One of my favorite quotes ever was the subject of my first Envy and Jealousy post back in 2007. All these years later, and it still resonates.
Miami: From a Bulldog perspective, if you looked at the state of Florida as though it were Afghanistan (and I do), the Gators, obviously, are the Taliban, while Miami is whatever warlord is running things in the Northeast. The Hurricanes don’t occupy anything remotely resembling moral high ground, but they are useful.
I bring this up now, because if you’re a Georgia fan, FSU and Miami should serve one useful purpose — crapping on Florida recruiting by sucking the oxygen out of the tent. Bud Elliott writes that one of those two is keeping up its end of the bargain.
Florida State has enjoyed a strong run of success against Florida and Miami under Jimbo Fisher, and those wins are really paying dividends on the recruiting trail. For example, just this past year, the Gators and Hurricanes signed a combined 19 blue-chip recruits, while the Seminoles brought in 18 by themselves.
Coach Richt, I’m just sayin’.
Get The Picture 
Here’s what Miami’s top recruiting blogger said yesterday:
Peter Ariz
@PeterAriz
Miami is in a bunch of head-to-head battles with Alabama this recruiting cycle. We will see what CMR has in store.
LikeLike
I am very glad that 1) Richt went to a non-SEC school and 2) He went where he might inflict the most harm on Florida.
LikeLike
And still needle the Jackets too.
LikeLike
I predict UM will kick a lot of field goals.
LikeLike
On the 1/2 yard line
LikeLike
On the opening drive against Central Florida in the Liberty Bowl.
LikeLike
I predict UM will have millions of $$ stolen from the athletics dept next few years
LikeLike
And replaced by 2 ACC Champ trophies…?
LikeLike
If Richt can keep South Florida’s best players that don’t desire to join Kirby, he can shut off a talent supply for the other Florida programs. Boom and Jimbo (and CMR) had free reign from West Palm south with Al Golden in Coral Gables. Yes, Miami has some fundamental problems that Richt has to work around or fix, but the Canes’ brand is tied to its NFL alumni and its pipeline to Sunday. The U’s football alumni have embraced Mark as one of their own, so they’re going to be invested in helping him on the recruiting front as much as possible.
LikeLike
Couldn’t have said it better. Miami is a long way from Athens, so they’re not a geographical threat. FSU is, so we need to hope Richt takes recruits away from them, but most of all you have to hope he absolutely ruins our mortal enemies the Gators. Thanks for all you do, Mark!
LikeLike
IMO Richt still has a tough row to hoe, as UF enjoyed infinitely more inherent advantages over Miami when it comes to attracting top talent. For example, yes, The Swamp is a cheap orange painted looking stadium, but its one of the most popular in CFB and is known as one of the loudest as well. Miami, meanwhile, takes a bus 30 miles north to the suburbs of Ft. Lauderdale to play in a mediocre at best pro stadium in front of 25-30K fans, with empty, tarped off upper levels.
UF’s other facilities are superior as well, and they play in the top football conference (whereas Miami plays your typical Wake, UVA, BC, etc. type schedule.) With all that said, if CMR can keep several top S. Florida recruits yearly home and away from UF, then I’ll be more than satisfied.
LikeLike
No doubt, 3&G. I still don’t understand why Miami agreed to move their home games out of the Orange Bowl to Dolphins/Joe Robbie/Land Shark/Sun Life Stadium without a fight. I know the old Orange Bowl was an old structure in a crappy part of Miami, but it used to be you didn’t beat the Canes often and never in the Orange Bowl.
I agree with your premise about Miami recruiting. I want Richt to be successful because I genuinely like the guy and also anything that makes it more difficult for UF and, to a degree, F$U is fine with me. By the way, I didn’t feel that way about F$U until the entire university enabled Famous Jameis’s knucklehead (and likely criminal) activities in Tallahassee.
LikeLike
Miami (the university, that is,) didn’t have a choice, as the city chose to fund a new baseball stadium for the Marlins (otherwise they relocate elsewhere) instead of renovating the OB. If you read a bit about the whole Marlins stadium ordeal, it was no doubt a scandal with all sorts of inside dealings and such that put the local tax payers on the hooks for many hundreds of millions of dollars. Heck, it made the Braves/Cobb deal look completely ethical in comparison. Yet, as pretty much everyone predicted, Marlin games are scantly attended anyway — shocker.
As a former Florida resident for quite a number of years, I can assure you that FSU has been a shady program for a very long time; the difference being that, with aw-shucks Bobby Bowden as its figurehead, myriad incidences got buried and/or never reported on as BB was such a quotable/likable guy. We now know the Tally PD totally covers for the program — that structure has been in place for many years and was only recently exposed.
BTW, I too like CMR and really hope he succeeds down there, but my gut says he’ll have a modicum of success at best and quietly will bow out in 3-4 years.
LikeLike
I had forgotten all of that about the Orange Bowl and the dealings with the Marlins. Thanks for the information.
I hope Richt is successful. He’s on the right side of the ACC to make it happen. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him rebuild a winner there or to see him be marginally successful and decide to retire.
LikeLike
A whole bunch of just enormous cranes are out here now. Understand something – these are some of the largest cranes in North America. Very impressed. Huge cranes!
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/miami-dolphins/fl-dolphins-stadium-0603-20160602-story.html
LikeLike
Agree. And let’s not forget CMR tasked assistants to carry most of the recruiting load at UGA, like Garner, CMB, Bmac & Pruitt. Looking at his current staff: Jon Richt, Thomas Brown, Searals, Hartley, Dugans, Diaz, Banda, Rumph & Kuligowski, is there anyone who really stands head and shoulders above the pack as a top recruiter?
LikeLike
Kuligowski is the guy that produced all those pro draft picks at Mizzou with 3 star recruits, he, Hartley, and Dugans, Brown and CMR will come up with top 10 recruiting classes.
LikeLike
Wait until his IPC is finished. All hell will break loose down there
LikeLike
Richt may grab some skill position players from S Florida but he has shown for years he is not going to get many of the big guys. Before and after the cheating years, Miami has not been much of a football power. It will be interesting to see if Richt will embrace the true “Miami Way” and look the other way with regards to cheating.
LikeLike
Wut?
LikeLike
Forget it, man, he’s on a roll…
LikeLike
The 1983, 1987, 1989, and 1991 Hurricane teams would disagree with you on the before part. The 2001 Hurricanes (in addition to being the most talented team ever assembled in the history of college football) would disagree with you on the after part considering they got the modern day equivalent of the death penalty in 1995.
LikeLike
I can’t speak for JCDAWG, but perhaps the implication was that 1983, 1987, 1989 and 1991 were part of the cheating years. I suspect there was cheating in Miami from Schnellenberger to Johnson to Erickson and on.
LikeLike
ahhh, I’m with you there.
The cheating era began late 70’s and ran like shit through a goose until Coker
LikeLike
Richt will cheat at Miami just as much as he did at Georgia.
LikeLike
Any one besides me troubled by the insult to Afghanistan in the quote? I hate Florida. The whole state.
LikeLike
+1. People hoping Richt will help cause damage to UF have forgotton his method of damaging them last year. A 3rd sting QB who didn’t receive a snap until Jacksonvillle. Brillant .
LikeLike
Or the 2014 version that was ranked in the top 10 and went to Jacksonville against a 3-3 Florida team that had quit on Muschamp and decided to sleepwalk for four quarters.
LikeLike
That time when Mark told a caller we are going to get after Florida –
Richt responded: “Well, I appreciate you defending me, if you do. The bottom line is we are going to get after Florida, that’s for sure. And I don’t worry about all that other stuff.”
https://www.dawgnation.com/football/team-news/ten10-ugas-mark-richt-will-be-facing-his-fifth-florida-head-coach
LikeLike
No doubt a stronger Miami is probably bad for UF….
LikeLike
Recall when UF stopped playing UM after so many years of that great match up?
LikeLike
Another case of Spurrier leaving something with his tail between his legs …
LikeLike