Miami Hurricane Football: Al Golden, in His Own Words

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When Al Golden was named the new Miami Hurricanes coach, I was extremely impressed with the way he handled himself.

He is a great speaker and one of the best motivational coaches I have heard. He is just a very believable person.

One of the best ways to prove that his motivation works is to look at every game the Hurricanes played in last year.

Granted, they went 6-6, but they were in every game they played in, and their biggest margin of loss was just eight points.

Golden instilled attitude and a no-quit attitude, and it showed all season long.

Here are some of my favorite quotes from Golden so far.

'You Understand What Kind of Toughness We Want?'

Al Golden is hardcore, plain and simple. The video attached to this slide was the meeting before the first spring practice of his first season as Miami's new head coach.

Golden expects a lot of his Hurricanes team, and the simple statement of "You understand what kind of toughness we want?" stood out to me because Miami had been soft of late.

Golden and his staff have always expressed that they want the same toughness and attitude that past Hurricanes had.

There was no doubt that Miami had a no-quit attitude, as their largest margin of defeat was just eight points.

'This Is Not the Culmination, Not the Culmination. This Is Just the Beginning.'

After the spring season was over last year, Al Golden rounded up the players and said something that stuck, "This Is not the culmination, not the culmination.  This is just the beginning." (6:23 into the video)

Although Golden and his Hurricanes had a terrific spring session, it was far from where he wanted his players to be.

His statement was simple. He wanted to let his players know that no matter how good they thought they were, it was just the beginning of good they were going to be.

The players really need to buy what Golden is selling, because he has the right attitude and speaking ability to make his players into believers.

'I Was Looking for a Destination Job....'

Unless you are already in your dream job, you know exactly what Al Golden meant when he said, "I was looking for a destination job," a minute and 20 seconds into the video above.

Many of us go job-to-job looking for one that we really enjoy. A job that you don't hate waking up and going to.

Golden was a linebacker coach, offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator before he got the head coaching job at Temple.

Although a head coaching job at a Division I school is top-notch, it was nothing like it would be at a big-time school like Miami.

Golden found his destination job with Miami. We should all be grateful.

'Wanted to Go to the No. 1 School in the State of Florida'

This one is for my Gator and Seminole fans. Something to maybe pin up on the board.

Golden stated, two minutes and 35 seconds into the clip, that he "wanted to go to the No. 1 school in the state of Florida."

Which in reality is the truth. 

Miami is a much bigger brand than both Florida and Florida State. When people think champions, especially out of Florida, they think Miami.

In fact, the Seminoles and Florida have a combined five national championships, while Miami has five alone.

What's even more impressive is the fact that not only has the football team been better than UF and FSU, but Miami football players do better in the classroom as well.

Miami also has more current NFL players than either FSU or UF have.

So what he said was spot on. Not an opinion, but a fact.

'Are You Kiddin' Me, Are You Kiddin Me?'

The best quote Al Golden ever said came on his first conference as a Miami head coach.

A reported asked him "Why Miami, why now?" and Golden fired back with "Are you kiddin' me, are you kiddin me?"

Although the question was a good one, because Miami has been less than stellar of late, who wouldn't want to be a head coach down in Coral Gables?

You are close to South Beach, the weather is always nice, it is a beautiful campus and you are in charge of one of the greatest football programs ever.

So maybe the question was dumb?