Orlando, FL- Al Golden’s University of Miami Hurricanes may have come out of the Russell Athletic Bowl with a 36-9 lose to the Louisville Cardinals, but for a program that has self-imposed back-to-back postseason bans, the bowl game is only the beginning.
“Our freshman, sophomores, and juniors were not able to experience this,” said Golden during a press conference prior to the game. “And that includes everything. That includes the bowl practices, that includes the travel, the unity and the bonding that occurs during these.”
Miami hadn’t been to a bowl game since 2010 after the university decided to self-impose a postseason ban following the NCAA’s investigation of former Hurricanes booster Nevin Shapiro.
“Being on the road and hearing nothing but the positives about the University of Miami finally after 28-29 months,” said Golden about the program. “It just feels different and we’re excited about moving the program forward now.”
The return to college football’s postseason is significant for Miami, considering the programs long history of success on the gridiron, which included 5 National Titles and 9 conference championships.
Throughout bowl week Golden emphasized just how important the entire postseason experience was for the team.
“We can move forward now,” said Golden during one of his first interviews of bowl week. “All these things that we’re learning; whether it be the bowl practice, recruiting, pre-site and now obviously on the bowl site, that’s all part of it.”
Despite the blowout loss to Louisville, coach Golden expects to have his largest recruiting class since he got to Coral Gables in 2010. Golden is expecting at least 8 recruits to enroll early and begin practicing in the Spring.
“Because of, you know, some of the things that we imposed against ourselves in the last two years, we had a very small class last year.” said Golden regarding recruiting. “That's not ideally how you want to build your team. This class is going to be a large class.”
Now Miami’s focus shifts to next season and continuing to build off the buzz from receiving a bowl bid. Next season the Canes will play out-of-conference games against the Nebraska Cornhuskers and Cincinnati Bearcats, as well as ACC-foe FSU.
“We have to do a better job coaching, we have to continue to build our program and just move forward.” said Golden about the Hurricanes future.
It is also rumored that the Hurricanes could open up the 2014 season against the Cardinals in Louisville, giving Miami a bowl rematch sooner than they might have expected. A source with knowledge of the program says that this is a very likely possibility.
It’s worth noting that FSU played Pittsburgh to open up the season this year, so it isn’t out of the ordinary for the ACC to schedule a conference game during Week 1.
“Our freshman, sophomores, and juniors were not able to experience this,” said Golden during a press conference prior to the game. “And that includes everything. That includes the bowl practices, that includes the travel, the unity and the bonding that occurs during these.”
Miami hadn’t been to a bowl game since 2010 after the university decided to self-impose a postseason ban following the NCAA’s investigation of former Hurricanes booster Nevin Shapiro.
“Being on the road and hearing nothing but the positives about the University of Miami finally after 28-29 months,” said Golden about the program. “It just feels different and we’re excited about moving the program forward now.”
The return to college football’s postseason is significant for Miami, considering the programs long history of success on the gridiron, which included 5 National Titles and 9 conference championships.
Throughout bowl week Golden emphasized just how important the entire postseason experience was for the team.
“We can move forward now,” said Golden during one of his first interviews of bowl week. “All these things that we’re learning; whether it be the bowl practice, recruiting, pre-site and now obviously on the bowl site, that’s all part of it.”
Despite the blowout loss to Louisville, coach Golden expects to have his largest recruiting class since he got to Coral Gables in 2010. Golden is expecting at least 8 recruits to enroll early and begin practicing in the Spring.
“Because of, you know, some of the things that we imposed against ourselves in the last two years, we had a very small class last year.” said Golden regarding recruiting. “That's not ideally how you want to build your team. This class is going to be a large class.”
Now Miami’s focus shifts to next season and continuing to build off the buzz from receiving a bowl bid. Next season the Canes will play out-of-conference games against the Nebraska Cornhuskers and Cincinnati Bearcats, as well as ACC-foe FSU.
“We have to do a better job coaching, we have to continue to build our program and just move forward.” said Golden about the Hurricanes future.
It is also rumored that the Hurricanes could open up the 2014 season against the Cardinals in Louisville, giving Miami a bowl rematch sooner than they might have expected. A source with knowledge of the program says that this is a very likely possibility.
It’s worth noting that FSU played Pittsburgh to open up the season this year, so it isn’t out of the ordinary for the ACC to schedule a conference game during Week 1.