SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — It is a great testament to the coaching acumen and motivational abilities of the Miami coaching staff that the group of Hurricanes which arrived in the Arizona desert this week for the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Fiesta Bowl have leaned into all the perceived slights and insults hurled in the program’s direction over the last 25 years.
Every doubt, every negative comment, every creeping sense of resentment heaped upon The U—both real and imagined—has more or less found a way into the back of every player’s mind ahead of their matchup with Mississippi on Thursday. Those doubts helped enlarge the giant chip on the shoulder of the Canes that would likely dwarf the nearby Camelback Mountain in both size and scale.
