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After Clemson's historic shellacking of the Hurricanes, Miami didn't wait long to fire Al Golden, pulling the trigger Sundaywith AD Blake James saying this: "Coach Golden has led our program through some very difficult times, and he has done so with class, integrity and a true desire to see our students succeed on the field, in the classroom and in the community," James said. "However, we have a proud tradition of excellence at Miami, not just in football but in all sports, and we want to compete for ACC and national championships. I simply believe that now is the time to bring the Hurricane Family together and rally behind our young men."
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Translation: i'm not losing my job to save this guy.
Unhappiness was about to turn to rebellion in the fan base, although not necessarily with his players, some of whom remain very supportive.
It's a very different situation in Durham. After Duke's invigorating win over Virginia Tech, Duke moves to #22 in the AP Poll and #18 in the coach's poll.
For a bit of perspective, Florida State is now #17 and #15.
While Miami is in turmoil, Duke is basking in an unexpectedly positive season. Not many people saw Duke as being competitive for the division championship, much less ranked, much less a great defensive squad.
But what to expect Saturday? There's no wild card - there's a whole pack of wild cards.
How will Miami react to new coach Larry Scott? How will Miami react to the devastating loss to Clemson - which would have been enough? The team seems to be at least partly behind Golden.
As for Duke, which is still excited about the big win at Blacksburg, many, many things are beyond control. All anyone at Duke can do is to focus on what can be controlled - effort and execution.
It should be a fascinating game.
We will say this for Golden. When he took the job, he didn't know Miami was going to go through NCAA hell, and he could have left. In fact, Miami was very worried that he would.
He stuck it out though and we're sure he did his best. It's not a very good show of loyalty by Miami, certainly not as good as Golden afforded the 'Canes.