Among the joys of college football is the sense of renewal each fall -- the notion that no matter what transpired the previous season (or didn't), another chance awaits.
Miami fans must have been feeling that sort of optimism, particularly with the arrival last December of a promising new coach, Al Golden, who was coveted by a number of schools because of his efforts with a resurgent Temple team.
Golden chose Miami (Maryland's opening-night opponent), where he is now enveloped in a new coach's nightmare.
The disclosure by Yahoo! Sports that a former booster "provided thousands of impermissible benefits to at least 72 athletes from 2002 through 2010" means Golden's duties have instantly multiplied. He most now try to prepare his team while playing defense.
Golden, whose opening game is less than three weeks away, must distance himself from something that began well before he arrived (former booster Nevin Shapiro told Yahoo! he was giving away gifts as early as 2002). Miami is obviously taking a wallop here. But it will be worse for the Hurricanes if Golden can't convince Miami's 24 commitments and their parents that the program has been washed clean, or will be soon.
That's Golden's burden, even if the scandal was not at all of his making. Fair or not, Golden becomes one of the public faces of all this, if only because he is the current occupant of the head coach's office. In addition to publicly discussing quarterbacks and defenses, Golden must talk compliance, compliance, compliance and hope that his message is received.
Coach are fastidious about looking forward, not back . But I think Golden and Miami know that -- assuming these allegations are true -- the school is obliged to thoroughly examine the culture that allowed the door to seemingly be so wide open to Shapiro.
If you're wondering why Shapiro went public, it seems to be because he is cooperating with authorities and angry at Miami folks who he feels abandoned him. His predictable behavior reminds me of the line from "Hangover" when Stu says: "I'm sorry, you mean the drug dealer at the liquor store wasn't a good guy?"
By the way, it seems too soon to know what effect this will this have on the nationally-televised Maryland-Miami game on Labor Day evening. According to the report by Yahoo! reporter Charles Robinson, Shapiro says he interacted with a number of current players. Suffice it to say, this sure changes the script.
