Miami Hurricanes legend Bennie Blades isn't bailing on Al Golden, but he has specific concerns he wants to see the Canes coach address this season.
"A lot of times last year [players] were put in very uncomfortable situations," Blades told NBC 6.
Blades, a College Football Hall of Famer, and member of the 1987 National Championship team, says he had lunch with Golden and expressed his opinion.
"I love Coach Golden, love him as a person, but sometimes tough decisions have to be made," he said. "A lot of these guys are going off to the [NFL] and they're becoming all-pros and you wonder, 'man, why couldn't he do that at Miami?' but he wasn't put in that position."
Blades said he heard from a lot of Canes players who wanted to play a different style but told him "if I do it, coach is going to bench me."
"His whole thing is, these kids don't have the heart that we once had when we played in the 80's, 90's and early 2000's. my advice was 'hey look, the buck stops with him,'" Blades said.
One of the most frustrating situations for Blades during last year's 6-7 season involved defensive formations.
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"When it's 3rd and 1 and these guys are still 15 yards deep, are you kidding me?" he said. "I don't care who you are, if you're a 10-year-old kid, you say 'man, what are you doing?' we gotta get back to playing real Hurricane football."
Blades also pointed to the 2nd half of the Florida State game. a game that Miami lost after leading by 16 points.
"You have 'em beat and then all of the sudden your game plan changes to where we're not aggressive anymore, we're sitting back," he said. "We as players question 'what are coaches doing?'"
Despite the concerns, Blades is excited about this upcoming season. He loves what he's seen from sophomore quarterback Brad Kaaya. in fact, he says he went to the spring game and did something out of the ordinary.
"I never take pictures with current guys. I had to take a picture with Brad Kaaya because he reminds me of a young Vinny Testeverde," he said.
Blades said Kaaya is "confident when he comes into the huddle. A confident quarterback can win games when most people think he can't."
Blades' biggest concerns about this year's Hurricanes are the inexperienced offensive and defensive lines. However, he has very high hopes for starting safety Deon Bush.
"I gave him my cell phone number. I told him I'll be at every game critiquing you," Blades said. "I think this kid can have a breakout year and he can be something special. I told his dad, 'I'm tired of going to the Jim Thorpe Award every year and there's not even a UM player invited.'"
Blades won the Jim Thorpe Award for the nation's best defensive back in 1987. He was a two-time college All-American, selected 3rd overall in the NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions where he became a Pro-Bowler in 1991.
See the full interview with Bennie Blades on Sports Final this Sunday at 11:30 p.m. on NBC 6.
