Are the Miami Hurricanes back? When will the Hurricanes be back? Will the Hurricanes ever be back?
These are questions a serious Hurricane fan wants answers too. However they have been illusive, and makes you wonder if the Hurricanes will ever be back. I am a 30+ year Hurricane fan, and I have search for these answers. We have had 4 coaches in the last ten years, and each time that questions seemed answered. We are back, but each coach came with a disappointment. Al Golden started off 7-0 in 2015 and we thought we were back then. After are all time leading rusher, “Duke Johnson” ankles gets broke and a 49-21 defeat to the eventual national champions FSU, we go on a 4game loosing streak. many of the Hurricane fans excepted the loss to FSU and thought we would meet them again in the ACC championship game, but to no prevail. In 2017 Mark Richt goes 10-0 and all the screams of is Miami back rang loud, but we loose 3 in a row, the next year Mark Richt is fired after a 7-6 season.
So, Why are we not back? I dugg deep and found out the simple answer to this question.
No Interceptions, Means no wins!
What? I looked up some stats on sports reference dot com and found a direct correlation with INT’s and WINS. I created a chart that shows are best seasons matched up with a ball hawking secondary. The following chart shows from 1985 to present our INT count , and how it related to wins and national championships.
| YEAR | RECORD | # INT’S | INT Leader | 2nd INT ldr |
| 1985 | 10-2 | 19 | Benie Blades 4 | D.Ellis 4 |
| 1986 | 11-1 | 21 | B. Blades 10 | Tolbert Bain 5 |
| 1987 | 12-0* natty | 15 | B. Blades | D. Ellison 2 |
| 1988 | 11-1 | 17 | bobby Harden 5 | Richard Smith 3 |
| 1989 | 11-1* natty | 21 | Roland Smith 6 | K. Berry 4 |
| 1990 | 10-2 | 14 | daryl williams 3 | |
| 1991 | 12-0* natty | 19 | Ryan Mcneil 5 | |
| 1992 | 11-1 | 18 | Dexter Seigler 4 | Paul White 4 |
| 1993 | 9-3 | 17 | Dexter Seigler 4 | T. harris, Cj Richard 3 |
| 1994 | 10-2 | 18 | carlos jones 5 | malcolm pearson 4 |
| 1995 | 8-3 | 12 | a. coley ray lewis 2 | |
| 1996 | 9-3 | 13 | duane starks 3 | |
| 1997 | 5-7 | 7 | duan starks 3 | worse year & INT |
| 1998 | 9-3 | 9 | l. myers 2 ray lewis 2 | |
| 1999 | 9-4 | 17 | Mike Rumph 4 | Nate Webster 4 |
| 2000 | 11-1 | 23 | ed reed 8 | P. Buchanon 2 |
| 2001 | 12-0* natty | 27 | ed reed 9, P. Buc 5 | J. lewis 3 |
| 2002 | 12-1 | 12 | low int lost natty | |
| 2003 | 11-2 | 19 | Sean Taylor 10 | a. Marshall 2 |
| 2004 | 9-3 | 13 | ||
| 2005 | 9-3 | 12 | ||
| 2006 | 7-6 | 12 | ||
| 2007 | 5-7 | 12 | ||
| 2008 | 7-6 | 3 | worse int in school history? | |
| 2009 | 9-4 | 10 | ||
| 2010 | 7-6 | 16 | ||
| 2011 | 6-6 | 6 | ||
| 2012 | 7-5 | 10 | ||
| 2013 | 9-4 | 16 | ||
| 2014 | 6-7 | 10 | ||
| 2015 | 8-5 | 15 | ||
| 2016 | 9-4 | 8 | ||
| 2017 | 10-3 | 16 | ||
| 2018 | 7-6 | 22 | with 22INT shows we should have better record |
In 2019, New coach Manny Diaz goes 6-6 and has only 9 INT’s …In the last three years we have lost more games then we did from 1985-1994 ten years ….WOW!