CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Miami has nearly two dozen different uniform combinations, a team loaded with Florida-grown talent that loves to dance and cut loose together after practice and arguably its best shot yet to win an ACC Championship, but don't expect the Hurricanes to embrace a "return to the glory days" theme for 2017.
Mark Richt isn't ignoring Miami's storied history, but he stops short of embracing "swag" as it's been portrayed in the two ESPN 30 for 30 specials and numerous features and documentaries over the years.
"That's all some people know," Richt said, referencing the 30 for 30 specials. While Miami's national championships and runs of success deservedly hold their own spot in the chapters of college football history, they've also skewed the perception of what Miami was, is and can be moving forward.
"People think it's a major university. They don't know it's a private school," Richt said on Friday. He stressed that he's not ignoring Miami's history of swag, but he's quick to point out that the swagger followed major college football success, not the other way around.
"I think swag is lining up and whipping the guy in front of you. It's not dancing," he said. "Swagger was invented because they won national championships. Swag is winning and winning big."
One step at a time, though.
"Let's try to win the Coastal," he added. "You gotta start there. Can't win anything else without winning that."
Miami running back Mark Walton dreamed about following in the footsteps of his favorite player, Edgerrin James, before eventually becoming a star at Booker T. Washington High School and committing to the Hurricanes. But when he talks about the chance to win the ACC Coastal and play in the ACC Championship Game for the first time in program history, it's not about repeating the glory days, but instead making history.
Walton and linebacker Shaq Quarterman entertained a lot of questions about "not getting respect" and rejected some of the forced narratives that are being pinned to Miami ahead of a season that is indeed carrying high expectations. There's a calm, confident focus coming from Miami football, with emphasis not on recapturing the past, but accomplishing something that's never been before.
Winning the ACC Coastal won't mean Miami is "back," but if the Hurricanes are lining up and whipping the opposition on Saturdays, then winning big, and swagger, is likely to follow.
