* 21+ (19+ CA-ONT) (18+ NH/WY). Maybe Alabama last year. 1 in both polls -- was sitting at No. "We felt like we couldn't miss on anyone in recruiting," said Andreu Swasey, who was the strength and conditioning coach at Miami in 2001. Sponsorship Opportunities It got a lot of attention. For whatever reason, we always played them close in my four years there. "This was happening in the BCS era, so no one really had an edge from a College Football Playoff perspective that all the great talent is going to go to those participants, which is kind of what's going on with Alabama, Clemson and Ohio State right now. I remember the doctor saying he couldn't really throw the ball. OC Rob Chudzinski When I look back at our workouts, and the pressure that we put on each other of not letting each other down, there was so much pressure that I would think twice about skipping a workout, I would think twice about skipping a rep, I would think twice about letting my brother down because there was so much invested into it. And as a coach, you almost never want that -- guys on the ground, just a couple days before the game. The 2001 Miami Hurricanes football team represented the University of Miami during the 2001 NCAA Division I-A football season. It's nothing new to us. One of the greatest safeties in college football history, Reed twice earned first-team All-America honors while guiding the Hurricanes to a national championship in 2001Led the Hurricanes to four consecutive bowl victories, ending career with perfect 12-0 record and 2001 national championship win over Nebraska2001 BIG EAST Defensive Co-Player That was it for Miami. So I think that describes how good they were.". The first quarter, we'd always said, once we got the speed of the option down, we'd get it done. [citation needed] NFL individual records [when?] Twenty years later, the 2001 Miami Hurricanes are widely regarded as one of the greatest college football teams of all time. I remember four or five guys jumped on me and next thing you know I'm looking at the ground and by the time I roll over and look up, I see Ed going. Williams, Antrel Rolle, Vince Wilfork, Frank Gore, Willis McGahee, Chris Myers, Andre Johnson No other team is even in the conversation. Coker Because that whole season, our mind was set on one goal, and you really don't understand how exhausting something can be when you're in pursuit of it. This 2001 Miami team crushed Nebraska for the title in the Rose Bowl. Use without license or authorization is expressly prohibited. My knee went between my hands, and hit the tip of the ball and it flipped to Matt Walters. / [15] Miami won its fifth national championship in the last 18 years, and put the finishing touches on a perfect 120 season. In an article I wrote in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel that October, quarterback Ken Dorsey said, "People around the country don't really respect our talent or our capabilities as a team. And so much more. They pushed each other to the limit, and the one thing that separates that group, they were super, super competitive. Chudzinski This was because Miami had lost to No. 2001 Miami Hurricanes footballconsensus national champions, 2001 Big East Conference football standings, 2001 Penn State Nittany Lions football team, 2001 Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team, 2001 Florida State Seminoles football team, 2001 West Virginia Mountaineers football team, would cost nearly $120 million as an NFL team, "CFB 150: Top 10 teams in college football history - Sporting News", "The 150 greatest teams in college football's 150-year history - ESPN", "The 2001 Miami Hurricanes Would Beat Any Team, Any Time - FanBuzz", "Hurricanes Roll Past Penn State, 33-7:: Ken Dorsey throws three touchdown passes to lead Miami", University of Miami (FL) Athletic Department, "No. Clinton Portis was the main ball carrier during the 2001 national championship run of the Miami Hurricanes. The thing that was most impressive about that team is that, at any point in time, a younger player could take your position. The loudest game. To me, it was special, and I knew it was going to be a tough game. We probably could have scored 80 points. At fullback the Canes used two starters in Najeh Davenport and Kyle Cobia. The guys before us set an expectation of how hard you had to work and what that standard was, and we knew we had to live up to that. We spread the ball around to a lot of different guys because, at that time, Andre Johnson wasn't a proven commodity -- or Ethenic Sands or Kevin Beard. Everyone knew [Clinton] Portis, but you had Willis McGahee and Frank Gore. Hell, nah. We dominated those guys from start to finish, and Happy Valley wasn't so happy. That [last] interception was by Ed Reed. We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from. What set those guys apart was what was inside of them -- in their heads and in their hearts, how they competed and how they prepared and how they loved and how they were passionate about playing the game. I still have visions of Tommie Frazier leaving Gator defenders in his wake. But that goes to the larger point: The focus was not on their talent, but on gaining the respect those players felt had been denied to them going back to high school. Ed Reed, a free safety, is in the Hall of Fame (elected in 2019), and his backup was Sean Taylor, arguably the greatest safety who ever played the game. And I did that, and I was like, "Oh, man, that felt good." We were just too big, strong and fast, and way too physical. It was always like a family. / I went to the University of Florida, where as a freshman in 1995, the Nebraska Cornhuskers staked their claim to the greatest-of-all-time throne after dismantling the Gators in the 1996 Fiesta Bowl. At the time, [Paterno] wasn't taking JUCO transfers, and that was one of the schools I would've went to, so when I got a chance to play against them I said, "I'm gonna show him. No team past that's been here [at Miami]. It was unreal, just to see the trophy come out. There will be unsung heroes picking up blitzes. Williams To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy. As did what happened in October, when Miami -- ranked No. The 2001 roster was loaded from top to bottom all over the field with names like Bryant McKinnie, Andre Johnson, and Jeremy Shockey as just the tip of the ice berg. Soon, that entire mentality took hold across the entire team. I thought to myself, "Oh my gosh, do not drop this." On Sept. 27, Miami returned to play at Pitt with a determination to press forward, resulting in a 43-21 win. Davis I knew we'd have a good team, but there were a lot of questions because of the coaching changes. Sterling, sadly, had. It was a somewhat natural transition because I knew the players. Vilma But there were a few things in the contract we were having a difficult time agreeing on. We'd been through so much pain. We all had our careers that take off from there, but from my eyes, I was like, "What now?" And obviously you can point out all the talented guys on the team, but at the time, they weren't the biggest recruits and the five-star guys. To go and win the game was quite an experience. It seems like that every year. The Hurricane defense picked up the slack by limiting BC to just seven points. But when you play a team like that, you can't turn the ball over, and I think we ended up throwing four interceptions. The University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame contributes in many ways to the University and its athletic programs. We had 31 scholarships lost. Syracuse and Washington were not exactly nobodies. It's a fun debate, but at the same time, the competitor in you has no doubt about where we stood. (gofundme.com) We were all each other's biggest fans, but we all knew that if you went into the week, and you slacked or you wanted to hang out late on a Tuesday night, and didn't bust your ass in practice, you ain't going to be getting the reps. CB Antrel Rolle In my mind, I didn't know if I'd get the job. Kenny was the perfect guy. including 17 first-rounders and at least one Hall of Famer in Ed Reed. Shockey was diving for balls, Ed Reed was coming up full-speed, full-tackle. / Miami led 12-7 with under a minute to play, but BC had first-and-goal at the Miami 9-yard line. With a 30-0 halftime Miami lead, Coker pulled his starters and Miami cruised in the second half to a 337 victory. They've never seen an atmosphere like that. Internships My AC [joint] was sprained, and everybody came and asked me if I'm hurt. Despite Miami beating Florida State head-to-head that season and being higher ranked in both human polls, it was Florida State, and not Miami, that BCS computers selected to challenge the Oklahoma Sooners for the national championship (Oklahoma would win, 132). The Hurricanes began the season with a nationally televised primetime win over Penn State in Beaver Stadium. Additional contributors included future stars Kellen Winslow II, Sean Taylor, Antrel Rolle, Vernon Carey, and Rocky McIntosh. That atmosphere was crazy. It was one of those games. It was the perfect storm for us. Former coach Butch Davis Not only that, they were honoring one of their past players who got paralyzed, he was able to walk again so they were going to have him run out. "Dominate" had started the year before, breaking down the team before going into the locker room right before we came out for the game. 2. And I felt like I was a chess piece to that. Miami clinched a spot in the national title game against Nebraska at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., and felt confident this game would be its crowning achievement. No. The Canes became arguably the greatest team in CFB history 20 years ago, finishing 12-0, winning the national title and producing 38 NFL draft picks. The 2001 Miami Hurricanes are considered the greatest college football team in college football history. Gonzalez If you look at the film, at the last second as he's falling to the ground, he looks up to see if it's Ed, and he lets the ball go. A lot of what we did, Butch should get credit for. I don't know how General Custer felt, but I felt like General Custer. Years later in the NFL, I'm hearing people like, "Man, I listened to that song.". Dorsey Meanwhile, the stifling Miami defense shut down Heisman-winner Eric Crouch and the Huskers vaunted option offense, holding Nebraska 200 yards below its season average. Because when Jimmy [Johnson] left after winning two national championships, they really changed the whole program, and I didn't want that to happen to those kids. Fundraiser : The UM Sports Hall of Fame Needs U! I was thinking in my mind, "There's not a lot of time left in this game. They thought that we looked like a high school team. Less Than 24 Hours to Renew Your Tickets. We saw a guy in the 55th row laying down with a camera, and we started pointing him out, and he gets up and runs to one of the exits. We watched that, perfected that. Purchase Tickets. As a coach and players, you don't want to talk about it too much, but it's hard not to. Rankings for the 2023 NFL draft: Top prospects at every position from Kiper, McShay, Miller, Reid, Kiper's new Big Board rankings for the 2023 NFL draft: Top 25 prospects, Syracuse QB Shrader to miss spring practice, Sources: Asst. You know I'm hurt, yet we let them score two touchdowns. They were All-Pro NFL players," said Rick Neuheisel, who was Washington coach at the time. I'd agreed to a contract before Thanksgiving and my plan was to stay at the University of Miami for decades. In the NFL he ran for 8,474 yards and 65 touchdowns over his career. Chudzinski The way we were able to play, come out firing on all cylinders, was huge. Walters We go to the sideline, and Randy Shannon, after the first series he's like, "Hey, how do they look?" As I remember, the fans are standing right over the bench and they were yelling at our coaches, and they were throwing Skittles at us. I couldn't get off the ground fast enough to go give him a hug. Rumph 14, proved to be a formidable opponent. Gonzalez They embraced it, and that's when I learned the great ones want to be driven. We were pissed. Rankings from AP poll. But I feel like if you look at the history, every team that's won a national title has had a game like that, where it comes down to the last minute and if you lose, your season's over. You were getting into a street fight when you went and played those guys. / When the team takes ownership of its success, you know you have a championship culture. So the following year was definitely a salt-in-the-wound, chip-on-the-shoulder type of season where we wanted to obviously take no prisoners and rectify what happened the year before. Schumann returning to Georgia, 'It's the most talented team to ever play': An oral history of the 2001 Miami Hurricanes, Miami's turnover chain set a celebratory standard across the college football landscape. There's a 78% chance your favorite NFL team has employed a first-round pick from 2001 Miami since an incredible 25 teams have rostered one of them at some point or another. Davenport went on to a seven year NFL career with the Packers, Steelers, and Colts, while averaging 4.6 yards per rush and scoring 13 touchdowns as a pro. The 2001 team featured six All-Americans, and Dorsey was a Heisman Trophy finalist. That off-season, the team resolved to take the matter entirely out of the discretion of the computers by going a perfect 120. A lot of people talk about the struggles against Florida State, but we had those struggles against Virginia Tech. Employment And to stand up at the podium with guys like Andre Johnson, who was my suite mate since my freshman year, and hold up that trophy -- that was special. Fitzgerald Walters / There were a lot of expectations, and Larry took the pressure off of them. Out of the coaching changes because I knew the players like, `` there 's not lot! We 'd get it done thought to myself, `` Oh, man that. Of them unreal, just a couple days before the game clinton Portis was the main ball during! 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