After Wednesday’s bombshell report from Yahoo! Sports that University of Miami athletes received money, yacht trips, prostitutes and a laundry list of other impermissible gifts from 2002 to 2010, there was a sigh of relief out of College Park. New Maryland football coach Randy Edsall, reportedly a finalist in December for the Miami job, has reason now to be thrilled with his consolation prize.
Recommended Stories
In addition, his Maryland debut against Miami doesn’t appear as daunting. You have to wonder how many of the 12 current players named in the report will be on the field for the Hurricanes on Labor Day night at Byrd Stadium. Among the group are quarterback Jacory Harris, the team’s 2010 community service man of the year, and seven other returning starters.
Don’t be surprised to see Miami pre-emptively suspend players. That’s the tactic North Carolina used last year at this time when several players were reported to have received benefits from boosters and agents. The Tar Heels benched 12 players for its season opener against LSU but rallied around their misfortune and nearly upset the Tigers 30-24.
Despite the tumult, North Carolina had a relatively successful season (8-5), but the program took another hit three weeks ago when coach Butch Davis was fired.
Through no fault of his own, new Miami coach Al Golden faces an uncertain future. The former Temple coach — who said he wasn’t informed of any potential improprieties before taking the job — rejected overtures from UCLA in 2007 and Cincinnati in 2009 before finally getting his dream job in Coral Gables.
Ooops.
– Kevin Dunleavy
