Before ever coaching a game at the University of Miami, the problems with Al Golden are already surfacing.

No one knows who the heck he is and at a place like UM, your name is what defines you.

In a sense, that might be why Golden is the perfect hire for the Canes, whether alumni and fans want to accept it or not. The nation doesn't know Golden and it doesn't care that UM hired him. The Canes are officially an afterthought.

Golden was formally introduced to Cane nation at a press conference Monday and looked the part of a nervous, unproven teenager who was handed the keys to a classic car.

It's clear the new head honcho's favorite word is "tremendous" because he said it about 28 times in the first two minutes of his intro.

"For the football program, It's time we put it all together. There is a tremendous tradition of winning championships. There is no other standard. That is the only standard we will be measured by," Golden told his new followers. "We will uphold that legacy."

Some experts say Golden is the top recruiter in the nation, but you'd be hard pressed to find an Owl who was coached up by Golden flourishing in the NFL. That might not seem like a big deal, but one of the calling cards of the U is "play for us and we'll get you millions on Sunday."

Saying you got Terrance Knighton (who?) drafted in the third round isn't going to get Terry Bridgewater or any of the other fleeing top recruits to recommit to Miami.

"I've never heard of him before," UM recruit and high school All-American Anthony Chickillo told the Miami Herald when asked about his possible new coach. "I just know when I talked to Mr. Kirby [Hocutt] he told me [the coach] was going to be a big name hire."

Big name Golden clearly is not.

Maybe that's why he publicly begged UM football alums like Ray Lewis and Bernie Kosar to lend him some credibility.

"Please come back. Please be a part of the program. Please be on the sideline," Golden said. "Get in front of the young men."

Should Canes fans really care that Pittsburgh was laying in wait to snatch up Temple's head coach? They just fired the 'stache, Dave Wannstedt for goodness sake.

Critics have said Golden is at best an average coach who feasted on a weak schedule, but there must be some merit to turning around a football program that had zero wins the year before he came. Temple was the NCAA's version of excrement. Now it's more like a toadstool.

Making a program respectable again does score points, but it's not like the cupboard is bare at UM. The Canes were never in danger of being a losing team or getting kicked out of the ACC.

The most ardent of Canes nation have tried to spin Golden's hire as another potential coup in the mold of Dennis Erickson or Jimmy Johnson, but both of those coaches at least came from major college programs and knew how to operate on the biggest stage.

And what set both of those Hurricane legends apart was that they brought some type of innovation to the table with them.

Unfortunately, there is no such track record with Golden. There is no spread offense or creative single-back attack that will jump Miami light year's ahead of the competition.

There is just a name that looks good in a clever headline and fringe hopes of something more.

Kind of like the UM football program right now.