The Miami Hurricanes have looked lost at times to start the 2011 season, and head coach Al Golden has one theory why this is the case.
Golden said Monday his players are trying too hard to make a flashy play that will land them on Sportscenter, which often ends up putting players out of position and hurting the team.
He told the Miami Herald that his coaching staff has to break some players' overwhelming desire to appear on Sportscenter, or at least subsume it under the goal of better team play.
"I think that's one of the biggest things coaching at Miami," Golden said. "We have a lot of guys that look for external affirmation."
What kind of affirmation, exactly? "They're looking for, 'Hey, am I on the highlight reel?' or 'Am I on the blogs?' or 'Hey, am I a preseason this or that?' And we've got to get away from that. We've got to get to being a team that executes every day and is process driven and let the outcome take care of itself."
This is dynamic was evident in Saturday's loss to Virginia Tech, when Miami's defense was caught off-guard due to poor gap control. On the Hokies' game-winning touchdown, defenders swarmed the middle of the field before allowing the play to develop, giving Virginia Tech quarterback Logan Thomas a big hole to his left en route to the end zone.
Golden asserted that the desire to make the highlight reel means some players may not ""be on the same page on offense, defense and special teams."
The result "is humbling for the kids," he concluded, "because many of them think they're way better than they are and they just have to understand that they have to execute their role, no matter what that role is."
Not only is it humbling for the players, it is disappointing for the fans, who would rather see the Canes beat their rivals like Virginia Tech and North Carolina with few highlight reel plays than lose while trying too hard to make Sportscenter's Top Ten.
