By: Brandon Wise / Staff Writer
The University of Miami has become ground zero for one of the biggest scandals to be made public in NCAA history.
While this may be the final blow to a dying dynasty, it may provide FIU just what they were looking for – an opportunity to snatch the spotlight away from the almighty Hurricanes.
The University of Miami is under investigation for allegedly having student athletes acquire benefits from a booster-turned-convict, Nevin Shapiro. The school is likely going to have many sanctions placed against it that could result in the loss of scholarships, bowl game appearances, or worse: the death penalty, the worst possible punishment the NCAA can impose on any institution.
For FIU, this will have many implications, no matter what sanctions are placed on the University of Miami. This is FIU’s chance to become a more prominent presence in not only South Florida football, but nationally as well.
For the past few seasons, there has been a shift in the works. While Miami has not met the expectations of their fanatical fan base, FIU has built a strong foundation for its future under Mario Cristobal, who, ironically, was a Hurricane assistant coach in the midst of the Shapiro scandal that spanned nearly a decade. While the Hurricanes have been posting sub-par records and failing to win even a conference title since moving to the ACC, the Golden Panthers are starting to make a name for themselves with a conference championship and thrilling bowl win.
Despite the meager nine miles that separate the cross-town schools, they could not have been farther apart in terms of talent and success on the field just a few years ago. But now, the gap has essentially been reduced or, perhaps after the NCAA is finished with UM, completely erased.
This is an opportunity for the Golden Panthers to capitalize on the mistakes in judgment and oversight that Miami has made. In the coming days, many of the Hurricane recruits may wipe their hands clean faster than you can say “Donna Shalala”. The kids that want to stay close to home have an alternative just down the road.
If FIU could pull those athletes away from Miami and become the dominating force in South Florida recruiting, it would open a number of doors for the Golden Panthers. They would be ready to take on big schools on the field and attract potential invites from expansion-hungry conferences.
But before any of this can happen, they have to take care of the the task at hand. First of all, taking care of business on the field must be the top priority. No matter what is going on across town in Coral Gables, recruits will want to come here once they see that FIU is an established winner; not just a one year wonder.
ONLY GAME IN TOWN
FIU wants the glamour of ESPN cameras and a packed “cage” on Saturdays. Miami may have had that in the past, but in the wake of the accusations made, those days are over and FIU could step in and become the talk of the town. It could be the first step in the process to help build FIU’s fan base to what Cristobal envisioned when he first arrived.
Pending possible punishments, the quality of football here this season may be higher than it will be at Miami. At the end of the day, fans want to watch good football. FIU might be the only team in town that people can come to watch, or at least with better talent. It almost seems like a dream scenario for FIU. This could become the break that they were looking for because new fans will start showing up just for could college football in Miami. I have a hunch that attendance records would be broken this year, although it won’t be difficult to break them, now it may just be that much easier.
PROCEED WITH CAUTION
With more success comes more fans, this may result in more boosters trying to get their hands on the programs.
Unlike Miami, the athletic department has to be very careful as to who their athletes are associating with. Players do not need to even be in contact with people like Nevin Shapiro.
Coaches can only control their players to a certain extent. Student athletes have to be the ones that decide whether it is the right or wrong thing to accept these benefits. Players are not as defenseless as we have made them out to be; they can think for themselves. It is not the coach’s responsibility to follow these kids off the field everywhere they go and tell them who they can or cannot hangout with.
FIU just needs to be careful after what has happened in our own past coupled with all of the alleged compensating of student athletes by “boosters” or “friends of the program” at almost every major FBS program in the nation.
FIU has been able to keep a very clean program under Cristobal. Hopefully, that will continue to go hand in hand with the success that he has brought to the program.
This is both true and probably really bad timing for an article such as this.