Miami great Joaquin Gonzalez cheering for Columbus QB son Friday, then UM on Saturday
While University of Miami heads to Syracuse on Friday to try to clinch a spot in the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship Game, 2001 UM national champion Joaquin Gonzalez will be in the stands at Tropical Park to watch his son Vinny — the starting quarterback for two-time defending state champ Miami Columbus High — try to clinch a spot in the state semifinal.
Columbus (8-3) faces Davie Western (6-6) at 2 p.m., and the older Gonzalez’s hearty presence will surely make itself known.
Then, they will watch the No. 6 Hurricanes (11-1, 6-1 ACC) together at 3:30 p.m Saturday (ESPN) in the regular-season finale.
“My dad is very out there,’’ Vinny, 18, whose formal name is Vicente, said this week. “Sometimes it’s to his own detriment. Sometimes it works. But there’s always guaranteed entertainment.’’
No doubt Vinny adores his dad, a warm, gregarious, outspoken Columbus alum and popular offensive lineman at UM from his redshirt year in 1997 through 2001, when he started at right tackle for a team regarded by many as the greatest ever assembled. Joaquin, 45, was drafted by Cleveland in 2002 and spent four years in the NFL. He still lives in Miami and is the president of Tire Group International, a major tire wholesaler.
Joaquin played at 6-5 and 292 pounds in college. Vinny is 6-2 and 187 pounds. Both are brainiacs. Dad won the national Draddy Trophy, now known as the William V. Campbell Trophy or “Academic Heisman.’’ Vinny, whose top four colleges on his wish list (not in any specific order) are UM, Duke, North Carolina and SMU, has earned straight A’s all four years at Columbus. He scored a 1510 of 1600 in his SATs and got a 32 out of 36 in the ACTs. He is in the top 1 percent of his senior class of about 450 students.
Vinny would likely walk on to any of those football programs – like Joaquin did his first year at UM.
“He’s on a heater right now in football,’’ said Joaquin of his son, who has started seven games this season, for the most part sharing the signal-calling duties with fellow senior quarterback Jason Barket Jr. But Vinny has been tearing it up the last few games, including a 13-of-15 (for 118 yards), two-touchdown performance in last week’s 28-7 regional semifinal victory against Homestead South Dade. “I don’t even talk to him about football. I’m just enjoying the ride.”
Joaquin said he told Vinny constantly when he was growing up that “just because I played football doesn’t mean you have to.’’
“That phrase resonated in my house, but I’d be a fool if I told you that football wasn’t going to happen. He wants to play football in college, but he’ll decide where he wants to play based on academics.’’
The younger Gonzalez’s numbers this season: 55 of 80 (68 percent) for 616 yards and 10 touchdowns, with one interception.
Barket’s numbers: 54 of 82 (66 percent) for 492 yards and nine touchdowns, with three interceptions.
“We have two good quarterbacks who are team guys — and both really embraced the situation,’’ said Columbus coach Dave Dunn, who recruited Joaquin when Dunn was the defensive line coach at Harvard, where Gonzalez almost went. “Jason Barket’s strength is his running ability. Vinny is a very good pocket passer and knows the offense really well. He’s more laid-back than his father. He does not get rattled.”
Joaquin played for UM several years before Vinny was born, but the younger Gonzalez still savors his memories going to Canes games, meeting fans who love his dad and even accompanying his father onto the field before kickoff a few years ago when Joaquin was named an honorary captain. “That was the first time I really thought about playing football in the future,’’ Vinny said.
He laughs when he recalls all the fans who have mimicked UM safety great Ed Reed screaming about his father in Reed’s now-viral halftime locker room tirade to his Canes teammates in the 2001 game against Florida State. The Seminoles led 21-13 before UM charged back to win 49-27.
“I’m hurt, dawg!” Reed screamed. “Don’t ask me if I’m alright. Hell no! Joaquin said ‘dominate’ and we not doing it! I’m putting my heart in this [expletive], dawg! Let’s go, man!”
“I had no clue what that meant until about eighth grade,’’ Vinny said. “There would always be other UM alumni at games and I would fanboy out. Obviously as a young kid, he’s your dad and you see him as a superhero. But it took me awhile to realize other people saw him that way, too.’’
Vinny is not the only Gonzalez child with good brains and plenty of athletic ability. His sister, Sophia, a junior outside hitter for Miami Lourdes Academy, helped lead the school to the Class 5A state title game in volleyball, which Lourdes lost earlier this month. She has already committed to play for Bryant University on an athletic scholarship.
As for UM’s future, Joaquin, a close friend of Canes coach Mario Cristobal and offensive line coach Alex Mirabal — both Columbus grads — believes chances of the Canes winning Saturday and advancing to the ACC title game and ultimately the College Football Playoff are realistic.
“There’s nothing outside of their control that would prevent them from getting there,’’ Joaquin said. “It’s obvious the program is taking steps in the right direction. It all comes down to the people inside that building.’’