Miami Football: Canes' Situation Necessitates Campaign for Walk-on Linemen

If you haven't seen it yet, here is the link to the ad that Miami has around campus for offensive lineman candidates. Folks, as expected, are less than thrilled about Miami's open policy, asking anyone who fits the requirements to come play a little ball for The U. They're embarrassed. They feel like this is just another blow to their once great heritage. An opportunity for other programs across the nation to laugh at them. 

Truth be told, it is. People are going to laugh. They'll talk about how far the program has fallen when they are looking for 6'1" 230-pound random guy on campus to come play offensive line for the mighty Hurricanes football team. Most other programs aren't openly advertising for anyone to come get a shot to be on the roster. More importantly, the programs in the stratosphere that Miami sees itself definitely are not opening up their door to these guys.

But so what?! The facts are the facts and as it stands, Miami (a squad that needs to sort out their offensive line) needs a few extra bodies. Bodies, folks, that's what Al Golden is looking for. He is not looking for some diamond in the rough walking around Coral Gables studying drama to be his starting left tackle. He is looking for a kid who is willing to let Miami's defensive line bash his skull in, in exchange for a chance to just be on the roster.

You see Miami is in a unique position. They are one of very few private schools that has to play football at a high level. Notre Dame, Southern Cal, Stanford, TCU, Baylor, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, Duke, Boston College and Northwestern are the other schools. Of those groups only a handful have experienced continued success. In recent years, only USC, TCU and Stanford have finished in the Top 10. It is not an easy job to compete as a private school in a landscape where the rest of the big boys are public institutions.

Places like Nebraska and Texas A&M have a rich walk-on tradition. But Ohio State, Alabama and the like get their fair share of kids who were damn good high school players willing to play without a scholarship. The tuition is affordable, they get to be a part of the program that they enjoyed watching growing up and they get all the perks of being a college football player, aside from the scholarship.

Miami doesn't have this luxury. The private university in Coral Gables has a near $40,000 price tag for a year of school. Florida State, Florida and South Florida, just to name a few, have considerably more manageable price tags. That means Miami doesn't have the surplus of "extra guys" that other teams have on the roster. The players higher up on the depth chart have to get more reps. The bodies that run your look team and allow for guys to put in work are just not there for the Canes.

So while it is laugh worthy, the fact is, Canes fans should most certainly want some random bodies out there to save their No. 1's and No. 2's from being overworked in practice. Jon Feliciano is already out due to injury, and Golden's team needs to find a way to manage his roster without taxing the bodies he's going to desperately need all fall.