THE MIAMI SALES PITCH

Thanks to a legion of NFL stars, Miami has developed the reputation as "NFL U" in most circles. It's a widely accepted fact that the school has produced the best collection of running backs, tight ends, linebackers and safeties in the last generation.

And the program didn't mind using that in its recruiting pitch, but in recent years that approach has backfired. A few weeks ago, I chatted with UM safety Randy Phillips, one of the leaders of the team, and he mentioned that so many players there -- too many players -- had an attitude that college was just about getting ready for The League.

"In the past we had a lot of guys who were just trying to be 'three-and-out,'" Phillips said. "We've had to get that [attitude] away from the program. I mean, you gotta get your degree. You gotta be coachable. You gotta be a man. We just wanna win. It was great when people were using [the NFL hook] for recruiting, but when you get here, you just can't have that mindframe."



(espn.com)