Dear Coach Golden,
66,279.
That’s the number of fans who believed in your philosophy, your intensity and your shirt and tie last weekend against Ohio State.
OK, many of them wore red and weren’t cheering for the Hurricanes, but the point is clear: It was, quite simply, an awesome home crowd that will probably be the largest at Sun Life this season.
We all recognize the incredible opportunity you have to bring this program back to relevancy and the national spotlight. But you do not have much time.
Hurricane fans aren’t known for their patience, and they won’t stick around for long. A 1-2 record is not helping. Something good has to happen fast.
It’s astonishing that this team appears unable to sustain momentum. It hurts to see such a passionate effort against Ohio State followed by an uninspired and mistake-ridden one like on Saturday afternoon.
The talent is here, and all the pieces seem right. But now it’s time for you to put the pieces together and then keep them motivated, fired up and ready to play every week.
Canes fans are spoiled. We’re used to wins. For a while, we got a whole lot of them, but recently, they’re increasingly hard to come by. To maintain interest and energy in a place like Miami, the W’s need to start flowing immediately.
We like to crush our opponents’ spirits. Our perennial goal is to see the other side as dejected as Florida State usually is after a wide left or wide right (your choice).
Above all, Hurricane fans are used to excitement. I am reminded of what carried us to our Rose Bowl berth in 2001. It was a game-saving interception by Ed Reed to halt a ferocious Virginia Tech comeback in our last regular season game. It was a play that caused my dad, a man with a two-inch vertical leap, to literally put his fist through our ceiling.
It’s the thrill of watching the mighty Hurricanes dominate that keeps the fans in the seats.
We’re all encouraged by the fact that you proved yourself a winner at Temple. But at the same time, the only similarity I can see between Miami and Temple is that both their mascots are birds.
On Saturday, Bethune-Cookman will be in town. My guess is we will be lucky to draw a crowd of 30,000. But it’s a long season – plenty of time to energize the fans for some tough games ahead, including some strong ACC matchups.
After the mediocrity of the last few seasons, it’s safe to say that no rabid Hurricane fan is willing to settle for the MPC Computers Bowl anymore. We are all ready for the Golden Era to lift us to higher ground.
I have faith in your leadership and your passion, and I will always have faith in the orange and green, but we need to get the ball rolling now.
With great respect,
Spencer Dandes