MIAMI — It might be all about the U, but it’s undoubtedly all about the wins.
Former University of Miami stars Michael Irvin, Joaquin Gonzalez and Brett Romberg on Tuesday lamented the firing of Hurricanes athletic director Blake James, but said that in the end it was inevitable because of the direction the football program has gone.
“It’s time for Miami to find somebody to set Miami in the right direction,’’ former Canes receiver, Pro Football Hall of Fame member and NFL Network analyst Irvin told WQAM’s Channing Crowder and Marc Hochman. “I don’t care if it’s somebody that’s been here before or somebody that’s not been before or somebody that God just dropped out of the damned sky. I don’t care. We just gotta find that person.”
Irvin was speaking about the prospect of a new head coach should Manny Diaz be let go after the season
James, highly respected around the country as a college athletics administrator, was fired Monday by the university after serving in that capacity since 2013. The five-time national champion football program is 68-44 since James took over and 19-15 since Manny Diaz was hired by James before the 2019 season. The AD had been heavily criticized by angry detractors for being too quick in hiring Diaz and not undertaking a full-fledged search. Diaz had just been hired by Temple for his first head-coaching job and Miami had to pay his $4 million buyout in addition to Diaz’s similar salary.
“The fans have been calling for Blake James’ head for quite some time,’’ Joaquin Gonzalez, the right tackle for the Hurricanes’ last national title team in 2001, told the Miami Herald. “And though I wasn’t a fan of a couple of Blake’s key decisions, specifically football related and picking Manny without a true search of what was out there, the reality is that’s ultimately what cost his job.
“Because Blake James did a lot of great things for the University of Miami that the faithful fans, and specifically guys like me who have been staying close to the program, realize. Blake was truly all in it for UM. He raised tons of money for the university, he updated all of the facilities and he bettered the student life of athletes — the cohesiveness of student-athlete life was better because of a lot of his decisions.
“Ultimately, though, you’re judged by your wins. You have to win.”
Former center Brett Romberg, who played on that offensive line with Gonzalez, told the Miami Herald his longtime friendship with James “definitely goes beyond football.’’
“It sucks anytime anybody loses their job,’’ Romberg said, “but I think Blake was aware of the consequence of having another season of bad football.
“He’s one of the well-respected ADs in the country. He’s always being sought out for his guidance by other athletic directors throughout the country, and by media outlets. People don’t realize how difficult of a market Miami is in the sports world. You have to be a chameleon. You can’t be the AD out at the bars and clubs but you also have to socialize. It’s one of those damned if you do and damned if you don’t type things.
“Every time I talked to him, his schedule was so rigorous. He didn’t sleep, was constantly visiting this booster or that Hurricane Club thing, at every freaking UM sporting event you could think of — basketball or volleyball or baseball or football or whatever. He always represented the school with class.”
Added Romberg: “It’s going to be difficult to find a harder-working and more dedicated athletic director for all of UM’s sports than the one they just let go. But he knew last year they were all on borrowed time. No doubt.’’
Some of the names that could be considered for the athletic director job include, among others, current Washington State and former FAU AD Patrick Chun; USF vice president of athletics and former College Football Playoff chief operating officer Michael Kelly, who also served as former Atlantic Coast Conference senior associate commissioner; current FAU AD Brian White.
Other names mentioned have been former UM quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Gino Torretta; and former UM running back great Alonzo Highsmith, now the Seattle Seahawks senior executive/advisor to the general manager.
Irvin told WQAM he considered James “to be a great friend, so certainly from that standpoint I was disappointed. I was disappointed he couldn’t accomplish the things he wanted to accomplish and I know how important it was for him to move Miami in the right direction.
“We keep talking about getting Miami back to where it was. I don’t know if we fully grasp and understand where it was. That’s a hell of a place to get back to. That’s a hell of a place to ever be at. I know he wanted to at least move it back to a positive direction.
“So yeah, personally, I consider him a personal friend, so that was hard and I was hurt for him and his family, because I do love his family. But this is a hard business that we are in. And the bottom line in this business … is not about friends.
“It’s about wins.’’
