http://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/c.../72427104/

Interesting article on Miami U. and U of Cincinnati.

Short excerpt:
....
There should be no reason Miami can’t compete for a MAC football title most years. That would be more than enough to put the rivalry back into the tradition with UC.

There is a great football history in Oxford. The campus is beautiful. It screams COLLEGE. It’s a fine school, academically.

Lately, Miami has started to pay attention to what are known in the sports businesses as “facilities.” Facilities might or might not produce better-trained athletes, but they definitely produce better recruits, who are interested in such things. (When I arrived in Cincinnati in 1988 from covering college football in Texas and other places, I noticed right away that Oklahoma University had a better weight room than the Bengals. Nicer players’ cars in the parking lot, too.)


Roethlisberger donated $1 million. Another Miami football alum, Randy Gunlock, chipped in $6 mil. Now, the RedHawks boast an indoor sports facility complete with a full football field. Ground has been broken for another impressive facility, which will house football offices, locker and weight rooms, meeting rooms etc.

This should counter a suspicion which had grown in recent years that Miami had gotten a little too full of itself. We’re Miami, and you’re not. Athletic director David Sayler described it as the school getting “a little too complacent.” When you assume at a place like Miami premium athletes are itching to attend your university, you are miscalculating.

UC made very good coach hires. Rick Minter laid a foundation for Mark Dantonio who took the next step and bequeathed it to Brian Kelly who made it even better and passed it on to Butch Jones who didn’t mess it up. Tommy Tuberville maintains it today.

10 in a row for UC. Won 15 of the last 20, includes 3 single digit losses to Big Ben.

(09-25-2015 08:56 PM)bullet Wrote:  There should be no reason Miami can’t compete for a MAC football title most years. That would be more than enough to put the rivalry back into the tradition with UC.

There is a great football history in Oxford. The campus is beautiful. It screams COLLEGE. It’s a fine school, academically.

Lately, Miami has started to pay attention to what are known in the sports businesses as “facilities.” Facilities might or might not produce better-trained athletes, but they definitely produce better recruits, who are interested in such things. (When I arrived in Cincinnati in 1988 from covering college football in Texas and other places, I noticed right away that Oklahoma University had a better weight room than the Bengals. Nicer players’ cars in the parking lot, too.)


Roethlisberger donated $1 million. Another Miami football alum, Randy Gunlock, chipped in $6 mil. Now, the RedHawks boast an indoor sports facility complete with a full football field. Ground has been broken for another impressive facility, which will house football offices, locker and weight rooms, meeting rooms etc.

This should counter a suspicion which had grown in recent years that Miami had gotten a little too full of itself. We’re Miami, and you’re not. Athletic director David Sayler described it as the school getting “a little too complacent.” When you assume at a place like Miami premium athletes are itching to attend your university, you are miscalculating.

UC made very good coach hires. Rick Minter laid a foundation for Mark Dantonio who took the next step and bequeathed it to Brian Kelly who made it even better and passed it on to Butch Jones who didn’t mess it up. Tommy Tuberville maintains it today.

Miami got complacent after the Big Ben years like you said. While other MAC and non-BCS schools built up facilities and improved coaching salaries, we didn't. Part of the problem was that our Board had a policy in place that we couldn't spend any money towards any athletic facilities improvements until we had all cash in hand (since reversed). But when your HC is also the OC but only makes $125K a year, that's all on the AD, who has since left for BC.

Honestly those institutional problems could've been patched over if we hired a good coach after Haywood gave us a shot of life in 2010. But we didn't, we hired perhaps the worst HC in MAC history. We're on the way towards building a very competitive program, but it probably won't be until next year that we make a bowl. 2017 is when we should be serious contenders. I'm hoping that Martin stays around and waits for an elite job to open up as opposed to something like Illinois or Purdue, but that's wishful thinking.

If I'm UC, I get rid of Tubs as quick as I can within financial reason. Their success has come from young, up and coming coaches, not a retread with questionable coaching skills and such a bland demeanor. Tubs will get UC to a bowl every year, but won't put them over the top and make a P5 conference want to take them in.

Cincinnati went all-in with the Tuberville hire (he's making 2.4 million a year) and the stadium expansion in the hopes of landing a P5 conference within 3-5 years. They publicly have stated a P5 conference is their goal.

They could fall into a hole for 2 year or so like Louisville has done with bad hires but will be able to attract a coach quickly to fill the opening. They have turned the corner to the point where they will get enough local Cincinnati HS players to stay home over MAC schools, Indiana, Purdue, Kentucky ect to field a P5 level competitive team.

For decades Miami was the face of the MAC athletically. However it was a much less competitive MAC in those days. The MAC was more of a Top 15 division 1 conference and behind some of the top FCS conferences like the MVC and Ivy League.

Today the MAC is a Top 8 conference athletically with bowl games in San Diego, Mobile, Florida and the Bahamas. The MAC sent a team to the Orange Bowl in 2006 and is very much in play for a New Year's Bowl game. Only the MWC, AAC and MAC have ever sent a team to a New Year's Day game among the G5 conferences.

If you are Chuch Martin then out on the recruiting trail besides having the traditional assets like campus and academics there is a lot to sell competitively to potential recruits. A lot of patience is going to be required to resurrect the program as far down as its dropped but its possible to do it.