I love Langston Hughes. He’s one of the twentieth century’s most influential voices and he could flat-out make me feel things. My favorite poem of his is Harlem. It talks about a ‘dream deferred.’ In essence, dashed dreams that all of a sudden may never come true.

2019 was a trying time for many college football season. The anguish of (many) defeats is too much for even a bowl victory to overcome. From Coral Gables to Seattle, some people with high hopes went home pretty disappointed.

Miami

Manny Diaz has worn out his welcome. I think fans of this football program fail to realize that it will never, ever be what it once was. They don’t have to be okay with that, they just have to acknowledge it. They lost to FIU. That shouldn’t happen regardless of the circumstances.

Things might get better under Diaz, but I think it’s unlikely.

Michigan State

The Mark Dantonio Era looks like it’ll drag out into hell after all. After starting the season ranked, with plenty of expectation, the Spartans faltered time and again. The young freshmen and sophomores that showed so much promise in 2017 were a total flop for the second year in a row.

So where do we go from here? If it wasn’t before, it’s now painfully obvious that this coaching staff requires big changes, perhaps at every level. This program has stagnated and is in danger of bottoming out hard.

The future certainly looks bleak.

Washington

Chris Petersen is done after a 7-5 season in Seattle. Washington was once thought to be a Pac 12 favorite. Over the course of the season, they routinely lost games that they were favored in. Chris Petersen-coached teams don’t do that.

Even with the 7-5 season, Petersen had a really good thing going at UW. I have no idea who they’ll hire or how they’ll go about it. His last game being against Boise State is just brutal.

TCU

Two straight mediocre seasons have to have fans wondering what is going on with Gary Patterson. Make no mistake, he’s the guy that brought TCU from the C-USA all the way to the Big XII. My question is, is he still that guy?

The Frogs were miserable on the offensive side of the ball yet again. If the offense doesn’t regain consistent production, it’ll be a third straight mediocre year in 2020.

Michigan

Are we at the point where 9-3 or 10-2 with a loss to Ohio State is the norm for this program? Ryan Day has only been at Ohio State for one season but this is already reminiscent of the dominance displayed by Urban Meyer and Jim Tressel. Michigan flopped in their three biggest games this year. That’s the thing that’s most unsettling about this program.

People were already wondering if Jim Harbaugh would ever overcome the Ohio State hump. That hump is now a reality and a reminder of what the Michigan football program is in its current state. The only cure for this is a win over the Buckeyes and a trip to Indianapolis.

Texas

Wasn’t this supposed to be the year? Life was good and people were ready to jump on the bandwagon until the Big XII schedule really got underway. That defense was a disaster. They couldn’t score when they needed to. They were a bad football team, straight up.

But I think the future is actually pretty bright here. I was never sold on Texas being anything better than a 9-3 team this year. And it was going to take a lot to get there. I think the next two years will truly decide head coach Tom Herman’s fate. 2019 should be an anomaly. If it isn’t, then we have problems in Austin.