On a typical summer weekend, the Gonzalez home in Key Largo, Fla., becomes an innocent flop house. By day, Joaquin Gonzalez and whatever Miami teammates drop by venture out for a bit of lobster fishing. By night, the fellas might toddle out to a local tiki bar where ...

"A whole bunch of crazy beautiful-looking women are taking off their tops," said Gonzalez, the Hurricanes' senior right tackle. "We have a lot of fun."

Larry Coker (left) hopes to continue the success Howard Schnellenberger started at Miami nearly 20 years ago. (AP)

Back off, Mr. and Mrs. Prude. The social life of Miami's offensive line might not resemble a prayer meeting. But add Joaquin's mother, and the scene becomes more buffet than Buffet.

Whether by day or by night, Maria Gonzalez is riding herd over her boys-will-be-boys with helping after helping of vaca frita.

"It's a Cuban dish," said Joaquin, whose parents are Cuban natives. "It literally means 'fried cow.' It's very, very good. The meat is kind of like flank steak. My mom doesn't love to cook as much as she loves to feed people, to cook a huge feast and not have a grain of rice left. My house, it's a big house. I have people sleeping on the floor here every single weekend."

And in the end, what is wrong with that? These are ordinary boys having fun, especially when some of those huge bodies on the floor make up the best offensive line in the country. That's not the Hurricanes talking -- it's the preseason magazines, the experts, the coaches who see the foundation for a national championship.

"All the years I've been coaching, to have a pretty good line from the last year coming back, that's what you live for," said Miami's crusty line coach, Art Kehoe. "I was at the Dolphins the other day watching them practice. Our line isn't that far off, talent-wise or size-wise."

Four of the five have already been picked as preseason All-Big East. Two are legitimate preseason All-Americans. Don't let the linemen themselves hear that. It will go to their heads -- or more specifically to the devious minds of these trench brothers who would be just as likely to pull a prank as pull on a sweep.

In the past, Gonzalez has gotten a laugh out of switching the jerseys of senior guard Martin Bibla (No. 65) and junior center Brett Romberg (No. 66). The victims didn't notice until they got to the practice field. In retaliation, Gonzalez soon found baby powder placed in certain sensitive areas of his equipment.

The hits -- to the ego -- just keep on coming.

There's All-American senior left tackle Bryant McKinnie who, Romberg says, "didn't know his plays," at the beginning of last season. Romberg didn't stop there. Junior guard Sherko Haji-Rasouli is "hairier than any bear you'd find in the North."

"The ball-busting that goes on is relentless," said Kehoe, now in his 18th year on the Miami staff. "I look forward to the meetings. We call Romberg, 'Rombozo the Clown.' I have to sometimes say, 'Hey, the bull---- stops or I'll put you in a clown hat and sit you outside.'

"But I love them."

What's not to love?

They lovingly protect a Heisman Trophy candidate, quarterback Ken Dorsey. Collectively last season, they allowed only three sacks and helped Miami score a school-record 469 points. That after being considered somewhat of a weak point before the first game.

This is a rock-solid group at a place where you would first think of receivers, art deco and stone crabs -- in that order -- before offensive linemen.

"You would think a kid would want to come to Miami," Kehoe said. "When it came to really good offensive linemen, we always got beat. In-state, we get beat by Florida and Florida State. Out of state, we get beat by Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Notre Dame and Syracuse sometimes. That was a reputation. Miami's got all these skill athletes because they're down there in Dade, Broward and Palm Beach (counties). We kind of had to make our offensive line."

Perhaps the best compliment for this line is that it could be equally at home in the weather-ravaged Big Ten or Big 12, or any other league known for intimidating brawn. That's bad news for college football.

They're back, and they're miffed after the Bowl Championship Series debacle of last season.

Mostly, they are five Joe Colleges taking a big bite out of South Florida. Let them have their fun. They'd paid their dues so much they should be earning interest by now.

• McKinnie, a 6-foot-9, 330-pounder, came from Lackawanna (Penn.) Junior College, sat out 1999 and progressed so quickly in 2000 -- after starting only 12 Division I-A games -- that he could have left after his junior season as a top-10 NFL draft pick. He returned for 2001 because mom wanted him to get a degree. "She was going to kick his ass if he left," Kehoe said. "I kind of laughed. You know, Mom, he was about to make more money where he could buy a couple of schools."
• Bibla's parents came from Poland (mother) and Russia (father). When the family moved to Pennsylvania, 11-year-old Martin bought a Miami jacket to combat the cold, not even noticing the Sebastian the Ibis logo. After originally committing to Pittsburgh, Bibla (6-4, 290) eventually couldn't get Sebastian out of his mind. "It's weird, my mom credits buying that jacket with me coming here," Bibla said. "When Miami called, my mom said it was fate. She is very superstitious. She was like, 'You gotta go there. You gotta go there.'"
• Romberg (6-3, 290) brought his lounge act from Windsor, Ontario. It wasn't until last year that he played center full time. That's like throwing a high school algebra student behind the computer console controlling the Hubble Telescope. "I'm calling out defenses, watching the safety, remembering the snap count. I find it a challenge, definitely," said Romberg, who was more forthright in a moment of weakness. "I just wanted the weather and the women. I always thought I belonged on a beach somewhere. I definitely didn't want to shovel a driveway in January."
• Gonzalez (6-5, 290) is not the wild man he appears to be. He was an All-American on some lists last season. He could have accepted an academic scholarship at half of the Ivy League schools coming out of high school with a 4.0 GPA. Instead, the only South Florida native in the bunch walked on at Miami, started every game (35) he has played in and graduated in December. "I'm a Miami kid," Gonzalez said. "I was raised here. I bleed green and orange." Gonzo expects to complete his master's program this December, "when we're ready to go to Pasadena."
• Haji-Rasouli (6-6, 326) moved from Argentina to Canada as a child. He was a three-year letterman as a rugby player in Toronto when he approached Kehoe at a Canadian football camp. "He was 16 years old," Kehoe said. "He shows up at this camp, 6-6, 300 pounds, a big, hairy Iranian. I find him at this camp, he's smoking Canadian cigarettes and telling me rugby stories. He says, 'Coach, tell me about Miami.' I said, 'You're a guy who gets coaches fired. You're a big, pretty-looking thing, but your effort level stinks and your consistency is awful. I ain't going to take you.' He looked at me like he was in shock." Haji-Rasouli showed up a year later at the same camp with his body and attitude adjusted. As a freshman in 1999, he backed up fellow Canadian Richard Mercier before playing in six games last season.

Put these guys in a room as strangers, and a fight might break out. But these guys click like magic.

"One thing about Miami, it's a melting pot city," Kehoe said. "One thing I notice at those camps up in Canada, there's not that segregation and racism toward blacks that there are in the States. They just hang out with each other, room together. These Canadians are used to the melting pot city that Miami is."

"We all hang out a lot," Gonzalez said of his linemates. "We're not away from each other for more than 24 hours."

Put it together -- summer conditioning, season, winter conditioning, spring practice -- and the line has no choice but to get along. And continue the constant hazing.

Haji-Rasouli knows backup tackle Joe Fantigrassi hates to have his bed messed up during camp. Naturally, Haji-Rasouli rushed home from practice each day this month and rumples Fantigrassi's bed.

There is Romberg, who will pull out his guitar and start blasting some AC/DC riffs in this cultural malaise.

It could have all unraveled so easily.

• Defensive coordinator Greg Schiano left for Rutgers.
• McKinnie kept the team and fans on pins and needles before deciding to return for his senior season.
• The team was then stunned that coach Butch Davis left for the Cleveland Browns less than a week before signing day.

Amazingly, the remaining coaching staff was able to hold the recruiting staff together. Nerves were calmed when offensive coordinator Larry Coker was named coach.

For Miami that means more of the same when it comes to kicking tail. Fourteen starters return from the 11-1 team that was screwed out of the Orange Bowl by the vagaries of the BCS.

"(Safety) Ed Reed and myself called this players meeting after Butch left," Gonzalez said. "We said, 'Look man, (at) how many players we've got coming back.' We're stacked all around. We're one of the best teams in the nation. I truly believe that based on experience and talent alone."

Success will largely be up to the offensive line where a football stereotype is holding up. Those positions are considered in football circles to be the smartest on the field. The offensive line became so familiar with each other last season that they would stay after practice, draw up plays and suggest them to the coaching staff.

"We stayed hours and hours after the time that was allotted on our own," Romberg said. "We ordered some food. We stayed night after night. Coach Coker was the one wondering if we were taking drugs."

Now McKinnie knows his plays. Bibla doesn't need his Miami jacket in the South Florida sun. Romberg will have to stow the guitar. Haji-Rasouli must prove he can become a full-time starter. Gonzalez and his buddies have eaten all the lobsters -- 24 of them -- left over from the last great weekend sleepover at his house.

The ordinary boys had to have fun one last time. Full squad camp starts Friday.