The U: Part Three - A Miami Hurricanes Dynasty (NCAA 14)

[footbrawl]

Chapter One

A room full of unfamiliar faces sat in the dark. It was quiet. Assistant coaches lined the walls all wearing orange polos and khaki shorts. Some players seemed to know each other but kept the chatter down. After minutes of waiting, the door on the far right, at the bottom in front of the film seats, opened up. A man that was tall and built with a decent amount of muscle walked in. His face was serious.

"Flip on the lights, it's too damn dark in here."

The ceiling lights clicked on as Coach Farnsworth stood at the podium on the first level of the film room. All sixty four players stared at him as he shuffled his speech.

"Alright, welcome everyone to the 2016 Miami Hurricanes. We all are fully aware of the situation at hand. We all know the struggles ahead. We all know that every man in here decided to take the path least traveled. I applaud you tremendously for that. However, just because we have setbacks doesn't mean we are going to accept anything less than your all. This program has one of the greatest traditions of all sports- that tradition is excellence on the football field. My goal here is to continue with that, but create a new tradition. Excellence off the field. The guidelines for this team are simple. Anything illegal will get you off this team. Zero tolerance. If you want to test me, you will find yourself packing. I trust in you men though, I really do. Just looking at your mannerisms, I can guarantee many things. I guarantee we will find twenty two men willing to go out and die on that field. I guarantee we will cram these systems in before our first game. I guarantee you that the University of Miami will be great, once again. On that note, let's get dressed and have a great first day of practice."

__________________________________________________ _________________________________

Coach Hewitt, the defensive line coach, was the last to enter into the coach's conference room. He shut the door behind him. Every coach, young or old, had sweat stains darkening their bright orange shirts around their neck and down their back. Dried grass and dirt found itself all over them- who knew how it got in some places. Coach Farnsworth sat at the top of the table looking down at his notes he had taken during the two practices of the first day.

Several silent seconds passed until he gripped his cap bill and took it off. While wiping his face he stated, "Well, if this is any form of who we are during the season... we may not win a game."

No one objected.

"I was everywhere all day, I couldn't really study single players. Judging by what we saw as a collective group today, we'll have to ride any signs of talent. The question is... is there any?"

No one said anything for several seconds until Coach Redman, the runningbacks coach spoke up, "Mosby is a heck on athlete. Comes across as a slacker though, definitely not a leader. He needs to drop some weight, but other than that he could be a solid every down back."

"Alright, he's a JUCO senior, correct?" Coach Farnsworth asked while writing down notes.

"Yes, sir."

"Okay, so any other signs of hope?"

Everyone let out a small chuckle, lightening the mood- the only thing that could probably get them through it.

Frank Cunningham, the offensive coordinator, said, "The battle for quarterback will be interesting. Mirvil, who actually is a returning player, has alright feet, solid arm, and is smart. But Cooper, that true freshman out of downtown, boy... he's a playmaker."

"Who do you think will have better chemistry with the receivers?"

"Well, Haas will probably be our top guy even though he's a true freshman as well. Him and Cooper played on the same high school team."

Coach Farnsworth nodded, "Alright, alright. Any guys on the other side of the ball?"

"Fortunately, we have three returning juniors that I think can lead our defense. Davis and Levine at linebacker and Hampton at our free safety. Will fit well in the 4-2-5. I think we may have some young talent that will need broken in but can help us towards the end of the season."

This meeting was the first of many as June practices turned into a summer break. No rest for the coaches, however, was allowed. Scheming for any advantage and evaluating unknown talent filled Coach Farnsworth's mind as the season grew closer. So many questions and such little time. The program was literally being thrown into the fire.

[footbrawl]

Chapter Two

"**** man, I don't wanna go back yet," Josh (Cooper) said while loading up his bags in the back of the car.

Tyson (Haas) nodded and agreed.

"We're gonna walk in and have that old **** screaming at us before we even get changed."

It was late July and players were returning for practice after a short summer break. Josh and Tyson lived about thirty minutes away from Coral Gables, but neglected to go to any voluntary workouts. They'd been close friends since middle school, the first time they were on a team. However, Tyson was the quarterback then and Josh played running back. Times changed when they went into high school.

"Just keep the goal in mind, man," Tyson spoke as the car took off.

"I have been, man. This coach though, I don't know if he's gonna make it work. He wants to build us... he just needs to let us play."

"Seems like they said the last two coaches just babysat, look where it is now."

Josh shook his head, "Yeah, but one of 'em probably had the greatest team of all time."

"I'm just saying, you can't be dramatic about everything. That's not what they like."

"**** what they like."

__________________________________________________ _________________________________

The whistle blew and everyone let out a cheer as they all ran in for the practice ending huddle. The large lineman plopped down to a knee and dropped their heads allowing sweat to pour into the grass. Younger players who didn't practice as much stood behind them.

"No one told you guys to take off your helmets, this practice isn't over. You're about to be apart of the first drill of many this season. We're calling it... the Miami drill."

"Original, coach," Tariq Mosby said causing all the players to bust out laughing.

Coach Farnsworth laughed as well, "Exactly, simplicity is always best. Take that as a tip when you dress, Mosby."

Everyone laughed even harder and pointed at Mosby as he put his head down with a smile.

"Alright, alright. Here's how this works. One side needs to win six plays. That's it. Full squad, full speed. Coaches may sub in players throughout the drill. Whichever side wins gets the next day's conditioning off," Coach Farnsworth said as the team erupted into cheering.

Smack talk was at a season high as the groups split off. Only a few seconds ago their bodies' were dead and now they were pumped full of adrenaline. Coach Cunningham grabbed Josh and led him to the huddle.

"No, coach. I want Mirvil first."

Josh kept a straight face, but anger raged inside of him as he walked back to the other bench players. Shedrick ran from the line while buckling his chin strap. He was slim built with dark skin. His size was very below average, however, standing a little over six feet and weighing around 200 pounds.

Coach Cunningham called a run play designed for Tariq to hit C gap on the right side. Shedrick called the snap and handed it off. Tariq sprinted up an open gap for a solid seven yard gain.

"One for the offense!" Coach Cunningham cheered as they huddled back up.

The next four plays were mixed passes and runs. Shedrick managed to hit the true freshman tight end twice for two offensive wins, but both runs were stuffed.

"Alright, Coop, now go," Coach Farnsworth said while calling in Josh.

Josh jogged in with poor body language. He called the play in the huddle with little strength in his voice. Tyson looked on with fear.

Josh took the snap and checked down his reads. Everything was covered. A defensive end took a hold of his shoulder, but he sprinted forward to go for a scramble. Before breaking the line, he saw the safety come up from covering Tyson. He launched it on the run for a touchdown.

"Offense takes a four to two lead!"

Coach Farnsworth went over and talked to Cunningham. Josh took the play with much more confidence now, but it was not a favorable call for him. The next three plays were all runs that got stuffed. With the defense now leading, a read option was called. Josh, frustrated, fumbled the hand off, ultimately losing the drill to the defense.

"The defense wins in only ten plays."

Josh stayed on his knees, still extremely mad from the play calls. They gave a loud break and walked off the field as an orange Florida sunset painted the sky. Shedrick walked off the field feeling happy with himself. While talking to a fellow player, him and Josh met eyes. His eyes pierced through Shedrick. Shedrick just smiled back.

[footbrawl]

PRESEASON REPORT

Game Changer

#1 DT LaTrell Knight (Miami, FL)
Projected Overall: 79 (*****)
Top 3 Schools: Florida State, Oklahoma, Auburn
Size: 6'6 325 lbs
Measurables: 78.60 SPARQ (4.66 40, 470 Bench, 620 Squat)
Analysis: Knight will return for his senior season at Miami-Dade as the defending winner of Florida's best big man. On the field he is used a nose tackle and disrupts any kind of play. His size is NFL worthy as well his movements. The only thing in question is his motor.


Key Recruits

#16 C Anthony Sullivan (Sebring, FL)
Projected Overall: 70 (***)
Top 3 Schools: Miami, Appalachian State, Auburn
Size: 6'3 287 lbs
Measurables: 57.00 SPARQ (5.04 40, 425 Bench, 640 Squat)
Analysis: Sullivan has slow feet, but that will be manageable at center. He can fire off quickly, but needs to gain weight to fully drive on blocks. He will be somewhat of a project, however, his potential is very high.


#43 T Paul Hicks (Fountain Inn, SC)
Projected Overall: 76 JUCO (***)
Top 3 Schools: Miami, Alabama, Ohio State
Size: 6'6", 281 lbs
Measurables: 57.00 SPARQ (4.80 40, 440 Bench, 630 Squat)
Analysis: Hicks has excellent Division One size. He was a freshman all-american at his former junior college. He has great feet, but has low awareness and is also injury prone. He could make an impact immediately.


#16 CB Jeff Lewis (Phoenix, AZ)
Projected Overall: 71 (***)
Top 3 Schools: Miami, Minnesota, Appalachian State
Size: 5'11", 190 lbs
Measurables: 67.00 SPARQ (4.42 40, 225 Bench, 275 Squat)
Analysis: Lewis has a great amount of potential considering the weak secondary. He has great speed and hips. His size is not favorable along with his strength. Lewis could see early playing time if signed.


Full Recruitment List
#3 P Jason Williams (Edgewater, FL)
Projected Overall: 80 (***)

#6 FB Taylor McIntyre (Tallahassee, FL)
Projected Overall: 75 (***)

#8 K Richard Reed (Golden Glades, FL)
Projected Overall: 79 (***)

#8 FS Daniel Torres (Overlook-Page Manor, OH)
Projected Overall: 71 (***)

#16 CB Jeff Lewis (Phoenix, AZ)
Projected Overall: 71 (***)

#16 C Anthony Sullivan (Sebring, FL)
Projected Overall: 70 (***)

#20 DT Marc Bridges (Orchards South, WA)
Projected Overall: 70 (***)

#23 C Josh Christian (Pine Hills, FL)
Projected Overall: 67 (***)

#24 S Steve Brooks (Conway, FL)
Projected Overall: 69 (***)

#31 OLB Chris White (Perry Hall, MD)
Projected Overall: 70 (***)

#38 DE Scott Haynes (Cutler Ridge, FL)
Projected Overall: 68 (***)

#41 G Thomas Williams (Ensley, FL)
Projected Overall: 67

#43 T Paul Hicks (Fountain Inn, SC)
Projected Overall: 76 JUCO (***)

#61 HB Bill Green (Tallahassee, FL)
Projected Overall: 67 (***)

#68 WR Travis Smith (Glenvar Heights, FL)
Projected Overall: 66 (***)

[footbrawl]

A Game Changer recruit is one I'm going to create out of Miami, FL every year. They will always be 77+ and if I can ever sign one it will show a lot of progress in winning back the state.

[footbrawl]

Chapter Three

"Let me show you a certain place, man, you'll love me," Craig (Levine) said to Tariq as the group of three walked down a city block.

Craig and Roman (Davis), the returning linebacker duo were out showing Tariq the city life- a reason in which they stayed.

Craig led them off to the right down a sketchy alleyway. It ran between two decent quality restaurants on the outskirts of the main city. The alley connected to multiple ones as they now turned into a neighborhood of apartments. After several turns, they closed in on some gathering ahead.

The music got louder as they walked closer. Finally, they entered a lot full of people dancing, smoking, sitting, and chilling. It was mostly enclosed by houses off of the main street. A man walked over to the three.

He was around average height with shaggy hair. He appeared mostly Latino and had a strong jawline accompanied with a goatee. A cigarette was pinched in between his fingers as he walked over in a opened dress shirt.

"What the ****?" he snapped, "I told you, if you ever come here I'd put you in the ground."

Tariq took several steps back, ready to sprint away at any moment. He had seen situations like this where he'd grown up.

Craig smiled and replied, "Shut the hell up, I'm trying to party."

An intense few seconds followed until the man began laughing, "You know me too well, we got some good **** over here, lemme show you."

Tariq breathed in relief as they followed this man over to a pile of backpacks in the middle of a group of seated people smoking.

"So how you guys gonna do this year?"

"Hard to tell... that **** took away most of the team."

He shook his head, "**** those guys for trying to kill y'all off."

While beginning to unzip a bag he noticed Tariq, "Oh I don't know you, who's this?"

"That's Tariq, Tariq Mosby. He'll be our starting RB this year."

The man smiled, "Nice. I'm Pierce. I'm y'all's number one supporter. If you ever need something, I'm your guy."

"Nice, appreciate it, man."

Pierce nodded, "Now try some of this ****."

__________________________________________________ ____________________________

Coach Farnsworth sat behind his desk organizing letters he had received recently. He brushed through his short brown hair and wiped his hand down his face against some stubble.

Football was huge in Texas, he ignorantly assumed the type of pressure would've lessened moving. He wanted a Florida job for the reason that football still ruled, but not enough to where his wife and son didn't see it as well. However, while reading certain letters, the pressure was very much on.

He read through letters from the interim athletic director describing failed efforts of joining any conferences in the near future. Right now, they were still looking at being an independent.

He used to devote fifteen minutes out of his flooded schedule to go through important messages, but with the first game weeks away, he had no time. As he piled up envelopes to dump in the shredder his phone rang.

"Coach Farnsworth," he answered.

An enthusiastic voice sprang forth, "Hey Coach! I'm glad you answered. My name is Ron Treadway, but you can call me Rocky. I've been officially hired as the athletic director here at the University of Miami."

"Oh, well nice to meet you. Hopefully, we ca-"

"I'm not a hoping man, coach, out of pure respect. I doubt you are either. We are doers, and we're going to do great things."

Coach Farnsworth nodded to himself, realizing the character he'd be dealing with from here on out, "I agree."

"I can already tell we're gonna make a great team, Stevie," Rocky replied with a chuckle, "and before I let you go, I'm going to let you in something."

Coach Farnsworth grimaced at being called 'Stevie' and replied, "Alright."

"Well, I called some graphic designers from a company here in the city. We looked over the uniforms that we were going to be wearing this season."

Coach Farnsworth spoke quickly, "The coaching staff and I, along with alumni boosters went over the design. We all agreed on going back to the original uniforms of the 80's and 90's."

"Oh I didn't realize that... well... we did override the order from Nike and got a different style. But, before you get mad, let me just tell you we were thinking throwback the entire time. You know, all these teams nowadays try to flaunt these shiny colors, but not us! We threw it back with a Miami twist."

Coach just wiped his face once again, "So what do they look like?"

"Three words, Stevie, three words. Sharp as hell."

[Coach P]

Love this so far. Will be following.

[footbrawl]

PRESEASON REPORT

Schedule
@ Eastern Carolina: 81
Appalachian State: 75
Northwestern: 84
@ #11 Notre Dame: 91
BYE WEEK
Purdue: 81
at Tennessee: 88
at Georgia Tech: 84
Hawai'i: 77
BYE WEEK
Arkansas: 90
@ Kentucky: 84
#9 Florida: 91
@ #6 Florida State: 95
BYE WEEK

Strength of Schedule: A-


Team Ratings
Overall: 70
Offense: 74
Defense: 70
National Rank: 123


Offense
The 2016 Miami Hurricanes will be firstly led by sophomore quarterback Shedrick Mirvil (75). Mirvil has good speed (80) with decent throwing ability (79). Breathing down his neck is true freshman Josh Cooper (75). Cooper's throwing ability is slightly less, but he is much faster (84). At running back, JUCO transfer Tariq Mosby (85) will be carrying the load. Not known as a speed back, his power is where he will make his money. The small 2015 recruiting class was able to bring three quality targets for the passing game. Tyson Haas (76) has good size at six feet one inch along with a great pair of hands. Joining him will be smaller yet faster wide out Thomas Charles (75). At tight end to solidify the trio is 6'7" Larry Sampson (72). They will be a force to be reckon with this season. Miami's line, however, will be their weak spot as they average under a 70 overall with the high point being 5'11 right tackle Jeff Burnette (74). The multiple style offense planning to be used should allow the quarterback to take over games and the running backs to finish it.

Left: Josh Cooper, Middle: Tariq Mosby, Right: Shedrick Mirvil

Defense
The defensive side of the ball is also spotted with areas of talent. JUCO junior Wesley Freund (76) will hopefully lead the defensive line with an athletic flair beside fellow end DJ Pressley (71) and tackle Stephon Allen (73). The two linebackers starring in the upcoming 4-2-5 front will be returning senior linebackers Craig Levine (76) and Roman Davis (76). Though both are around 6'1" 220 pounds, they have very differently styles. Levine offers a more sideline to sideline tackler as well as a run stopper. Davis has exceptional speed (88) which allows him to blitz off the edge and cover the hardest of threats. The three safeties starring this season will all be returning players. Brennan Rhodes (73) will be the nickel as top performing Quincy Hampton (82) and Titus Sarria (82) look to shine in the new system. The corners are the weakest part of Miami's defense averaging a 66 overall.

Josh Cooper pass to Thomas Charles over Jon Kenney

Prediction
Record: 4-8
Conference Record: 0-0
Bowl Game: Very Unlikely
Conference Championship: N/A
National Championship: Almost Impossible
All-Conference Players: Mosby, Haas, Freund, Davis
All-American Players: None
Award Winners: None

[footbrawl]

Chapter Four

Titus, Tariq, Wesley, and Quincy walked into Coach Farnsworth's office- shutting the door behind. Each one wore a bright orange Miami football shirt except Wesley's was cut off. They all sat in the nice seats in front of Coach.

"I just wanted to have a quick meeting before our scrimmage," Coach Farnsworth began.

"The coaching staff and I have agreed that you men show a tremendous amount of leadership on the field and hopefully off. This year will be hard, as you know every team will face its bumps. Our's, perhaps, may be larger than most. Therefore we need official leaders for our players to look to."

Wesley smiled, "Thank you, Coach."

Wesley was an extremely nice person, probably the nicest in the entire university. Players often joked at him for coming across corny. Nevertheless, his 6'3" 270 pound build kept them in place as he turned into a man on the field.

"Now, with that being said. I'd like to know your goals going into the season, honestly. They can be team-driven or individual."

Tariq spoke first, "Shut the haters up."

Coach Farnsworth nodded, "I agree. I think if we can incorporate a chip-on-our-shoulder mentality, it will work wonders."

"We've actually talked about this before coming in here, coach," said Titus, "we want to win games on the defensive side of the ball."

"That's what I like to hear."

__________________________________________________ ___________________________

With a trip to Eastern Carolina two weeks away, a final inter-squad scrimmage was arranged. The practice facility was packed full of eager fans awaiting a clear view of the revived Miami Hurricanes and the brand new staff.

Music blasted as both sides, Orange and White, stretched. A very anticipated match up was going to be Shedrick vs Josh. The teams were split up rather evenly with one team composed of mostly first team offense and second team defense and the other vice versa.

The Orange and Shedrick took the ball first. A very meticulous drive was led mostly by power runs with Tariq and several read options. Six plays in and on their own 47, Shedrick play actioned and found Larry Sampson down field for an easy touchdown.

Josh took hold very early in his possession, however. He made three straight pass plays last twice as long allowing for two long scrambles and one deep touchdown bomb.

This seemed to be the case the entire scrimmage until more back ups entered. With Josh and Shedrick in the game, the White and Josh won 28-21. The defense looked sloppy on both teams.

A new question mark began arising in Coach Farnsworth's head on who the starter might be. Answers needed to be made as their first game closed in. Many questions lingered around the return of Miami Football.