Legendary Hurricanes Assistant Coach Lays Out Miami's Journey Back To Prominence | Donno Video
"Mario Cristobal knows the program. He knows what's going on. He went away and got his masters and his doctorate in football. He's done well wherever he's been. And now, he has a vision. He brought back Alonzo (Highsmith) which I think was a great hire. Mario just understands the history." -Don Soldinger.
Coach Soldinger was part of a national championship staff at Miami in the 1980's and then helped build the 2001 Hurricanes, arguably the greatest team in college football history.
Soldinger knows what a team looks like when they're turning the tides.
Don joined us on Locked On Canes. I asked him if he sees similarities in the 2023 Hurricanes to the team in the late 90's, when they were on the cusp of dominance.
"Yes, no question about it," he said.
Soldinger told us the two most important parts of rebuilding a program, "You have to recruit talent and you have to develop guys."
"You can see (right now) that the kids are developing. That's the thing that I look at. I'm very critical that way. I know what we had and what we had to do to get where we had to go. I see that happening again."
Soldinger recalls recruiting Sean Taylor, but knew ST would have to be developed properly. Recruiting talent is only the first step.
Soldinger thinks the Hurricanes have a great duo at safety now, comparing James Williams to a Sean Taylor type and Kam Kinchens to Ed Reed.
"The leadership on the team is starting to take fruition," Soldinger said. He still frequently attends high school games in the area and notices current Hurricanes players attending these games, wearing their gear, and showing pride in The U.
"They care about each other and they're taking pride and doing well," He said. Soldinger is impressed with Miami's running back room and how they push each other with competition. "These guys are getting their turns to really show what they have. I think (RB Coach) Tim (Harris) is doing a great job with them."
Soldinger was the running backs coach for the 2001 team. He had Clinton Portis, Willis McGahee, Najee Davenport, Frank Gore and Jarrett Payton all in the same backfield.
Soldinger appreciates the fact that all of Miami's current running backs are well coached in pass protection.
Soldinger stressed to us that there is still a lot of work to do in order to bring Miami back, but he think Cristobal has things on the proper track.
"They're off to the races. I think they're doing a great job coaching."
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