The Miami turnover chain is no more. Let’s look back at its history.
RIP to the Miami turnover chain, which is a huge bummer.
Since 2017, Hurricanes teams have had a chain with a giant, bejeweled pendent on them, and it’s given to a player who forced a turnover in a game, before it’s passed on to the next defender who does the same.
In 2017, it was a “U” logo. In 2018? Sebastian the Ibis made an appearance. The year 2019 brought us a “305,” the Miami area code, of course. The 2020 season saw an outline of the state of Florida, and 2021’s chain was a Miami helmet.
But this year? It’s gone. So let’s look back through the years at the chain we’ll miss in 2022. See below this tweet:
Miami dumping Turnover Chain: UM coach Mario Cristobal said the 'Canes are getting rid of the Turnover Chain "It's not part of our culture," Cristobal told me. UM has had the Turnover Chain since 2017
Miami just killed the turnover chain. Will Manny Diaz bring it to Penn State?
The Miami Hurricanes are ushering in a brand new era of football under new head coach Mario Cristobal, formerly of Oregon. And Cristobal just did away with one of the best things former head coach, and current Penn State defensive coordinator, Manny Diaz ever brought to Miami, a trend that swept the college football nation. Say good-bye to the days of the turnover chain in Miami.
The turnover chain, of course, was introduced to Miami by Diaz and it quickly became a gimmick that fired up the Hurricanes defense, and Diaz would eventually go on to be asked about the turnover chain every season as the tradition continued for the Hurricanes. Diaz introduced the idea of the turnover chain while on the Miami staff as a defensive coordinator for former head coach Mark Richt. Diaz acknowledged other teams had turnover gimmicks before the turnover chain existed, but Miami perfected the sideline celebration.
Whether it was a coincidence or not, the turnover chain gained recognition in its first season not just because it was flash and ridiculous, but because we saw it so often. In the first year of Miamis turnover chain, Diaz’s Hurricane defense forced 31 turnovers in a 10-3 season. Miami had forced 19 turnovers the previous season, prior to the debut of the turnover chain.
Miami made the sideline turnover gimmick a trend ever shool would eventually find a way to emulate. And Penn State was no exception. The running backs embraced the Lawn Boys Chain after scoring a rushing touchdown…
Presenting an object you never knew you needed until right now: The Lawn Boyz chain. 💎❄️ pic.twitter.com/y2w07f1fEb
We’ll see if Diaz decides to embrace ant fun turnover gimmicks with the Nittany Lions as he gets settled in as defensive coordinator of the Nittany Lions this season.
As for Mirabal, the Miami assistant who said the turnover chain is dead so Miami can focus on winning football games? Let’s not pretend that Oregon didn’t embrace a similar gimmick.
Oregon’s turnover chain is the least flashy thing the program has done in years, just a literal chain with a logo pic.twitter.com/ojoelqsQn1
In the history of celebratory props being used in college football, perhaps none have ever been as fitting as what Ole Miss debuted on Saturday.
If you’ve followed college football since 2017 when Miami debuted the “Turnover Chain” you’ve seen a variety of different celebratory props.
And if you’ve followed college football at all since ever, you’re aware of the different scandals that have rocked the sport when it comes to paying players under the table or with the old “bag man” that would make his way to get players cash in order to get them to make a commitment to their respective programs.
One of the programs that has had multiple issues with players getting paid and sanctions being handed down has been Ole Miss.
On Saturday, during their first game under new head coach Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss debuted their own celebratory prop that couldn’t be more perfect.
This time, Miami’s turnover chain is the entire state of Florida.
The famous turnover chain tradition is back, and, once again, the Miami Hurricanes have a new one for their in-game celebrations. And they showed off for the first time this season Saturday during their game against Louisville.
Without a turnover in the No. 17 Hurricanes’ season-opener last weekend against UAB, the chain didn’t make an appearance. But that wasn’t an issue against the No. 18 Cardinals. The turnover chain first came out late in the second quarter when Al Blades Jr. picked off Louisville quarterback Malik Cunningham, and the Hurricanes were ready to celebrate.
The new chain features the whole state of Florida with Miami’s signature green and orange “U” across it. It’s ridiculous, but also perfectly Miami.
This is the fourth turnover chain for the Hurricanes — a defensive celebration that began in 2017. The first one was a simple green and orange “U” with a gold chain, and the second one featured a jeweled Sebastian the Ibis, the team’s mascot, but no “U” logo. Last season, the “U” was small with a giant “305” beneath it, representing Miami’s area code.
And this year, the Hurricanes are looking at the entire state. More about the 2020 turnover chain, via The Sun Sentinel:
Attached to the 32-inch, 10-karat gold Cuban-link chain is a charm of the whole state of Florida in white with the South Florida tri-county area of Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties standing out in orange and green.
Of course, it also needs Miami’s ‘U’ logo on it, so it’s positioned over the northern part of the state with the intention, according to jeweler AJ Machado, of covering up the cities where the Hurricanes’ two biggest in-state rivals are located — Tallahassee, home to Florida State, with the orange left half of the U and Gainesville (UF) with the green right half.
Machado has designed each of Miami’s turnover chains, and he said there are 4,000 sapphire stones total with 1,400 of them in the “U” alone, The Sun Sentinel reported. The chain weighs two kilograms, while the state of Florida charm is 300 grams.
Check out Draft Wire’s exclusive interview with Hall of Fame safety Ed Reed
Ed Reed is with us today on The Draft Wire on behalf of Snickers to announce the “SNICKERS Hungriest Player” program is returning for the 2020/2021 NFL season. The honor will be awarded to one player each week who has shown hunger for more with big plays and moments on the field.
Snickers once again worked with iconic jeweler Ben Baller to design this year’s Snickers Chain, which is just as impressive as last year.
JM: As a Miami guy, I have to ask you, are you more impressed with this Snickers Chain, or The Turnover Chain?
ER: Come on man, how are you gonna put me on the spot like that? We started The Turnover Chain right here in Miami. Snickers came to the table with an incredible concept. I have to credit Snickers for bringing a great idea to the NFL level. It goes hand-in-hand. You can’t top the NFL, but you can’t top where it started either. It’s 50-50 at the end of the day.
JM: The safety position, which you played at the highest level imaginable, has changed a lot over the years. What are your thoughts on what safeties are being asked to do nowadays?
ER: I don’t know who’s coaching these safeties nowadays. I don’t know what they’re doing from a work standpoint. The scheme matters. One of the most important things for a safety is how his coach decides to utilize him. The scheme matters.
There’s a lot of great safeties in the NFL right now. The position is really evolving. NFL offenses throw the ball a lot more today than they did when I played, especially throughout the early part of my career.
JM: We’re seeing a lot of 2021 NFL Draft prospects opt out of the college football season due to the uncertainty created by COVID-19. We saw quite a few NFL players opt out, as well. What are your thoughts on that, and do you have any advice for the prospects who are going through this?
ER: It’s a tough time for everybody. There’s no doubt about that. I hate that we’re all in this position right now. You have to factor in a couple of things when making the decision to opt out. I’m thinking about it from a player’s perspective. What situation is your family in at this present time? You have to think about the people you surround yourself with.
Me personally, I would be playing this season. I wouldn’t have opted out. That’s just me. I would have done so while making arrangements for my family to make sure they’re protected. I wouldn’t surround myself with people that are being irresponsible or selfish. Unfortunately, you tend to get that in football. You tend to get a few undisciplined players in your locker room. That’s going to impact this season as we go forward.
I’m sure you’ll probably see a few players test positive for COVID-19. Those guys can’t be around the team at that point. I’m praying that it doesn’t happen to anybody. It’s a tough situation to be in. You have to make sure that you’re being smart. You have to do what’s best for you and yours. That comes first and foremost.
Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
JM: Do you remember your “Welcome to the NFL” moment?
ER: Yeah, I got booed in Baltimore (laughs). They booed me for wearing a Jim Brown jersey.
JM: Wow, when did that happen?
ER: It happened during my rookie year (laughs). I had just gotten drafted by Baltimore. We had a little meet and greet event for the rookies. I walked on stage and everybody starts immediately looking at me. I think they were trying to figure out who I was. Everybody was just starring at me. Nobody was even saying anything at this point.
They weren’t even looking at me, personally. They were looking right at the jersey (laughs). I eventually figured that out when they introduced me and brought me up on stage.
“Here’s our rookie, Ed Reed.” I walk on stage and they’re booing me! “BOOO! Take it off!” (laughs). I’m thinking, “Man, it’s Jim Brown!” (laughs). It’s not even a Cleveland jersey, it’s a Jim Brown jersey before it’s a Cleveland jersey.
JM: That’s an amazing story. I bet you quickly learned how passionate the fans were in Baltimore.
ER: I really did. I took off the jersey and the crowd went bananas (laughs). That was my “Welcome to the NFL” moment, welcome to Baltimore. The fans are crazy here (laughs).
Andy Lyons / Allsport
JM: I often come across the debate regarding which college football team fielded the greatest secondary in history. I know your answer to this question is the 2001 secondary you played for in Miami, and I agree with that. Why is that 2001 Miami secondary the greatest of all time?
ER: I love that you didn’t even have to ask (laughs). For one, look at the draft picks. Look at what we did, look at how we won. We had Phillip Buchanon back there. We had guys like Mike Rumph and Markese Fitzgerald. We had so many guys that had an opportunity to play in the league, and some guys that didn’t.
Sean Taylor was a backup for us. That’s a Hall of Fame safety right there. We were so deep. Obviously, yours truly was on that team, as well (laughs). We didn’t take any crap from nobody. We went undefeated, 12-0.
What else can I say? We could have matched up against anybody at any given time. Put us up against any other secondary in the history of college football and I guarantee you that we come out on top.
With that said, I’m not going to disrespect the NFL by saying we could go toe-to-toe with an NFL team. You can’t put us up against an NFL team. I played in the NFL and I would never disrespect any NFL team like that.
Fans can follow #SNICKERSchain on social media for the chance to win rewards and weigh in on which player deserves the chain each week.
