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Larry Coker said he doesn't have many bad days, and this was a bad day. It should also be one of his last days as head football coach at the University of Miami.
If you haven't seen the brawl between Coker's Hurricanes and Florida International, you are missing mayhem seldom seen in American sport. Vince McMahon must be jealous. This was the XFL on amphetamines.
Melee in Miami
When South Carolina and Clemson brawled in their annual rivalry game, the schools did the admirable thing and banned themselves from bowl competition that year. The Miami-FIU brawl made South Carolina-Clemson look like a thumb-wrestling match. Helmets were removed and used as weapons. Players tried to perform surgery with their cleats.
Frankly, it would be understandable if Miami wanted to cancel the rest of the season. But that wouldn't be fair to the Hurricanes' remaining opponents.
People can argue about who is more at fault here, FIU or Miami. But that's like asking whether a fire was started more by gasoline or a match. I have never seen a one-team brawl.
These are the same Hurricanes who got into a big scuffle after a bowl loss to Louisiana State and who stomped on the Louisville Cardinal logo at midfield before a game. The Hurricanes can't claim the high road now.
The culture around the Miami football program is one that embraces thuggery and excessive bravado. Coker didn't create it, but he has allowed it to fester. He recruited and coached every player on this roster. And what we saw Saturday was a group of players who had no respect for the fact that they represent their school — and no worries about repercussions from their coach.
(And if you want to say a lot of this applies to Don Strock's FIU squad, too ... well, no argument there.)
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Apologists can defend stomping on a logo as "just kids being kids" or say that Coker had good intentions when he signed linebacker Willie Williams, who had been arrested 11 times before entering college. But the brawl is indefensible. And it makes you realize that the Hurricanes have been on a slippery slope for too long. Coker seems to be a nice guy, but he needed to be more than that. He needed to provide discipline for his program. And he didn't.
Stomping on logos and fighting in a stadium tunnel don't happen at every school, and that's why brawls don't happen very often. Coker doesn't seem to get that. After the game, Coker made one of the most astounding statements I have ever read from a coach:
"I think that it will affect the image of our program greatly, but in a positive way," he said, according to the Miami Herald. "I think that when they see the video and they see how it was handled they will be impressed with our players."
Coker seemed to think that his players looked good in comparison to the FIU players. He has since changed his tune and suspended at least eight players. But his initial comments are inexcusable. It doesn't matter if he thought FIU started it, or that his players behaved better. If your players are involved in a brawl, they didn't show nearly enough restraint, period.
Can you imagine Joe Paterno's players doing anything close to what we saw from Miami? Can you imagine Tyrone Willingham, in similar circumstances, defending his players like Coker did? I can't.
The fight during Saturday's Miami-Florida International got really ugly really quickly. (South Florida Sun-Sentinel, John L. White / Associated Press)
What is the point of having a football team if it so thoroughly embarrasses the university like the Hurricanes just did? Miami isn't some college-credit supermarket that needs big-time football to justify its existence. According to Business Week, the average SAT score for a Miami freshman is 1258. The students and faculty at Miami deserve better.
Coker was probably toast, anyway — since losing the Fiesta Bowl to Ohio State four years ago, his program has been on an undeniable decline. He would likely have lost his job either this winter or next for the same old reason: he didn't win enough. In that sense, his exit won't come much earlier than it would have. But it will be more shameful.
If you haven't seen the brawl between Coker's Hurricanes and Florida International, you are missing mayhem seldom seen in American sport. Vince McMahon must be jealous. This was the XFL on amphetamines.
Melee in Miami
When South Carolina and Clemson brawled in their annual rivalry game, the schools did the admirable thing and banned themselves from bowl competition that year. The Miami-FIU brawl made South Carolina-Clemson look like a thumb-wrestling match. Helmets were removed and used as weapons. Players tried to perform surgery with their cleats.
Frankly, it would be understandable if Miami wanted to cancel the rest of the season. But that wouldn't be fair to the Hurricanes' remaining opponents.
People can argue about who is more at fault here, FIU or Miami. But that's like asking whether a fire was started more by gasoline or a match. I have never seen a one-team brawl.
These are the same Hurricanes who got into a big scuffle after a bowl loss to Louisiana State and who stomped on the Louisville Cardinal logo at midfield before a game. The Hurricanes can't claim the high road now.
The culture around the Miami football program is one that embraces thuggery and excessive bravado. Coker didn't create it, but he has allowed it to fester. He recruited and coached every player on this roster. And what we saw Saturday was a group of players who had no respect for the fact that they represent their school — and no worries about repercussions from their coach.
(And if you want to say a lot of this applies to Don Strock's FIU squad, too ... well, no argument there.)
Poll
Apologists can defend stomping on a logo as "just kids being kids" or say that Coker had good intentions when he signed linebacker Willie Williams, who had been arrested 11 times before entering college. But the brawl is indefensible. And it makes you realize that the Hurricanes have been on a slippery slope for too long. Coker seems to be a nice guy, but he needed to be more than that. He needed to provide discipline for his program. And he didn't.
Stomping on logos and fighting in a stadium tunnel don't happen at every school, and that's why brawls don't happen very often. Coker doesn't seem to get that. After the game, Coker made one of the most astounding statements I have ever read from a coach:
"I think that it will affect the image of our program greatly, but in a positive way," he said, according to the Miami Herald. "I think that when they see the video and they see how it was handled they will be impressed with our players."
Coker seemed to think that his players looked good in comparison to the FIU players. He has since changed his tune and suspended at least eight players. But his initial comments are inexcusable. It doesn't matter if he thought FIU started it, or that his players behaved better. If your players are involved in a brawl, they didn't show nearly enough restraint, period.
Can you imagine Joe Paterno's players doing anything close to what we saw from Miami? Can you imagine Tyrone Willingham, in similar circumstances, defending his players like Coker did? I can't.
The fight during Saturday's Miami-Florida International got really ugly really quickly. (South Florida Sun-Sentinel, John L. White / Associated Press)
What is the point of having a football team if it so thoroughly embarrasses the university like the Hurricanes just did? Miami isn't some college-credit supermarket that needs big-time football to justify its existence. According to Business Week, the average SAT score for a Miami freshman is 1258. The students and faculty at Miami deserve better.
Coker was probably toast, anyway — since losing the Fiesta Bowl to Ohio State four years ago, his program has been on an undeniable decline. He would likely have lost his job either this winter or next for the same old reason: he didn't win enough. In that sense, his exit won't come much earlier than it would have. But it will be more shameful.
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