For years, the goal — the initial goal — was simple.
It became, for all of the Hurricanes, a mantra of sorts.
Win the Coastal. Win the Coastal. Win the Coastal.
Every expectation when Miami joined the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2004 was that the Hurricanes would waste little time in becoming a conference power. Division titles and championship game appearances would be the norm and their annual matchup with rival Florida State — already an ACC team — would be a showcase game year after year.
That didn’t happen as Miami shuffled through nearly a decade of mediocrity, a stretch during which somehow finding a way to win the division title became one of the biggest goals on the Hurricanes’ agenda.