Jim Larranaga goes in-depth on importance of FatHeads, Miami student section

The Miami basketball team is off to a 10-1 start to the season and entered the new AP Top 25 poll on Monday, appearing at No. 25. Coach Jim Larranaga credited the Miami student section with much of the success, raving about the impact that group has had on the Hurricanes already this season.

Miami’s latest? An 80-73 win over NC State to move to 2-0 in ACC play early on.

“The crowd was great. Hey, anybody notice the FatHeads?” Larranaga asked a room full of reporters after the game. “Did you notice the FatHeads? That’s what we need. We need the students to be involved and feel like they’re connected to the players, and the FatHeads are the things that connect them.”

It’s been a challenging task to get Miami fans and students to games over the years, one that Larranaga appears to be solving.

He’s taken a relatively simple approach, creating a positive feedback loop with the students and supplementing it with high-quality basketball and a renewed level of financial commitment from the administration.

But it’s the loop that’s important. Without the grassroots level energy from the crowd, Miami might have packed it in against NC State.

“You can’t do it without that. There’s a time in the game, because players play so hard, that you’re very drained,” Larranaga explained. “And it’s very hard to generate it yourself. You need some inspirational coach to say some incredible words that make you rise. Today I said nothing. But the crowd said everything. Because they are cheering wildly for you. And that’s what the players know. They know they’re here to cheer us on to victory. And they did.”

Miami student section creating energy for ‘Canes

Aptly named, Hurricanes are systems that build on their own power. The tighter the system, the lower the pressure, the more powerful the storm.

Miami’s student section is part of that. So, too, is ‘Category 5,’ a spirit programming board focused on preserving and implementing traditions related to sports and spirit at the University of Miami.

“That’s what you call creating energy. It gets the students connected,” Larranaga said. “We are, as a basketball program, very inclusive. We met with Category 5 before the season, invited them to practice, and had chicken wings and pizza afterwards for them so that they realize and they know we value their presence at the game and their support for what we do. We want (them) to know we’re going to support your efforts, because that’s what school spirit is.”

Whatever the case, it sure seems to be working. Miami is riding a six-game winning streak as the real meat of the ACC slate continues to creep closer.

A looming date with No. 2 Virginia on Dec. 20 will be a big test.

Larranaga is already doing his part to pump more energy into the feedback loop ahead of that one.

“I’m certainly not an expert on how and why students choose to come to games,” he said. “I will say this, that Category 5 has done an incredible job. Our pep band, the pep band is bigger, and playing. Our cheerleaders and dance team have been really into it. Now, was the Elite Eight run and cheerleaders and dance team going to the Elite Eight and how much fun they had and then them passing the words to the other students, ‘Man, you really need to follow the men’s basketball team, it’s great.’

“Category 5 for sure is doing it with the fraternities, the sororities, the student body. And our administration. We’ve had great support from our administration. We’ve increased a number of things that have been very helpful. I don’t know if I’m allowed to talk about them, but the financial support has been there, and it makes you feel good.”

Larranaga speaks to Miami’s financial commitment

It’s a chicken or the egg sort of discussion in college athletics… does success breed financial investment or does financial investment breed success?

There may not be a right answer, but Larranaga is at least grateful for the commitment Miami has made financially of late.

He provided one concrete example of the kind of difference it can make for players when it comes to motivation.

“Someone says, ‘Hey, we’re going to take a small charter plane that has 30 seats and everybody’s going to sit in a coach class seat and your knees are going to be up at your chest, but it’s good, it’s a charter,'” Larranaga said. “Or compared to 140-passenger plane with first-class seating and everybody’s got their own row and you get off the plane, you feel big-time. ‘Boy, that was first class.’

“And when you have that kind of financial support that sends the message to the team, to our players, to our coaches, like, ‘Hey, this is important to the university…’ That’s what’s happening. There’s a lot of support for us.”

Miami student section helping make lasting memories

Larranaga might be a basketball coach, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t also an educator. He just does his teaching in a different medium.

On the hardwood.

“I said it one time, and somebody got mad at me for saying it, I said, ‘The things you remember most — and educating’s the most important thing when you go to college — but the thing you remember most, a lot of times is not in the classroom,” he said. “It’s some event, it’s some happening. It’s something you did with your friends.

“In the classroom you’re there to study and get an education. And OK, you can say it’s fun to learn. I love learning. But for most kids, they can’t wait to get to the beach or go to a sporting event or watch a game on TV. Every once in a while they might have a beer. So that kind of spirit is really what every college athletic team wants. You want your fans to come out and cheer you on. It makes you feel like what you’re doing is worthwhile. And our students and our fanbase have been great.”

Miami’s got it clicking. And there will undoubtedly be some bumps in the road.

But Larranaga doesn’t want the fans — or his team — to forget what it’s all about. That support means everything.

“And I think it’ll grow. I expect it to grow,” he said. “We have some big games coming up. We’ve got Virginia, who’s the No. 3 ranked team in the country coming in here in 10, no, a week, no 10 days. A week from Tuesday. So on the 20th of December, hopefully the word will get out: ‘We need to support the Hurricanes basketball team.'”