Marvel Week: The Miami Hurricanes Recent History of AntiHeroes

an·ti·he·ro

/ˈan(t)ēˌhirō,ˈanˌtīˌhirō/

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noun

plural noun: antiheroes

1. a central character in a story, movie, or drama who lacks conventional heroic attributes.
2. “with the age of the antihero, baddies and goodies became less distinguishable from one another”

Loki.

Guardians of the Galaxy.

Major Thunderbolt Ross.

These are all examples of antiheroes in the Marvel Comics and Cinematic Universe. They can be villians that become helpful when a common enemy is a foot. They can be a gang of miscreants that are generally self serving but understand the worth of the common good. Or they can be someone in a supposed position of service and goodness, yet act more as a major pain in the butt rather than helping hand.

For a school like Miami, in good times and in bad, it seems that there are a bevy of antiheroes yearly to account for. From coaches that have no business coaching or shoot themselves and Miami in the foot, to massive entities always seemingly taking advantage of the brand to increase bring attention to themselves while belittling or attempting to hinder popular opinion of a school with its own antihero persona. No matter how many we have around our program there are but a few that truly stay memorable or at the forefront of the movement.

Dan Enos

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I flirted with putting a pair of coaches here that drove us crazy with 58-0 and defenses that started goal line plays 6 yards off the line of scrimmage, but I decided to keep it fresh. Dan Enos was supposed to deliver a fresh OFFENSE. What we ended up getting was OFFENSIVE. Originally seen as a character that would be a willing and wonderful addition to Miami and its coaching staff, Dan Enos’ wore his welcome quickly into the season.

His position on the staff and the change he was bringing to it was meant to inspire an offense and a fanbase with a can’t miss offense. His experience bringing along quarterbacks, and his ability to get a lot out of a little bit were going to be everything we were missing. Plus, he would bring us the Alabama Blueprint. What we got was an offense that missed early and often. His experience was grossly overstated and outdated. Our quarterbacks regressed through the season and discipline was nowhere to be found.

In the end, we thought we were getting a Mastermind, but ended up with a Mysterio. Great intros, but ultimately just a bunch of flashing lights, destruction and smoke screens.

Malik Rosier

Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

Sometimes the most inspired people and performances come from the most unsuspecting places. Mentioned earlier, the Guardians of the Galaxy were a group of slapstick criminals that, at onset, sought to be on the wrong side of things. They began stealing and selling an item that they meant to sell along the path to a destructive force in the universe. Yet as they grew as a group and as individuals, there focus changed to protecting that item, keeping it out of the wrong hands, and were able to save the universe, at least for the time being.

Malik Rosier story strikes similar. Similarly, Rosier was set to be a back up or possibly a 3rd string quarterback on a Mark Richt team that would lead scout team, keep his head down and have no on field, gameday role. At some point however, a push from Rosier saw him grow exponentially, grabbing hold of the offense in the 2017 season when fans expected nothing of him. In that magical start to 2017, Rosier essentially helped to steady and save the Hurricanes universe, even if for only 10 games. Rosier broke the streak versus FSU AT Doak Campbell, spearheading Miami’s current streak against our Tallahassee Rivals. Rosier’s scrappy nature and gutsy performances lead the Cardiac Canes past tight games to #2 in the country, a Notre Dame romp, an ACCCG appearance and an Orange Bowl home game.

But like the aforementioned Guardians, Malik was also part of the slide into darkness that has been the last two seasons. The Guardians eventually, albeit unwillingly, assisted Thanos, the main villian in Avengers Infinity War and Endgame. Their blunders helped him obtain the Soul Stone, and their leader let him escape to conduct “The Snap”, which wiped out half the universe.

Rosier’s inconsistency and mistakes led to a slide to end the 2017 season. In 2018, his major backslide at the quarterback position let a soft schedule send the Hurricanes to a 7-6 record, culminating in an embarrassing 3-35 loss vs Wisconsin in the Pinstripe Bowl.

As appreciative as the fanbase is for Rosier’s gutsy performances, the failures of a team ultimately falls on two seats, Coach, and quarterback.

The Media

Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

This is a bit of a throw in, and to an extent, many schools seem to feel similarly. I can’t help but feel though, that Miami’s history as an Antihero in College Football created a real and tangible love/hate relationship with the media as a whole. The early dynasty Canes squad played with every bit of showmanship and passion as any in history. Its beginnings as a power were met with disgust, as the old boys society saw the upstart Hurricanes as a black eye on football. They were seen as marring the “aw shucks” aura that was usually sought in champions, and too urban as compared to the traditional teams with more rural locations and personas.

That media angst never seemed to be doused in Miami’s direction, and is felt today. Figures like Paul Finebaum take shots at the Hurricanes for too many reasons that teeter on ignorance. Ranking sites seem to have a thing for lowering the ranks of players that commit to play in Coral Gables. Even Miami's standing as a highly graduated team and a top 3 community service squad gets thrown to the way side for regurgitation of a narrative that was never truly real. The best analogy for the relationship between Miami ans the Media is J. Jonah Jameson and his unwarranted witch hunting of Spider Man. He and the Daily Bugle created a narrative of the hero to sell papers and a lie to keep there product relevant.

The Media by far, is Miami’s oldest and biggest antihero.