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Home > Blogs > RedHawk rumblings | Miami University sports news > Archives > 2009 > September > 07 > Entry
Miami coach said he didn’t take time to ‘enjoy the day’
By Pete Conrad
Miami University’s Mike Haywood said it’s difficult for him to savor the moment, any moment, when he’s on a football field. That includes his debut as a head coach last weekend.
Not that there was much to savor after Kentucky started piling up the points in the second quarter at Paul Brown Stadium.
Still, it was Haywood’s first walk onto the field as the head of a Division I college program, his first Miami fight song during a game, his first coaching decisions under fire (his fake punt, for instance, was a big success).
“I must have had 75-100 text messages (before last Saturday’s game) and I answered every one of them,” Haywood said earlier today, Sept. 7. “One said ‘Make sure you enjoy the day’ … I can honestly say I didn’t take time to enjoy that day. It never dawned on me.”
There are were too m any things to do, he said. There always are too many things to do.
“The only thought that came to my mind was, I hope my family really enjoyed this day,” Haywood said. “My mind set was, when they hit us, we have to hit them twice. My other mind set was, how many fakes are we going to have today? Not enough.”
The RedHawks caught the Wildcats off guard in the first quarter when, on fourth-and-1, Ryan Kennedy ran 9 yards for a first down after Miami had lined up in punt formation.
Haywood wishes he would have tried another fake when Trevor Cook lined up for a 34-yard field goal attempt when Miami had the ball fourth-and-2 from the UK 17-yard line. Instead he let Cook kick and the ball sailed wide left.
If Miami runs on fake on that play, Haywood said, “(holder Zac Dysert) walks into the end zone, but we decided not to take (what the RedHawks expected to be) the three points off the board.”
Anyway, those are the kinds of situations that prevent Haywood from smelling the roses.
“That’s one of my problems in life,” he said. “I don’t enjoy the moment. Because I enjoy working. I’m constantly thinking instead of enjoying moments. There is always something next on my mind.”
Like 14th-ranked Boise State. Or that blue field. Or the fact that Boise State is a 35 1/2-point favorite. Or that the last time the Broncos lost on their home field, I think Billy the Kid was still at large.
Regardless, I hope that Haywood can find a calm moment on Saturday to remember, perhaps just after the National Anthem, maybe during warmups, to take a deep breath, take a long look up into the stands and think, “Hey, this is really something.”
Because it is.
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By nick
September 7, 2009 11:10 PM | Link to this
This has all the trappings of being a very, very long season. I just finished watching UC squash Rutgers. If they did that to the Scarlet Knights, what will the Miami/UC game turn into? It will take Coach Haywood a couple of years to even begin to fix the mess Montgomery left Miami football.