ANALYSIS: What is the real State of the U?

When the Miami Hurricanes stormed to a 10-0 record in 2017, the flame was reignited. Hard Rock Stadium morphed into a retro version of the Orange Bowl. The place was so electric you might've wondered if you were sitting inside a nuclear power plant. The turnover chain became the bling du jour around the country. Miami Dolphins personnel could only watch in awe at what was taking place inside their home stadium, a movement that definitely was not matched on Sundays.

But The U was not yet really back.

Three straight losses to end the season snapped the Canes Nation right back to reality. The Canes were simply out of gas. They were not deep enough to overcome injuries to three of their best players -- Mark Walton, Ahmmon Richards and Chris Herndon. When the competition amped up against Clemson and Wisconsin, they were not quite seasoned enough to prevail. The moments simply were a shade too big.

Those who view the NBA playoffs watched the same thing happen to the Boston Celtics in Game 7 against LeBron a few weeks back. The young Celts, as talented as they may be, finally succumbed to the reality that their two best and most seasoned players were sitting over on the bench in Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward, just like Miami faced that reality without Walton, Richards and Herndon.

When will the Celtics be back to being the Celtics?

That question now rests alongside the other. When will the Canes be back?

And the answer to both might be real soon.

We are a few months away from a new season when Miami gets a clean slate to try again.

So what is the real State of the U?

Today we begin a 16-part in-depth series to try to provide the foundation to answering that question. We have attempted to be blatantly objective about what we see in every nook and cranny of the program. Every position. Every variable.

You will get our analysis in rapid-fire succession.

Today we begin with a look at the infrastructure of the program -- Budget, Facilities, Coaching Staff, Support Personnel, Fund Raising, Scheduling

Tomorrow we begin assessing the roster with a depth chart analysis of every position on the field.

We will look at the biggest on-field questions.

We will examine the recruiting effort going back to 2015 before Mark Richt took over the program.

And then we will pull it all together with a final analysis.

By the time we are done, you should be armed with enough information and perspective to make an educated proclamation of your own.

Are the Canes back? And if they are not yet back, how much farther do they have to go to get there?

When will they get there?

Will they get there?

"When Richt took the job, I saw this as a four-to-five year rebuild. This is year three and in the projected upward trend, this should be the moment where the program really starts to turn the corner."

Gary Ferman

The greatness that we see today from Alabama and to a lesser extent a program like Clemson is a bit elusive. It takes a massive financial investment in coaches and infrastructure. It takes a singular focus. In some cases, if we are honest, it might even involve some bending of the rules and compromises in personal integrity, and we will leave it at that.

The Miami storyline is that Mark Richt is trying to do it "the right way" with all respect to the various NCAA problems Miami has had of its own through the recent years.

But when some people around college football analyze how to compete against the Hurricanes, we are told that can be perceived as a weakness.

Is doing it "right" even possible in today's world of questionable recruiting and street agents and a time when coaches around the country have little to lose by taking shortcuts because they have a very small window to figure out how to emerge unscathed and the conqueror of it all?

That's the variable for Miami right now.

Can you do it "right" and still win championships?

We are going to find out if it possible as the Miami football program has more naturally going for it right now than at any time in history when you factor in the commitment the University has made to the program.

Mark Richt has as much job security as any coach in America.

Miami made it all the way to No. 2 at one point last year and won the Coastal Division of the ACC. But it was totally outclassed by Clemson in Charlotte. Had the Canes reached Georgia or Alabama, the outcome would likely have been the same. Or worse.

This year, the Canes will try to take another step forward. Can they do it? We are about to find out.

With great forward thinking by Athletic Director Blake James, the Hurricanes have even scheduled a kickoff game against LSU in Dallas. Back when it was scheduled, this game was targeted as a point in time where Miami would be ready to place itself on the grand stage again. Al Golden was the coach charged with that task. That didn't work out and Richt took over the program.

Fact is that Miami is ready to stand on that field in September against a perennial SEC powerhouse experiencing some tough times of its own. From there, we will find out how much more the Canes are ready for.

Can it be done without an elite quarterback?

Can it be done when the team keeps stepping on its own foot in the form of players heading to the NFL before they truly are ready, weakening depth and overall quality of the roster?

Can it be done with holes at important spots like the offensive line and defensive tackle?

When Richt took the job, I saw this as a four-to-five year rebuild. This is year three and in the projected upward trend, this should be the moment where the program really starts to turn the corner.

The Hurricanes return quite a bit of juice from the team that reached a major bowl for the first time since Miami joined the ACC in 2004. The heart of the defense is back. Playmakers are plentiful on the offensive side of the ball. The swagger is back for sure. Those consecutive prime-time routs of Virginia Tech and Notre Dame in November were real. Now they have to be built upon with just a little higher standard of excellence of both coaching and playing.

It will unquestionably start with Malik Rosier, Richt's best bet to handle the quarterback responsibilities right now. He's not as flashy as young guns N'Kosi Perry and Jarren Williams. But Richt knows the value of a guy who knows the ins and outs of the playbook, how and when to use each individual play, how to get out of bad ones and how to deliver the ball in the right place at the right time, even if the latter didn't always happen consistently enough last year.

Rosier completed 54.8 percent of his passes last season for 3,120 yards and 26 touchdowns with 14 interceptions, adding 468 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns. But he also threw three touchdown passes and five interceptions in the three losses to end the 2017 season.

Let's be honest. Rosier lost it. He was worn out mentally and physically by the time Miami got to Pittsburgh with a chance to finish undefeated and perhaps attain the No. 1 ranking in college football. You could pin that loss somewhat directly on Rosier's inability to make plays and hit open receivers.

But Richt doesn't seem ready to throw all of the good things Rosier did earlier into the garbage and start over. Honestly, that would not be very prudent. He will try to build upon what Rosier did in 2017 and hope he can take him just a little notch higher. And if it doesn't work out, so be it. If Miami loses a game or two and the quarterback is to blame, Richt will deal with that issue then.

The fact is that Rosier is a great success story. He was not a highly-regarded recruit when then offensive coordinator James Coley plucked him out of Alabama with visions that he could eventually look something like Russell Wilson.

Rosier sat behind Brad Kaaya for three years and rose to be starting quarterback at The U.

That's real accomplishment.

But what Rosier will never be is a guy the NFL salivates over. He will probably not be drafted next spring and you could make the argument that Miami needs to recruit quarterbacks who develop and get chosen in the first round.

Richt unquestionably understands the value of a franchise signal caller. Maybe Perry or Williams will be his first at Miami. But neither is ready to be that guy today. Richt can't manufacture that. That is something some fans who criticize Rosier, who seem to be rooting for him to fail so one of the young guys take over, fail to understand. The arrival of the next great quarterback at Miami is something that has to actually happen for real. And right now, if a limited Rosier remains the best ticket to victory on Saturdays in 2018, Richt can't deceive himself that is not the case just because he and everyone else wants to see the next coming of Jim or Bernie or Vinny or Gino. And he won't forget how bad the entire team looked against Clemson and blame it on his quarterback either.

But this team was not REALLY as bad as it looked against Clemson. Those kinds of games can happen when a group gets dropped onto a big stage before it is quite seasoned enough to handle all that goes with it.

Charlotte was a place Miami folks talked about forever. That didn't mean the Canes knew how to handle business once they got there.

Miami has gone from 9-4 to 10-3 in Richt's first two seasons. Anything less than a return to Charlotte in 2018 will be considered a disappointment no matter how you slice and dice it.

The deeper we look as we get into this State of The U series, you will see that in some areas Miami is starting to look like what Miami should look like, what it has proven multiple times it can be.

Just not in all of them quite yet.

So join us on this journey over the next couple weeks, beginning with today's examination of the infrastructure of the program.

When we are done we will circle back and get your opinions, see what you think about the State of The U.