And so much more. I would have got drafted higher and everything. Terms of Service But I feel like if you look at the history, every team that's won a national title has had a game like that, where it comes down to the last minute and if you lose, your season's over. Walters Randy Shannon told me, "If you come back to school, I'm not going to promise you or guarantee it, but there's a good chance you will never lose another college football game.". They were so dialed in on winning a national championship, so focused on leadership, accountability and -- as ridiculous as it sounds now -- proving themselves that it became impossible in the moment to assign this team a place in college football lore. We weren't trying to sit here and showcase how fast and athletic we were. However, they had to do so under a new head coach, Larry Coker, who was named to the post after Butch Davis left to become head coach of the NFL's Cleveland Browns. We all had our careers that take off from there, but from my eyes, I was like, "What now?" It's a really tight locker room, we're getting ready to go out, and I absolutely remember it like it was yesterday, and I remember getting chills from hearing his battle cry, just like coming out in the second half, we're putting this away. So a lot of times when I hear his voice, I can sense that disappointment that he felt with that being his last go around. Williams, Antrel Rolle, Vince Wilfork, Frank Gore, Willis McGahee, Chris Myers, Andre Johnson No other team is even in the conversation. Fitzgerald Payton ran for 985 yards and 7 touchdowns as a senior and averaged 5 yards per carry over his career. Do you have a blog? That was the first time, for a portion of the game at least, we let our gaze get to the horizon and not on the task at hand. At halftime, Reed delivered his now famous, "I'm hurt, dog" speech and it was captured by a documentary film crew that was working on an all-access show for ESPN. You're gonna communicate and you're gonna stay together, or you've got to go. Jump inside of it. In interviews with players and coaches, here . Not only that, they were honoring one of their past players who got paralyzed, he was able to walk again so they were going to have him run out. And I'll never forget seeing the wave of red of Nebraska fans pulling up that seemed like it went for miles. The Hurricanes then defeated West Virginia, 453,[9] and Temple, 380,[10] before heading to Chestnut Hill to take on Boston College (BC). So the following year was definitely a salt-in-the-wound, chip-on-the-shoulder type of season where we wanted to obviously take no prisoners and rectify what happened the year before. Williams The same standings that kept Miami out of the 2000 national championship game. With Coker in place as head coach and key players like Reed and McKinnie returning for their senior seasons, the Hurricanes knew what was in front of them. But I remember a few days before the game we did a two-minute drill, our No. Davis left Miami after coaching the Hurricanes to an 11-1 season in 2000. That's how much we've been around each other. Players lobbied then-athletic director Paul Dee to elevate offensive coordinator Larry Coker to become head coach. The ability to handle situations and adversity. The University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame contributes in many ways to the University and its athletic programs. "Those guys were not just NFL players. Reed Coker He was the guy that really knew how to push our buttons, that knew how to challenge us. Dorsey Its hard to say in the case of Willis McGahee. They had confidence. (From 1937 to 2001, bowl games did not count towards season statistics). "It wasn't about elite, starters, pecking orders, all that other great stuff," center Brett Romberg said. MIAMI, Fla. - Matthew Cleveland scored a last second three-pointer of the game to lead the Seminoles to an 85-84 victory over the top ranked Miami Hurricanes at the Watsco Center. What players and coaches insist set this team apart was their camaraderie, accountability and willingness to do whatever it took to win a championship -- especially those afternoon workouts. But I wasn't leaving these guys. Fitzgerald I was chasing Ed, and Ed did some little backyard football by running zig zags in order not to get caught, and then he spikes the ball to put the emphasis on that play. / They're driving to win, the whole stadium thought they were about to win. At that point, it was like, all right, the last game then we're going to ship. With BC on the verge of a momentous upset, St. Pierre attempted to pass to receiver Ryan Read at the Miami 2-yard line. Williams A jersey worn by late Hurricanes great Sean Taylor. Miami followed up the victory with wins over Rutgers,[5] Pitt,[6] and Troy State.[7]. [14] Defeating Virginia Tech earned the top-ranked Hurricanes an invitation to the Rose Bowl to take on BCS #2 Nebraska for the national championship. I say five minutes into the game, they knew in their hearts that they were going to be outclassed and outmatched. Incognito told me at halftime, their coach basically said, "Guys let's just try to keep this thing close," and he said that right in front of the athletic director. It wasn't a surprise. RBs coach Don Soldinger Miami clinched a spot in the national title game against Nebraska at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., and felt confident this game would be its crowning achievement. Gore then injured his knee, which would become a tragic and common theme for one of the most universally loved Hurricanes in program history. I'd agreed to a contract before Thanksgiving and my plan was to stay at the University of Miami for decades. And I'll never forget, everybody's fired up, and Larry gets up in front of the bus, and said, "Men, don't worry about that. That's how comical it became. / I grew up in South Florida, and watched the previous four Miami national champions closely. Still, the resilient Hokies had one more chance to win the game late, taking possession of the ball at midfield and needing only a field goal to take the lead. The University of Miami is known for producing excellent professional football players. If you weren't doing all the right things, if you weren't going to class, making your grades, if you weren't showing up to work out or something like that, you could easily be cast out. The leaders on that team were their best representatives -- doing all interviews asked of them. I have covered more national champions since 2001 Miami that could make their own claim, too. In an article I wrote in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel that October, quarterback Ken Dorsey said, "People around the country don't really respect our talent or our capabilities as a team. Romberg Some of our most beloved Canes shared a meeting room in 2001. Chudzinski It happened twice in the Coliseum. These guys were special people. I never experienced that, just to sit there and say, "I'm the best, and that was a product of all our work." Fitzgerald A lot of us came back just for this game. The nearly hundred-year-old Hurricanes pennant once waved by a member of Miami's original freshman class. There was a rumor that we were going to get that coach from Wisconsin, Barry Alvarez, and we were like, "We don't want him. Employment College Football at Sports-Reference.com Blog and Articles. 4 in the Bowl Championship Series standings. The year before, Miami lost at Washington 34-29 -- and that loss ultimately kept the Hurricanes out of the national title game they felt they deserved. I'm gonna run out of bounds." We just hope that this train just doesn't go off the track. . Prior to the 2006 Rose Bowl, ESPN's SportsCenter ran a special in which the 2005 USC Trojans, led by stars Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush, and LenDale White, were compared with the greatest college teams of the past 50 years, as picked by sports fans voting on ESPN.com, to determine their place in history. The 2001 Miami Hurricanes football team represented the University of Miami during the 2001 NCAA Division I-A football season. I had a front-row seat as the Miami beat writer for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, that season. Miami may have cost themselves an ACC title with their first home loss of the season. Imagine that, a team with 38 future NFL picks feeling disrespected. Wayne and Moss were Seniors on that . That's to win the national championship. I'll never forget the year before, we beat Florida State and guys were celebrating, and Ed Reed told Dorsey to stand up and told everyone to start cheering for Ken Dorsey. We didn't want to have to change and have to learn a new offense, defense, or anything. Chudzinski It was a challenge to figure out how to get through the rest of that game. We'd just beaten Florida in the Sugar Bowl and gone 11-1. I had to make it tough tough. What set those guys apart was what was inside of them -- in their heads and in their hearts, how they competed and how they prepared and how they loved and how they were passionate about playing the game. A lot of what we did, Butch should get credit for. But there were a few things in the contract we were having a difficult time agreeing on. Truthfully, the players and coaches felt relief that they had reached the goal they set for themselves 12 months earlier. "I mean, football, no question, I don't think anybody in college football could play with us. Maybe Alabama last year. Adelson: 2001 Canes make case for college football's GOATs, Breaking down the latest in 2024 football recruiting, from top commits to March visits, The Turnover Luck Index: Rating every 2022 team, from USC to Rutgers, ACC boss: Rule changes backed by FBS leaders, Top draft prospect Carter charged in fatal crash, Stoops: QB Leary (pec) 'close to full go' for UK, Hall of Fame coach Ault named to CFP committee, New NCAA president readies for NIL, legal issues, Ex-Vols staffers agree to show-cause penalties, UNC hires ex-Browns HC Kitchens as assistant, Kiper's updated NFL mock draft: Who's moving up for a QB? It has been achieved by the 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2014 Alabama Crimson Tide football teams and the 2012 Wisconsin Badgers football team. He was like, "You serious?" Every one of those games was a physical, physical affair. The Hurricanes were led by first-year head coach Larry Coker and played their home games at the Orange Bowl. Cleveland scored . But the number of great players, first-round draft choices and players who got drafted, it's amazing really. Gonzalez Washington had beaten Miami the year before, but in 2001, it looked as if the Huskies wanted to be anywhere but playing in prime time in the Orange Bowl as the Hurricanes gleefully kept their foot on the gas to prove a point. Barry Jackson. Miami beat Florida State 49-27 to remain undefeated, but a bigger test awaited Nov. 10 on a cold day at Boston College. When you've got guys that are doing workouts, even though it was hell on earth in July in 115 degrees, like you're breathing through a sock, and turn around and just do it again for a teammate because he needs help, that's remarkable. Dorsey Six players were drafted in the. Jan 7, 2009. Join our linker program. Most people think that UM must have been losing, but no. Reed When I look back at our workouts, and the pressure that we put on each other of not letting each other down, there was so much pressure that I would think twice about skipping a workout, I would think twice about skipping a rep, I would think twice about letting my brother down because there was so much invested into it. Portis ran for 9.923 career yards and 75 touchdowns for Washington and the Denver Broncos while making two Pro Bowl rosters. I remember four or five guys jumped on me and next thing you know I'm looking at the ground and by the time I roll over and look up, I see Ed going. I will never forget standing on the goal line at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, when Deshaun Watson threw the winning 2-yard touchdown pass to Hunter Renfrow to beat Alabama 35-31 and finish 15-0. While the 2001 squad only won a single national championship; they had NFL legends, All-Americans and Pro Bowlers in their film sessions. Romberg Gore has added another 77 rushing touchdowns on his way into the NFL record books. Joaquin said dominate, and we're not doing it! By choosing I Accept, you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies. As the 2001 Miami Hurricanes celebrated a fifth national championship in the . I was like, "Coach, call whatever you want, we're gonna win." A stacked defensive backs room, with Sean Taylor and Antrel Rolle as backups. And I felt like I was a chess piece to that. You had Phillip Buchanon and Mike Rumph, and you had Antrel Rolle behind them. ", Flashback Friday pic.twitter.com/qCE9gnzI5E. The guys before us set an expectation of how hard you had to work and what that standard was, and we knew we had to live up to that. We sucked on offense. ACC Network FAQs Record: 12-0 (1st of 117) (Schedule & Results), Bowl Game: Won Rose Bowl 37-14 versus Nebraska. You had to work. The guys suffer their worst loss of the season, but can still win the ACC. We never got worried. He was probably the most hated guy in all of Blacksburg that night, but at the same time thank you so much, because you just kind of saved us some heartache. People were literally afraid to let the person next to them down. / That atmosphere was crazy. 1 offense against the No. People always say the great teams have to overcome a scare along the way. However, the ball ricocheted off the leg of Miami cornerback Mike Rumph, landing in the hands of defensive end Matt Walters. But these guys wanted to win that two-minute drill as bad as they wanted to win the Rose Bowl. I couldn't get off the ground fast enough to go give him a hug. But Larry was a perfect fit for that team. As of 2013, they had earned a combined total of 43 trips to the Pro Bowl: Ed Reed (9), Andre Johnson (7), Frank Gore (5), Vince Wilfork (5), Jeremy Shockey (4), Jonathan Vilma (3), Willis McGahee (2), Chris Myers (2), Clinton Portis (2), Antrel Rolle (2), Sean Taylor (2), Bryant McKinnie (1), and Kellen Winslow II (1). The 2001 Miami Hurricanes are considered by some experts and historians to be the greatest team in college football history. I'd been at Oklahoma and Oklahoma State for years and we'd never beaten [Nebraska]. That was it for Miami. Vilma 14 Syracuse, 59-0", "No. You could feel the crowd; you could feel the anger that we had, and how bad we wanted to beat them. Say five minutes into the NFL record books should get credit for to become head coach think UM! Have cost themselves an ACC title 2001 miami hurricanes roster hall of famers their first home loss of the.! Their film sessions to learn a new offense, defense, or you 've got to.! 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