Commitment to winning  = Recruits are buying it

 

After one season, Manny Diaz has already separated himself from the two men he succeeded. No, it’s not about going 6-7 in his first season at the helm. It’s about always having his finger on the trigger if changes are needed. One of the biggest downfalls of Mark Richt and even Al Golden was that either they were too loyal to some of their assistant coaches or they were resistant to making changes even though there was a glaring need. For both coaches, they both got the axe before they could invoke change. 

 

When Al Golden was hired, he brought along a close friend of his in Mark D’Onofrio, who was the defensive coordinator for Golden’s Temple teams. Not even going to sugarcoat it, Miami’s defenses were terrible. In three of three of the five years, the Canes ranked 90th or worse in the nation in total defense. Don’t even get me started when they played Georgia Tech or whatever team that was and they put only 3 in the box when Tech was inside the 5.

 

The offense was very lackluster in 2019 under new OC Dan Enos, who received much hype and praise when he was brought in by coach Diaz. After the season, Diaz wasted no time in deciding to fire Enos in favor of Rhett Lashlee, a man who ran the 7th best offense in the country for SMU. Even though Diaz had a lot of respect for Enos initially, he showed his commitment to not only winning but also turning the program around.

 

Quarantine has not slowed down recruiting for Miami

 

The recruiting dead period commenced in the middle of March but that has not stopped Miami’s coaches from utilizing creative methods to build and further their relationships with prospects and their families. Miami has added 12 commitments since the beginning of quarantine, which accounts for more than half of their total. The Canes already have the advantage of being in close proximity to a majority of the recruits they are in contact with. There’s probably a handful of schools that can say they have this luxury and schools that don’t have a hotbed of talent surrounding them are suffering the most. 

 

Mix in the fact that even if recruits were to take the risk and visit other campuses (most aren’t), they cannot do so with the assistance of coaches. I’m not saying this to discredit the coaches and their work, but that advantage could not come at a better time.

 

E-5: A look at Tua Tagovailoa’s ratings in Madden 21

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EA released Tua Tagovailoa’s Madden rating, and fans should be excited.

Last weekend, some lucky fans were able to play the Madden 21 beta, myself included. And while we were unable to use the Miami Dolphins and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, there was still a lot to like about the beta. But the real question Dolphins’ fans wanted to be answered, is what would their new franchise QB’s Madden 21 rating be.

Well, now we know.

A short time ago, EA released most of the rookie QB’s ratings, and to the surprise of many, Tua’s were good.

Of course, they make golden boy Joe Burrow the highest-rated QB of the group with a 76-overall. But The Left Arm of God was the second-highest rated player at his position, clocking in with a 73-overall rating. Some might wonder if Tua would’ve been the #1 overall pick in this year’s draft and if he would be sitting atop this group if he never suffered that season-ending injury.

He may not have have been the top-rated rookie QB, but his attributes were a thing of beauty.

Tua Tagovailoa’s Madden 21 Ratings


Awareness: 76
Throw power: 88
Short accuracy: 86
Medium accuracy: 80
Deep accuracy: 84
Injury: 84

Other noticeable rookies include fan-favorite Justin Herbert (70), Jordan Love (71), and Jalen Hurts (68).

I’m not surprised it’s July 9th, and I’m getting hot and bothered by this year’s Madden. It’s what I’ve done every year since I broke out of my mother’s womb. And like every year, this will be a glorified roster update that I play for a few days and get tired of. Until they do #FixMaddenFranchise, there’s going to be a lot of disappointed fans of EA and their company. Myself included. But for now, rookies are the only reason some of us buy the game every year.

So, while we now know what Tua’s ratings will look like, we still have ten other rookies to wait on, and that’s not including UDFAs.

One thing we need to remember is if Miami’s QB plays like many of us hope, his ratings will get a much-needed update.

The question now is simple. Will you buy Madden 21 to play with Tua? Or update your most recent copy of Madden and wait for Next-Gen.

Like a sucker, I’ll be buying Madden 21. And Tuanigamanuolepola Tagovailoa is to blame.

Dolphins coach Brian Flores says will be in for a long season in 2019 with young, inexperienced Dolphins team.

Houtz special: NFL should have followed Brian Flores

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These last few months have been like something out of a horror movie.

A global pandemic—that could’ve been prevented—forced all of us who reside in ‘tHe GrEaTeSt CoUntRy In ThE wOrlD’ to seize life as we know it. Going to the grocery store felt eerily similar to an episode of The Walking Dead. And then came the horrific murder of George Floyd, which was the tip of the iceberg, in a long, unfortunate list of victims wrongfully murdered for the color of their skin.

We all saw the video.

We are ALL enraged and pissed off by the video.

And many have decided to take matters into their own hands.

Over the last two weeks, protestors have marched day and night throughout some of the largest cities in America, demanding change to the social justice system. Change, that four years prior was front and center of every paper in America thanks to the peaceful protest of Colin Kaepernick and other NFL players.

The truth is, I’m a white male, who although faced with different hurdles in life, NEVER had to deal with the same racial oppression as others. I NEVER had to fear for my life while stopped by a cop. Or murdered while jogging around the block. I never have to worry about being viewed differently because of my skin tone. I could go on all day with how fucked up society is. How inconsiderate others are to human life. But whether you admit it or not, we are all aware.

We are all created equally.

But for far too long, people have been overrun with hate.

And whether we want to sit here and admit it or not, cops have been a massive part of that problem.

No, not all cops are corrupt.

But a majority of them are corrupt and ignorant. A majority of them do believe they are above the law, and it’s time for a change.

Colin Kaepernick knew this, and the entire world turned their collective heads.

The players who protest were referred to by the president of the United States as, and I quote, ‘Sons of bitches.’

Roger Goodell admitted his wrongdoing in a statement made Thursday Night. A comment which came 24 hours after several prolific football players made one of their own. On the surface, it was a step in the right direction. But after seamlessly blackballing Kaepernick for years, the apology seemed hollow at its roots.

One speech that did effectively address everything wrong in this world was the one issued by Miami Dolphins’ head coach Brian Flores.

Flores is one of only four black head coaches in the NFL. He is of Honduran descent and has spoken out before about his upbringing. And how he was affected by racial profiling.

And yet, when the entire NFL was waiting patiently to figure out the right things to say or do.

Brian Flores, the Miami Dolphins’ head coach, spoke out.

The way a leader should.

Here was Brian Flores’s message from May 29th.

“I’ve had the privilege of being a part of many different circles that have included some very powerful and influential people of all different races and genders. The events of the last few weeks have brought some of the memories of those conversations back to light. I vividly remember the Colin Kaepernick conversations. ‘Don’t ever disrespect the flag’ was the phrase that I heard over and over again. This idea that players were kneeling in support of social justice was something some people couldn’t wrap their head around. The outrage that I saw in the media and the anger I felt in some of my own private conversations caused me to sever a few long-standing friendships.

“Most recently, I’ve had conversations about incentivizing teams for hiring minorities. Again, there was some outrage in the media and talks that this would cause division amongst coaches, executives and ownership. I bring these situations up because I haven’t seen the same OUTRAGE from people of influence when the conversation turns to Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and most recently George Floyd. Many people who broadcast their opinions on kneeling or on the hiring of minorities don’t seem to have an opinion on the recent murders of these young black men and women. I think many of them QUIETLY say that watching George Floyd plead for help is one of the more horrible things they have seen, but it’s said amongst themselves where no one can hear. Broadcasting THAT opinion clearly is not important enough.

“I lead a group of young men who have the potential to make a real impact in this world. My message to them and anyone else who wants to listen is that honesty, transparency, and empathy go a long way in bringing people together and making change. I hope that the tragedies of the last few weeks will open our hearts and minds to a better way of communicating and hopefully create that change.”

On Thursday, Flores once again met with the media.

No, he didn’t have to, nor was he scheduled to. But he felt it was something he should do.

There were lots of takeaways from the 20-minute conversation with Flores, which can be found HERE. But the thing that stood out most in my eyes was this.

I’ll tell you, it’s a long road. I think it’s about each individual’s heart and where is that? And making sure people’s hearts are in the right places and there is a respect and – I won’t say admiration but just an overall respect for your fellow man or woman. I think we have a long way to go and hopefully we use this tragedy as a starting point to get to the place where you’re talking about.”

In the end, Goodell’s apology was a step in the right direction for a league that spent four years trying to brush things under the rug. But until players, fans, and the rest of America see change, the words are as empty as the stadiums will surely be this fall. The time is now for America to change. And as we’ve seen over the last several days, change is imminent. Cops need to be accountable for their actions. And we need to abide by the golden rule, “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”.

We are all equal.

Brian Flores said what the national football league should’ve said, immediately. But instead, they waited and waited and waited.

The speech was fine, but until Roger Goodell and the rest of the world live up to their end of the bargain, the same issues will remain.

And that is unacceptable.

#BlackLivesMatter

Want to support the cause? Buy this official LSO t-shirt and all proceeds will be donated to Colin Kaepernick’s Know Your Rights Camp.

 

This article was written by Josh Houtz. You can unfollow me on Twitter (@Houtz)

Miami Dolphins

THE EXTRA YARD: 5 Ways to Fix “The Rooney Rule”

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Sometimes, you need to look at something twice.

Or more.

I must admit that when I initially read the tweet below, that broke news that the NFL would be voting on a resolution that would improve a team’s draft position if they hired a person of color to be Head Coach or General Manager, I thought five things, almost in order: A) This is kinda clever and funny as a protest of the Rooney Rule. B) This is racially insensitive as a protest of the Rooney rule. C) This is tone deaf if real. D) It’s borderline racist. E) Wait…THIS IS REAL?

This ridiculous, condescending, tone deaf resolution has since been “tabled”, presumably to be improved upon in the future. In it’s place, the following was approved:

On the face of it, it’s fine as an add-on, although I am sure we can all agree it won’t make much of a difference, but at the very least it will draw some attention to minority hiring practices in the NFL. So, how do we attempt to “fix” this problem? Well, first of all, you must agree that there is a problem. There are 2 Black GM’s and 4 Head Coach’s of color in the NFL, making for a 17 year low. People of color are underrepresented. That’s a problem. So what’s the issue? Racism? Can’t fix that. You can’t legislate tolerance. Especially when racial bias will be denied. In the end, the problem is not rampant racism among the owner’s ranks in the NFL. It’s the good ole boy network, or the simple fact that people tend to hire people that they more readily identify with.

What people of color need is an opportunity that for whatever reason, is harder to come by. So how do we increase opportunity? I have five ideas that can create an environment for minority candidates, where they will have a better chance at landing top NFL Jobs as Head Coach’s and General Managers.

 

1. Expand the Rooney Rule for Offensive/Defensive Coordinator Jobs.

Pretty straight forward. If you have a vacancy at OC/DC, you must comply with the Rooney rule and grant an interview to a minority candidate. This way, you are exposing minority candidates to the Jobs that are most likely to be in line for the top gigs.

The Web site fivethirtyeight wrote about this and had an instructive graph:

a
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/a-5-part-plan-to-fix-the-nfls-coaching-diversity-problem/

 

2. Only College Head Coaches, NFL Coordinators, and former NFL Coaches are eligible to interview for a Head Coach’ job.

Wait, this seems counter productive to the goal? No. As you create opportunities for minorities to become coordinators, they will populate the hiring pool and thereby fill coaching vacancies at a higher rate. It’s Math.

 

3. If you are fired as a Off./Def. Coordinator in the NFL, you are removed from the HC candidate and coordinator pool for one league year.

“This works as a scarlet letter and will hurt, more than help.” Disagree. This will break up the retread market that stifles the upward mobility of younger candidates. You are not preventing them from getting other jobs either, it’s just the titles that are not available to them for one league year. they can be hired as play callers, consultants, but cannot hold the title that includes them into the Head Coach pool.

 

 


4. Expand Internships for High School/College athletes.

Will the NCAA allow this? They better. They have no leverage to deny unpaid internships during the college offseason/ High School summer. The simple rule to use to avoid the inevitable hanky panky that will go on, is that these “interns” must not do their internship during a draft eligible year. Simple and easy as that. By exposing young minority athletes to the coaching ranks at an earlier age, it may plant the seeds to continue on this path if/when their football life doesn’t blossom into playing careers.

 

5. Expand post-retirement player coaching assistant participation by incentivizing/enhancing their pensions.

This is the foot in the door. These are not highly paid jobs, and in fact, will likely pay rather poorly, but this is the easiest of starts for a coaching career, available to all football retirees. These players can also be incentivized to participate by enhancing their pensions (when eligible). Sound weird? State governments and the federal government already do that for those that work past their retirement eligibility. This will seed the lowest rung of coaching staffs, and thereby create a feeder system for minority candidates.

These are simple fixes that don’t engage in mandates, but do increase opportunity for minority candidates by merely offering opportunity where none existed before. Football, like no other sport, enjoys using phrases such as “football family”, and “football life”. With these proposals, you are not merely creating a big tent, but encouraging your “football family” and football lifers” to fill it.

 

Alfredo Arteaga (@Alf_Arteaga) is one-third of the trio that does the Three Yards Per Carry (@3YardsPerCarry) podcast.

Tua TagovailoaUniversity of Alabama Athletics

Fresh Perspective: Why Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa needs to redshirt 2020

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Now that the Miami Dolphins have drafted Tua Tagovailoa, the former Alabama superstar has the entire Dolphins fanbase reeling with either anticipation, or impatience. Given the circumstances, that’s an entirely understandable feeling. Miami hasn’t had hope for a true franchise quarterback since Ryan Tannehill was initially drafted back in 2012. The seven years he spent with the Dolphins made it clear that he’s good, but he will never be that elite level player fans want.

So now here comes Tua Tagovailoa. Perhaps the most talented quarterback to come out of college in recent memory. Many evaluators equate his skill set to Drew Brees. How could fans not want to see a left-handed Drew Brees come in as soon as possible? However, there are a few problems with that. While the temptation to play Tagovailoa right away is incredibly strong, is it really in the best interest of the franchise?

One can easily make the argument that patience is still a virtue. Here’s why.

Health Concerns

One thing that cannot be dismissed or ignored is that Tagovailoa’s health is a huge question mark. His college career at Alabama is riddled with injuries that slowed him down, including the hip injury that officially ended his final season there. It’s because of that injury the Dolphins were able to draft Tagovailoa fifth overall in the 2020 NFL draft. It’s also because of that injury that caution is strongly advised. At the very least, head coach Brian Flores doesn’t seem to be in a hurry to throw him to the wolves.

“Look, we haven’t even seen him. Obviously with the pandemic and all that’s going on, our doctors haven’t seen him.” Flores said back in late April. “We have a long way to go before we can say who’s doing what … We have to just get him and have a meeting first. I think it’s way too early to speculate on this year and how this is going to go. You guys know we like to take a one day at a time approach anyway. That’s going to be the approach I’m going to have him take as well.”

Videos emerged before the draft of Tagovailoa going through the motions for a virtual Pro Day. He threw well, showed off strong footwork and revealed that his hip was progressing nicely. Doctors have come out and said that Tagovailoa’s hip is ahead of recovery schedule. All of these things are excellent signs. However, ahead of schedule does not mean fully healed, and we’ve seen what happens when Tagovailoa gets rushed out onto the field before he’s ready.

Uncertain Offensive Line

Take a look at the offensive line the Dolphins project to field in 2020.

  • LT – Austin Jackson
  • LG – Ereck Flowers
  • C – Ted Karras
  • RG – Solomon Kindley
  • RT – Robert Hunt

This is merely an assumption based on what Miami seems intent on doing. Unless they sign veteran guard Larry Warford to play right guard, it’s obvious development is the goal for the upcoming season, one way or another. Kindley is a monster of a guard, Hunt loves pancaking defenders, and Jackson has all the tools necessary to be an elite left tackle. There are other young players who will get a chance as well.

But they’re raw. Every single one of them has some part of their game that needs serious fixing before they can truly be deemed ready to start in the NFL. Jackson’s hands and footwork needs to be fine-tuned. Hunt needs to move faster if he plans to play right tackle. Is it really wise to throw Tagovailoa out there when the offensive line is going to be using this season as a trial run? The obvious answer is no.

Again, temptation is very strong. It’s understandable that fans want to see Tagovailoa play as soon as possible. He represents the end of a long two decades of mediocrity. But without an offensive line worth touting, Miami runs the risk of ruining Tagovailoa the same way Tannehill was. No run game and no pass protection is a recipe for disaster for Tagovailoa’s career. Thankfully, there is a simple solution.

Let Ryan Fitzpatrick take those hits.

If Tagovailoa was going to start right away, why bother keeping Fitzpatrick around? Why bother investing in Josh Rosen and not seeking some sort of trade option to try and recoup the second round draft pick they gave up for him? The smart thing to do is to let Fitzpatrick be the crash test dummy so to speak. While the offensive linemen learn and grow through trial by fire, Tagovailoa can sit and watch Fitzpatrick, getting his reps through practice where the risk of re-injury is minimal. If something happens to Fitzpatrick, then Rosen can play instead, maybe even increasing his trade value.

Pattern of History

Everyone knows Aaron Rodgers. He will go down in history as one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game. But he didn’t play right away. He sat behind another Hall of Fame QB in Brett Favre for a while before he got to take over in Green Bay. Now, the Packers are following the same formula with extremely raw but talented Utah State QB Jordan Love.

Everyone knows Patrick Mahomes. He’s the best QB in the NFL. Some are already even crowning him the greatest of all time. But in his rookie season, he sat behind veteran Alex Smith. Granted, Smith was in the running for an MVP award that year. But as special as Mahomes obviously is, why did he not immediately take over?

Everyone knows Dan Marino. There’s no QB in Dolphins history who has accomplished more. There are many who consider him the greatest passer to ever play football. But even in his rookie season, Marino sat behind David Woodley for some time while he acclimated to the NFL. What came after that was more than a decade and a half of incredible play that leaves Dolphins fans constantly searching for that one player who can truly carry the baton for Marino.

The list of QBs who found success waiting their turn goes on and on. Think of Carson Palmer sitting behind Jon Kitna for some time in Cincinnati. Eli Manning waited for his chance when Kurt Warner was a New York Giant. Philip Rivers didn’t make a name for himself in San Diego until after the departure of Drew Brees. Jimmy Garoppolo got traded to the 49ers while learning from Tom Brady in New England.

To be fair, there’s an argument in the opposite direction that can be made just as easily. Cam Newton started right away, as did Andrew Luck. Ben Roethlisberger only sat for one week before taking over for an injured Tommy Maddox. Matt Ryan, Russell Wilson, Carson Wentz, Deshaun Watson, the list goes on and on.

But there are extenuating circumstances when it comes to the case of Tua Tagovailoa.

Conclusion: Future over Present

The points made in this column are fairly easy to understand. So much is at stake with Tua Tagovailoa. As stated earlier, he represents the end of a long stretch of mediocrity. Miami has not been relevant since the days of Dan Marino, in spite of several tries to find his true successor. No one shows more promise in that regard than Tua Tagovailoa. But for this unique case, it’s best to err on the side of caution. Tagovailoa may not be fully healthy. His offensive line may not be reliable. His acclimation to the NFL may be hindered by factors beyond his control.

As tempting as it is to make him start now, that only satisfies the base urge to see the Dolphins be successful as soon as possible. It’s understandable, it’s relatable, but it’s not recommended at this time.

2021 is the year to truly get excited. Miami has two more first round picks that season. They have two more second round picks as well. Another strong free agency will only bolster the roster Tagovailoa comes in to play with. Add to that the draft picks the Dolphins select, and all systems are go from that moment on.

The future is indeed bright, the light is shining at the end of the tunnel. But they aren’t out just yet. One more season, Miami fans. The offensive line needs time to learn and gel, Tua Tagovailoa needs time to learn and heal. And the Dolphins have not one, but two quarterbacks who can easily step in while that process takes place. They have time to give. The wise thing to do is not risk the future for the sake of the present.

The NFL is a marathon, not a sprint.

Luis Sung has covered the Miami Dolphins for numerous outlets such as Dolphins Wire for seven years. Follow him on Twitter: @LuisDSung

Jaillet’s Journal: Relocating NFL teams to Florida seems like logistical nightmare

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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is extending an offer to every NFL team whose state is affected by the lockdown.

Thursday, DeSantis said that he is reaching out to commissioners of professional sports leagues to let them know that those teams will have an opportunity to play in Florida.

“If you have a team in a league in an area that just won’t operate, we’ll find a place for them here in Florida,” DeSantis said.

“Our people are starved to have some of this back in our lives,” DeSantis said. “I think we can certainly do it in a way that’s safe.”

This is certainly interesting when you figure in all of the states who are still taking precautions to stop the spread of COVID-19. I certainly want to see sports back again. Is this the way to do it? I certainly don’t think so. When you consider all of the teams may have to go down to Florida, it would just be a logistical mass. For example, I would love to see a NFL schedule that would be able to accommodate multiple teams. Depending on the amount of teams and games there are, it could make for a hectic Sunday.

I get the fact that DeSantis says that there will be room for everybody in the state to do it safety. I’d like to see logistics on how it would actually work. With money losses abound, a bunch of teams will probably want to go down there. How would the state of Florida make it all happen? It sounds good in theory, but can it actually get done? As the old saying goes, nothing ever goes according to plan.

It would certainly be something different than what were used to. I doubt that it’s going to work, but I have been wrong before. If I’m wrong again, then so be it. I would certainly be open to watching sports again. If the state of Florida can get the job done then that would certainly be beneficial for many. However, it sounds more like a pipe dream than reality.

Season Ticket: Is it Tua much trouble to be positive?

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If it is true that misery loves company, it is also accurate that the truly miserable don’t when optimism is abundant anywhere. This is a trait particularly inherent in sports fan populations, with some trying to extinguish hope wherever it may appear.

In South Florida, they are the Dolphins Downers.

You probably know one.

Or a few.

They are the ones who will tell you it will never get better, that the Dolphins will forever be stuck in the doldrums because of some decision made by some long-gone executive more than a decade ago. They are the ones who keep telling you that every plan is destined to fail, because others did before under the same ownership, discounting the possibility that anyone can learn, grow and adapt. They are the ones who keep telling you that the new Hawaiian Hope, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, will be another Beck or Lemon, another Harrington or Culpepper, another Henne or Tannehill, another waste of time and resources — maybe not because of ability on this occasion, but fragility. They are in your mentions on Twitter whenever you post something positive or, more likely, lurking in Facebook grousing groups, where the negativity spreads as if seeded in a Russian bot farm.

Can we finally put that pessimism out to pasture?

Can we finally believe… in something?

Can we finally stop whining, and willing the worst into reality?

Somehow, in a week when the new quarterback’s number release meant more than any passing numbers that any of 20 Dolphins quarterbacks had compiled in 20 years, some fans still found a way to fret. Not all. Certainly not. Not with Tagovailoa’s jerseys ranking first and second in the NFL Shop (and wait until the throwback finally drops). Not with our Tua shirts selling briskly.

Not with memes like this, from fans of the teams in this town, who has seen more success on the basketball side and want a little in football too:

Not with Dolphins fans announcing on social media that they will be putting money on Tagovailoa to win Rookie of the Year, with the sports books having him in the top three, behind only Joe Burrow and Clyde Edwards-Helaire, both widely expected to star and start sooner.

(CLICK BELOW…)

But the other side?

The doomsayers?

They’re out there.

It’s not a straw man situation when you scan social media and see so many still clinging to the notion that Tua was the wrong choice because he’s too brittle. But at least that’s a rational sports argument. It’s flawed, because there’s not much historical correlation between elite quarterbacks’ collegiate injuries and their durability in the pros, but at least it’s understandable to be concerned if Tua will be available enough to fulfill his potential.

It is not rational to just keep endlessly trying to find reasons to dislike him.

And this is some of what was seen on social media this week, the week that Tua officially signed with his right hand not his throwing hand, which somehow rattled some:

There were actual posts asking why the Dolphins didn’t wait to make him earn it, as if that’s how NFL contracts work. Throw for 4,000 yards and then you get paid.

There were actual posts asking why Tagovailoa had to announce he would be helping the places that helped raise him, instead of doing it quietly — as if setting that example of generosity wouldn’t inspire any others.

There were actual posts in response to the above tweet, questioning why he was spending so little on his mother, or why he would spend so much.

Or questioning who paid for it, as if he couldn’t be advanced anything by an agent or someone else with the contract coming a day or two later.

OK, now some will say these are not Dolphins fans.

And in many cases, that is true.

But Facebook tells another story.

You can’t post anything about Tua there without several trolls trashing the pick.

So the question becomes:

Did the Dolphins make those people miserable?

Or were they always that way?

 

Ethan J. Skolnick, the CEO of Five Reasons Sports Network, has covered South Florida sports since 1996… and finally feels good about the direction of the Dolphins. 

Miami Dolphins and Patriots share common ground in opener

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As most of you know by now, the New England Patriots and Miami Dolphins are set to face off in the 2020 season opener. In terms of recent organizational trajectories, these two teams could not be more different. However, the theme of “new eras” lends some common ground.

When you think about what Miami has done this offseason, it’s almost a complete flip from last year. They signed Byron Jones, Elandon Roberts, and Kyle Van Noy. They continued the remodel by signing Jordan Howard, Ted Karras, and Shaq Lawson . Then came the big move in the draft, drafting a potential franchise quarterback in Tua Tagovailoa. Although some of these moves may seem minor, this roster looks completely different from what it did a year ago.

The same could be said for the doing the Patriots. Tom Brady is now no longer the signal-caller after two decades at the helm. Instead, New England will probably be relying on Jarrett Stidham to carry the load. When you take a look at what they did in the offseason, much of the remodeling came via the draft.

New England focused heavily on defense in this draft. From taking Kyle Duggar with their first pick, to selecting Anfernee Jennings and Josh Uche, the Patriots retooled their roster. After all, they had to make up for some of the departures from the team, especially at the linebacker position.

For Brian Flores, this marks a new era for him as well. In comparison to last year, this roster has his fingerprints all over it. He is now beginning to build a roster that he sees fit. With a New England feel to the linebacking group in particular, Flores is getting players that he is comfortable with. Now, he can really begin to put his stamp on this team.

In that sense, the Miami Dolphins are entering a new era. Of course, Tua Tagovailoa is a big part of this equation as well. Time will tell if he will start this year, but at the very least, this marks the beginning of having a franchise quarterback for the first time in quite a while.

For New England, head coach Bill Belichick is entering a new era in the sense that he has to prove he can win without Tom Brady. He led New England to 11-5 record in 2008 after Tom Brady went down with a season-ending injury in the opener against the Kansas City Chiefs. He also managed to go 3-1 when Tom Brady missed the first four games of the 2016 season to serve the infamous Deflategate suspension. However, this will undoubtedly be his toughest test yet. For the first time in two decades, he will no longer have the greatest quarterback in NFL history at the helm.

Change is upon us, and for the Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots, that may be evident in week one. Assuming the season starts on time, both teams will have a lot to prove at the beginning of September. With New England historically struggling in Miami, this will definitely be a closer game than many think.

One spot left for the Canes in 2020: Who’s it for?

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Less than four months into his UF career, Class of 2020 OL signee Issiah Walker has entered the transfer portal. While the reasoning behind it is unclear, it’s an interesting predicament for the Canes as Manny Diaz is now in a position to land one of their most coveted prospects that they came up short on during this past recruiting cycle.

 

Walker was rated as the 15th-best OT in the country and 156th overall according to 247Sports. He was committed to South Carolina for a little over a year before re-opening his recruitment last July. From there, it was a heated battle between Florida and Miami. Walker even made frequent visits to Coral Gables, forming a good relationship with coach Diaz and then-OL coach Butch Barry. Walker committed to the Gators in October and enrolled in the spring. 

 

Miami now has an interesting choice to make because Houston junior OL Jarrid Williams also entered the transfer portal as a grad transfer. The 6’7”, 305 pound lineman received a medical redshirt in 2019 but his best season came in 2018. Williams blocked for an offense that ranked 5th in the nation in scoring offense and seventh in total offense. His quarterback that year you may ask?

 

D’Eriq King, one of Miami’s newest transfers and the presumptive starter at quarterback in 2020. 

 

With the 2020 recruiting class and three transfers, Miami currently has one spot left for any new player this year. It essentially comes down to this: do you go after the talented but younger Walker, where he’ll have four years of eligibility and add to the OL depth in the long-term? Or do you opt for a more win-now situation with Williams, who has the talent and the familiarity with the offense and personnel?

On top of that, former coach Mark Richt took loyalty and the value of the U very seriously when he was top dog. There were several cases of players who spurned Miami during the recruiting process but had interest in transferring to Miami later on. Richt refused to give them any thought. 

 

One that comes to mind was former four-star wide receiver Trevon Grimes, who signed with Ohio State in 2017. He saw action in only two games before deciding to transfer. While he was heavily considering Miami after talking to some of his former high school teammates, Richt was not having it. It’s a new coaching regime now but it is something that Manny Diaz should consider with Walker. At times during Walker’s recruitment, Walker flirted enough to make the Canes think they were getting the hometown benefit and were bound to land his signature.

 

I’m sure the positives about Williams I listed are almost guaranteed. However, when it comes to competing with the Alabama’s, the Georgia’s and the Clemson’s, one of the advantages they have over all of the other Power 5 teams is depth. The only difference between the 1’s and 2’s on their respective rosters is experience. The depth is a result of those coaches having elite recruiting classes coming in every year. This increases competition in practices and lets players know that if you slack, that five-star recruit can come in next year and steal your starting job. Walker would be here not only for 2020 but for at least the next three years.

 

Tank for…Taulia?

 

Okay so there really isn’t any tanking involved with this. But another bit of transfer news worth monitoring is Alabama sophomore QB Taulia Tagovailoa and his decision to enter the portal. If that name carries a little bit of familiarity, he is the younger brother of the newest QB for the Miami Dolphins: 2020 5th overall pick Tua Tagovailoa. 

 

Taulia served as the backup quarterback in Tuscaloosa this past year as a freshman and completed 9 of 12 passes for 100 yards and a touchdown. And to ease any concerns that he was a take for Nick Saban just because of his last name, he was ranked the 5th-best pro-style QB coming out of high school in 2019. So yeah he’s no fluke.

 

He was slated to be the backup again this year but with top recruit Bryce Young coming in, it makes those possibilities a little more foggy.

 

It’s no secret that the Tagovailoa family fancies the city of Miami but I would consider their.reunion to be unlikely for two reasons. 

 

For one, Miami already has a QB in for this class in Tyler Van Dyke. The second reason is, as I previously mentioned, the more pressing need is currently on the offensive line. Just a reminder that Miami only signed two offensive linemen in the past cycle.

 

The only way I see Taulia making the move would be if Diaz can work the numbers or pull off some magic by somehow counting him towards this upcoming recruiting cycle in 2021.