That 2001 season, it was like the season was already written. But the defense came through, as Mike Rumph, Matt Walters and Reed combined to save the day with one of the most iconic plays in Miami history -- a Walters interception, deflected off Rumph's knee, that ended up in Reed's hands for the defensive score. As did what happened in October, when Miami -- ranked No. People always say the great teams have to overcome a scare along the way. But with a chance to tie the game with another two-point conversion, Virginia Tech sophomore Ernest Wilford dropped a pass in the endzone. They should have gone back to high school where they do the running clock. A stacked defensive line room, with Vince Wilfork as a backup, too. So a lot of times when I hear his voice, I can sense that disappointment that he felt with that being his last go around. We're intense, pulling up on the buses. Ohio State beat Miami in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl (2002 BCS Championship Game). As the 2001 Miami Hurricanes celebrated a fifth national championship in the Rose Bowl locker room 20 years ago, not one person screamed, 'GOAT!' Dorsey AZ, CO, CT, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, (select parishes), MD, MI, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OR, PA, TN, VA, WV, WY, CA-ONT only.Eligibility restrictions apply. As I went to the NFL, we'd always find those Miami guys on the other team and you knew they were going to be the most competitive guys. Matt! / A lot of us were going into our senior year, and we didn't want to have to risk playing a little slower, still trying to learn something. We look at each other, like how the hell did we do this? 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. That's how it goes in those games. It wasn't something given. It wasn't a surprise. Sterling, sadly, had. All rights reserved. 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. McGahee didnt have the most prolific career, but the two years he suited up in his orange and green gear were exciting. Romberg I knew we'd have a good team, but there were a lot of questions because of the coaching changes. I'm gonna run out of bounds." I had a front-row seat as the Miami beat writer for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, that season. We knew that was going to be a tough game. Larry wasn't a sexy hire at the time, and it's rare the players have that kind of influence over who gets hired. Frank Gore was also on the 2001 national title Hurricanes roster. Not a lot needed to be said. The heart and soul of that team was our strength coach, Andreu Swasey. In all, 17 players from the team became first-round draft picks, and 38 players would be drafted, with stars like Vilma, Reed, Shockey, Wilfork and Portis earning multiple Pro Bowl bids. Davis 1. Fitzgerald It was the Hurricanes' 76th season of football and 11th as a member of the Big East Conference. As did what happened in October, when Miami -- ranked No. 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. With BC on the verge of a momentous upset, St. Pierre attempted to pass to receiver Ryan Read at the Miami 2-yard line. The 2001 team featured six All-Americans, and Dorsey was a Heisman Trophy finalist. And I am a firm believer in that team, too. Butch did a great job recruiting and developing and building the culture. 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. DT Matt Walters This Week in Miami Hurricanes Basketball: 2/27 Edition. I didn't know at the time that this would be talked about as one of the best teams in college football. As the 2001 Miami Hurricanes celebrated a fifth national championship in the . The first series, we line up, they run their option, and for as fast as it went for us in practice, it was like they were in sand. Clinton Portis was the main ball carrier during the 2001 national championship run of the Miami Hurricanes. Davis Being from California, playing in the Rose Bowl was special for me. We [were] truly a team. Backing up the entire unit was football legacy Jarrett Payton. They signed players such as two-star safety Ed Reed, out of Louisiana, and Joaquin Gonzalez, an under-the-radar offensive lineman from Miami, and overlooked junior college transfers such as Jeremy Shockey and Bryant McKinnie. / 13. 4 in the Bowl Championship Series standings. We let them drive right before the half and Ed Reed wasn't in that drive because he had dinged up his shoulder. It was the perfect storm for us. Everything in Ed wanted to destroy Florida State for so many reasons. That's what you love about great leaders is they respect their teammates, they love their teammates, but they're going to hold their teammates accountable. You're sweating, you're bleeding, you're laying everything on the line for the guy next to you, and there was no envy." Portis was an even bigger weapon in the NFL over his nine year career. 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. Dorsey / The dominance of the team during its 2001 campaign combined with the legacy those players left -- both in college and the pros -- makes a strong argument that this is the best college football team ever assembled. "We really had leaders on that team, and I don't think that can be matched," Reed said. I wanted to play more. Less Than 24 Hours to Renew Your Tickets. It was grit and toughness for him, and it was important he was in there the whole time. There's something about a night game in the Orange Bowl, there's something about that mystique. The way Miami broke the will of Syracuse and Washington in back-to-back games, outscoring them by a combined 124-7. "They were the hardest workouts we ever did," cornerback Mike Rumph said. There is history in nearly every corner of the University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame and the Tom Kearns Sports Hall of Fame Building. (From 1937 to 2001, bowl games did not count towards season statistics). Romberg 14, proved to be a formidable opponent. Vilma All logos are the trademark & property of their owners and not Sports Reference LLC. The same standings that kept Miami out of the 2000 national championship game. It was one of those games. The Hokies, ranked No. While the 2001 squad only won a single national championship; they had NFL legends, All-Americans and Pro Bowlers in their film sessions. Take Ed Reed. He was probably the most hated guy in all of Blacksburg that night, but at the same time thank you so much, because you just kind of saved us some heartache. As much as the 2001 team has been glorified in the years since it won the national title, the Hurricanes opened the year ranked No. But a diving, game-saving interception by Ed Reed sealed the Miami victory, 2624. 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. Please consider making a secure donation today by clicking the link below. Download Our App. Reed has been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. 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. They're driving to win, the whole stadium thought they were about to win. Terms of Service He had the respect of those players. I helped cover that team, too. I had so many friends from high school who were there to support me, guys I grew up with and loved and had always been there for me. It was a bunch of these things that made us feel disrespected. I say five minutes into the game, they knew in their hearts that they were going to be outclassed and outmatched. The 2001 Miami Hurricanes have been called "the single most talented college roster" ever. 1 in both polls -- was sitting at No. We all had our careers that take off from there, but from my eyes, I was like, "What now?" Going into the locker room after the win at Virginia Tech, it was special. McGahee ran for 4.7 yards per carry and three touchdowns in reserve duty behind Clinton Portis in 2001. Prior to the 2006 Rose Bowl, ESPN's SportsCenter ran a special in which the 2005 USC Trojans, led by stars Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush, and LenDale White, were compared with the greatest college teams of the past 50 years, as picked by sports fans voting on ESPN.com, to determine their place in history. Privacy Policy It was a somewhat natural transition because I knew the players. Rumph . 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 one newspaper that I still love to this day is the New York Times because they picked us as national champions at the end of the season. McGahee also was a consensus All-American in 2002. Anybody who could block kicks like that, he was a fan of. Among the numerous stars on the 2001 Miami squad were: quarterback Ken Dorsey; running backs Clinton Portis, Willis McGahee, Najeh Davenport, and Frank Gore; tight end Jeremy Shockey; wide receiver Andre Johnson; offensive tackle Bryant McKinnie; defensive linemen Jerome McDougle, William Joseph, and Vince Wilfork; linebackers Jonathan Vilma and D.J. (gofundme.com) Terms of Service Chudzinski The toughness, the mental toughness. Like it was a fairy tale.". Davis Chudzinski Reed OT Joaquin Gonzalez It was a challenge to figure out how to get through the rest of that game. / They had confidence. including 17 first-rounders and at least one Hall of Famer in Ed Reed. Williams, Antrel Rolle, Vince Wilfork, Frank Gore, Willis McGahee, Chris Myers, Andre Johnson No other team is even in the conversation. We gave up the bowl in 1995. LB D.J. Then in 2002, with Frank Gore out, exploded on the scene with 1,753 rushing yards and 28 touchdowns on 6.2 yard per carry. 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. We let the country know what this whole season was going to be about. Johnson was a member of the Hurricanes' most recent national championship team in 2001. The consensus among college football analysts is that the 2001 Hurricanes had the most talented roster in history. I thought to myself, "Oh my gosh, do not drop this." When Butch left, we were kinda stuck, and I remember we all went upstairs to talk to Mr. Dee, myself, Bryant McKinnie, Ed Reed, Ken Dorsey and a couple more guys. I tried to display that my senior year, 'cause I could have left my junior year. Miami beat Florida State 49-27 to remain undefeated, but a bigger test awaited Nov. 10 on a cold day at Boston College. "Dominate" had started the year before, breaking down the team before going into the locker room right before we came out for the game. Hurricanes basketball coach Jim Larraaga highlights a 10-member University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame class. Led by quarterback Ken Dorsey, free safety Ed Reed, running back Clinton Portis, wide receiver Andre Johnson, tight end Jeremy Shockey, offensive tackle Bryant McKinnie, and linebacker Jonathan Vilma, Miami won the 2001 national championship. .mw-parser-output .hatnote{font-style:italic}.mw-parser-output div.hatnote{padding-left:1.6em;margin-bottom:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .hatnote i{font-style:normal}.mw-parser-output .hatnote+link+.hatnote{margin-top:-0.5em}. And they had a great defense. After suffering a gruesome injury in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl, McGahee entered the 2003 NFL Draft knowing he would have to sit out a season to rehab. They remain the only team to have its first-, second-, third- and fourth-string running backs all later become running backs with a start in the NFL. We weren't trying to sit here and showcase how fast and athletic we were. A jersey worn by late Hurricanes great Sean Taylor. They're just telling us we're No. If you weren't doing all the right things, if you weren't going to class, making your grades, if you weren't showing up to work out or something like that, you could easily be cast out. That goes for everybody. The eccentric Portis is said to have played mind games with his backups in order to hold them down and keep the football in his hands. S Ed Reed RBs coach Don Soldinger You look back on it, and man, that was a great play by Mike, by me, by Ed. Barry Jackson. That served as motivation. The leadership. The same standings that kept Miami out of the 2000 national championship game. When you've got guys that are doing workouts, even though it was hell on earth in July in 115 degrees, like you're breathing through a sock, and turn around and just do it again for a teammate because he needs help, that's remarkable. I don't know how General Custer felt, but I felt like General Custer. This past January, I sat in the press box at Hard Rock Stadium in the most bizarre setting for a national championship game, thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. Every one of those games was a physical, physical affair. University of Miami 2023. We liked what we had already, and we really wanted to just keep what we had. I went to a JUCO in Scranton, Penn. We knew when I was there, but in 2001, it became reality. The Hurricanes began the season with a nationally televised primetime win over Penn State in Beaver Stadium. Find out more. Don't ask me if I'm alright. When we recruited him in high school, when I actually went to see him in person it was at a basketball game. As cliche as it sounds, Miami wanted revenge. But I remember a few days before the game we did a two-minute drill, our No. Less than 24 hours to renew your football tickets! Dorsey I was hurt before this game. A lot of people doubted if they should have made the championship. 2 behind Florida -- the team they dismantled in the Sugar Bowl to close out the 2000 season. "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. Vilma played for the 2001 Hurricanes . Then there was the first half against Nebraska in the BCS national championship game, in which Miami made the Cornhuskers look like a slow backyard team with no business being on the big stage. That openness allowed us to truly get to know the players and coaches, and develop a rapport with them, so we could tell their stories in a deeper way -- and share a fair narrative as the season unfolded. Quarterbacks 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. Men's Sports . They hated to lose. If you didn't put in the work, there was somebody behind you ready to take over. Oh, absolutely I was scared. If you dominate your responsibility and enough guys do that, then we'll be OK. A lot of people don't understand the context. 1.". There are vivid moments that stand out to me that season. [6] [7] The Hurricanes have had at least one former player make the Pro Bowl every season since 1985, 31 years in a row. Rumph We blocked a kick and a punt and blocked a field goal that day. He basically announced to everybody, "This is our guy.". The University of Miami is known for producing excellent professional football players. Renew Now Close Topbar. I wanted to be there. That drive starts with where this team started: in 1997, when Miami was at its lowest point as a football program, in the midst of NCAA sanctions that reduced its scholarship total to 15 in that signing class. Jan 7, 2009. Most people think that UM must have been losing, but no. You had Phillip Buchanon and Mike Rumph, and you had Antrel Rolle behind them. We probably could have scored 80 points. Nobody was too "big time" for anything. Download Our App, Achong, Harden & Hedley Earn ACC Postgraduate Scholarships, Newport News, Virginia/Hampton Roads Academy, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada/Vanier Academy, Windsor, Ontario, Canada/Belle River District. Miami took a 34-0 halftime lead before cruising to a 37-14 victory, winning the school's fifth national championship. But we were fruits of what they'd done. #14. The loudest game. Truly perfected that.". 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