Justin Dottavio

Raleigh

Owner, Cheat Code Athletic Performance and Assistant Site Editor at State of the U

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Articles

The Business of Winning College Football Games

1 week ago | stateoftheu.com | Justin Dottavio

Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Allsport/Getty Images College athletics are a business and that’s never been more evident than in the current state of the FBS. GM’s, NIL deals, million dollar assistant coaches... college football is a business. In the world of startup businesses, many entrepreneurs use the Lean Canvas Business Model. The LCBM has nine segments but we’re going to combine a few and eliminate some more to get down to a five-segment Lean ‘Canes Business Model.
The Canyonero Keys to Victory for every Miami Hurricanes game in 2025

2 weeks ago | stateoftheu.com | Justin Dottavio

Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images The 2024 Canyonero Keys to Victory turned out to be nearly as prophetic as if I had Biff Tannen’s Gray’s Sports Almanac in my hands while writing the post. In the post I predicted a 10-2 regular season record, called the Cal trip a trap game, said Miami would have to out bully ball Georgia Tech, out gun Syracuse, and had too much talent for FSU and Louisville.
Which teams in the ACC were lucky, good or both in 2024?

3 weeks ago | stateoftheu.com | Justin Dottavio

Photo by Samuel Lewis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images The Clemson Tigers won the 2024 ACC Championship Game over the SMU Mustangs 34-31 in Charlotte, NC this past December. The Tigers required Miami’s self-implosion in order to backdoor into the ACCCG where they edged SMU on a late game 56-yard field goal. After their big win over the ‘Stangs, the Tigers immediately dropped their playoff game to the Texas Longhorns by a double-digit margin.
The ACC 2025 Preseason Hype Train

1 month ago | stateoftheu.com | Justin Dottavio

Photo by Peyton Williams/Getty Images The ACC hasn’t had a ton of hype behind it since Trevor Lawrence headed to the Jacksonville Jaguars of the NFL. Even with a Heisman Trophy candidate in Cam Ward, the league faced being third fiddle to the SEC and Big Ten while battling with the Big 12 for middle brother status. It’s my mission to get the ACC hype machine going, even if on a small stage.
2025 The State of the ACC: NFL Draft Recap

1 month ago | stateoftheu.com | Justin Dottavio

Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images The first overall pick of the 2025 NFL Draft wasn’t just an ACC player, it was a Miami Hurricane. ‘Canes Quarterback Cam Ward went 1st overall to the Tennessee Titans just as the movie script foretold when he was a zero-star prospect coming out of high school. 2025 NFL Draft: Miami Hurricanes QB Cam Ward Ward was selected 1st Overall by Tennessee Titans After Ward, the only other ACC pick in the first round went to RB Omarion Hampton out of UNC.
QB Cam Ward and the Tennessee Titans Offense

1 month ago | stateoftheu.com | Justin Dottavio

Photo by David Rosenblum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images The Miami Hurricanes are back in the no.1 overall picture with QB Cam Ward going 1st to the Tennessee Titans in the 2025 NFL Draft. The ‘Canes hadn’t seen a player drafted 1st overall since Russell Maryland went to the Dallas Cowboys in the 1991 NFL Draft. Maryland and the Boys won three Super Bowls together in the 90’s. Prior to ‘91, Miami QB Vinny Testaverde went first in the 1987 NFL Draft to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
2025 The State of the ACC: Talent Deployment

1 month ago | stateoftheu.com | Justin Dottavio

This is a three-part series of posts on The State of the ACC in 2025In part one of the series, I brought up the football question: is it the Jimmy’s and Joe’s or X’s and O’s? We looked at 247 composite team recruiting rankings and the Blue Chip Ratio. In part two of the series, we covered the NFL Draft and the development of prospects in the ACC compared to the top programs in CFB based on their Blue Chip Ratio numbers from Bud Elliott. Now we’ll breakdown the product on the field on Saturdays.
2025 The State of the ACC: Talent Development

1 month ago | stateoftheu.com | Justin Dottavio

Photo by Michael Pimentel/ISI Photos/Getty Images This is a three-part series of posts on The State of the ACC in 2025In part one of the series, I brought up the football question: is it the Jimmy’s and Joe’s or X’s and O’s? At the high school level, having enough Jimmy’s is good enough to win a state championship, development be damned. At the college level, however, players have to be developed both on the practice field and in the weight room.
2025 The State of the ACC: Talent Acquisition

1 month ago | stateoftheu.com | Justin Dottavio

Photo by Michael Pimentel/ISI Photos/Getty Images This is a three-part series of posts on The State of the ACC in 2025The age old question: is it Jimmy’s and Joe’s or X’s and O’s? Of course there’s a baseline amount of talent that teams need to have in order to compete for ~15 games at the highest level of college football. The most talented teams usually survive and advance because of the depth of their roster.
A round-up of Cam Ward NFL draft analysis

2 months ago | stateoftheu.com | Justin Dottavio

Photo by David Rosenblum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images The Miami Hurricanes might have produced the first player selected in the 2025 NFL Draft. Quarterback Cam Ward has been working out for the Tennessee Titans (holders of the 1st overall slot), Cleveland Browns and New York Giants. Ward, who came in 4th in the Heisman Trophy balloting in ‘24, is the clear top QB prospect in the draft.