The University of Miami is a dying football program. As hard as that may be to believe for fans who grew up with the dynasties of the late ‘80s and early aughts, The U have been circling the drain for awhile now. There have been false dawns and competitive blips, but the fact is this: They haven’t produced a Hesiman winner since 1992, haven’t won a conference title since joining the ACC in 2004, have won just one bowl game since 2008, and are coming off a 5-7 season in Mario Cristobal’s first year in charge, with attendance and interest plummeting to never-before-seen lows. In short, it’s Nebraska South.
But there’s never been a problem in sports that can’t be fixed by throwing gobs and gobs of money at it, and that’s exactly what the ‘Canes are doing, starting with their new $100-million football operations complex, which was unveiled this week.
If you thought the Hurricanes’ new Dwayne Johnson-funded locker room was primo, this is in another stratosphere. The seven-story, 172,000-square-foot “forever home” of Miami football will be located smack dab in the heart of campus and feature a ground-level dining commons for the entire school as well as a canal footbridge connecting the complex to the team’s indoor practice facility. While a “football operations center” sounds pretty dry on paper, in reality Miami football’s new digs will be anything but, featuring a variety of amenities—from an dedicated NIL suite to a spa to a golf simulator—aimed attracting the best on- and off-field talent in the sport.
Whether or not a golf simulator, float tanks, or red-light therapy room can rekindle The U’s halcyon days remains to be seen, but it certainly won’t hurt the ol’ handicap.
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