First they put him in a cast, and then they put him in a funk, repeatedly.

The Miami Hurricanes haven't been all that kind to Al Golden through the years, and yet here he is as their new head coach, enthusiastically leading a program that bested him six times out of six as a player and an assistant coach.

The first meeting was in October 1991, when Golden, a Penn State tight end and team captain, lost 26-20 to a Miami team that went on to finish as the undefeated national champion.

The Nittany Lions, burned that day in the Orange Bowl by a 91-yard Kevin Williams punt return and two long Gino Torretta touchdown passes, finished No. 3.

"I can remember it vividly," Golden said last week from his office overlooking the Hurricanes practice fields. "I broke my hand early and ended up basically with a cast the rest of my senior season. I did finish the game, but it was spotty for me."

Three times as a Boston College assistant Golden also lost to the Hurricanes, including a 45-44 double overtime marathon in 1997, and two times more Miami got him as a Virginia assistant.

"These guys around here bring up that 1991 game all the time," said Golden, who has two Miami stars from that season, Micheal Barrow and Hurlie Brown, on his staff. "Matter of fact, Hurlie was in here last night getting on us about Roscoe Parrish's (62-yard) punt return in 2004 against Virginia."

It's a 'Canes thing, as Golden, 41, has come to understand.

He invited as many former Miami players as he could muster to spring practice sessions, and former coach Jimmy Johnson, too, all in hopes of drilling those big-time, big-play memories into the minds of today's Hurricanes.

Truth is, it's not that much of a stretch, this Joe Paterno favorite, this former Temple head coach, dropping in to educate Miami players on what it means to be a Hurricane.

Golden, whose older brother Greg once tried to walk on to one of Howard Schnellenberger's Miami teams, has been chewing on that concept for most of his life.

"We didn't really know what they stood for or how they practiced when I was playing at Penn State," said Golden, "but we had incredible respect for them.

"That swagger and flamboyance kind of took on a personality of its own, but I don't think taking any of that away would have changed what that team was. That was an 'Us vs. Them' mentality, with incredible unity, elite passion, and the best-conditioned team that I ever saw on the field.

"Those are the things we're trying to return to, minus the penalties, of course."

That last part is said with a grin. During Golden's playing days at Penn State, one of Dennis Erickson's Miami teams ran up more than 200 penalty yards in a bowl game with Texas and still won 46-3. The talent gap will never be that ridiculously wide again.

Golden, however, believes his plan can produce a championship program wherever players are willing. This is the same guy who took part in a 51-3 crushing of Temple as Virginia's defensive coordinator and interviewed for the Temple head coaching job the following morning.

In time Golden's drive made a bowl team of the Owls. It got him an interview with UCLA, too, plus serious interest from Tennessee and other BCS schools.

"We watched a number of offers come in for him," said Shaun Golden, Al's brother and the sheriff back home in Monmouth County, N.J. "He likes recruiting up and down the East Coast, though, and he has a fondness for ACC football. That's why this is such an awesome opportunity."

This story should resonate with the many Miami fans who share Northeastern connections.

Golden was in Colt's Neck, N.J., at a 50th-anniversary party for his parents, Al Sr. and Toni, when ESPN broke the news that he had been selected as Miami's coach. Until that moment it had been a closely-guarded family secret.

Once it was out, Golden quickly turned from the buffet line and the dance floor and hustled to Philadelphia to address his former Temple players directly. Next came the hurried flight to Coral Gables to meet his new team. Only now, with spring practice behind him, is there time to talk about the whirlwind that brought him here and the influences that continue to shape his life.

"I never thought one of my sons would be on TV," said Toni, just back from a trip to her hometown of Gorizia, Italy, hard against the Slovenian border.