Beason bails & other news…

Jon Beason is foregoing his senior season at The U and is headed to the NFL. allCanesBlog.com wishes him the best in his future endeavors.

I’m mildly shocked by this one based on what I’ve recently read and heard Beason say about testing the waters and not leaving unless he was going to be a first rounder.

The Beast had a solid career at Miami, but in no way has he played himself into the first round. At best, he and Greg Olsen are second rounders and will need to wow ’em at the combine.

Sadly, this is the new culture at The U. Come to Coral Gables, put in 2-3 years and head to the NFL when you’re ready. It’s common knowledge that NFL franchises love Hurricanes, based on recent success. Entering this year, Miami has put 22-first rounders into the League since 2000 and once Randy Shannon rights the ship, that trend will be the norm again.

I just hope somewhere along the way Shannon lands more kids like Santana Moss, Reggie Wayne, Dan Morgan, Ed Reed, etc. Guys that came to The U to win a title, get a degree and head to that next level after their senior seasons.

I understand bailing a program if you’re a guaranteed first rounder. That money is too good to pass up. But guys like Devin Hester and Roscoe Parrish in the past and now Beason and Olsen? That’s not right.

Shannon needs to change the culture quickly. I am all for Miami’s moniker NFL U… as long as it means kids are putting in their time at The U – not just using it as a springboard to get to that next level.

All that said, I am excited to finally see Colin McCarthy take the field now that Beason is gone. McCarthy has been a special teams beast and looks like he has great instincts and will be solid when he’s finally playing full time.

OTHER NEWS AND NOTES:

>>> Dirk Koetter has met with Jacksonville coach Jack Del Rio regarding the openings on his staff, specifically offensive coordinator. The Jags are also looking for a quarterbacks coach, wide receivers coach and special teams assistant. As of now, it’s just talk but things could be a done deal by the next time I log on, so who knows?

I’m hearing a lot of Miami fans griping over this, but there was nothing more The U could do. Koetter is a smart guy. He saw the state of the NFL this season and knew there were going to be a ton of opportunities.

I don’t care how great us fans think our program is, NFL money is not something we can compete with. Hell, Miami struggles to compete with a slew of NCAA programs on that level.

Nothing is 100% official as of now, but all signs are pointing to Koetter being named the Jaguars’ new offensive coordinator. Curious to see who Shannon has #2 on his master list. Kevin Rogers name has been thrown around a lot, but my sources last told me that his scheme doesn’t fit in with the direction Shannon wants for the Canes. Let’s see if that remains the case if Koetter is out of the mix.

>>> Miami fans need a little perspective regarding all that is going on regarding this coaching search. It could be infinitely worse. Look at the state of things right now:

– Bobby Petrino bails Louisville like a thief in the night, taking that big money and a shot at working with Michael Vick and the Atlanta Falcons. Days removed from their first BCS game and win, Petrino is headed to the NFL a month before signing day.

I’m curious to see what Louisville AD Tom Jurich does next. Jurich is building a hell of a sports program in the Bluegrass State with Petrino and on the hardwood, Rick Petino. We’re already hearing Tulsa’s Steve Kragthorpe mentioned regarding the opening – a name which seems to surface with every new opening. Kragthorpe is the guy former Miami AD Sam Jankovich gave his stamp of approval, regarding him being the top up and coming coach in the game.

Louisville landing Kragthrope would be huge and could keep things afloat in the long run. In the short term, Petrino bailing could send both Brian Brohm and Michael Bush to the NFL a year early. We’ll see.

– Nick Saban bails the Dolphins and heads to Tuscaloosa for a truckload of money and with zero integrity to his name. The Fish actually got the better deal here, being they lost a scumbag instead of retaining and overpaying one. Saban is working on landing LSU’s offensive coordinator, Jimbo Fisher and already poached Florida State linebacker coach Kevin Steele. A possible double-whammy for the Noles, losing Steele as well as Fisher, who the want to replace recently fired Jeff Bowden.

– Pete Carroll keeps having his name thrown into the NFL mix, which can’t have Southern Cal fans all that thrilled. Carroll has been linked to the Arizona opening, keeping him on the west coast and reuniting him with former Trojan QB Matt Leinart. Another rumor has Carroll being courted by H. Wayne Huizenga regarding the Miami Dolphins opening.

– Texas is still looking to replace Gene Chizik at defensive coordinator since he headed to Iowa State weeks back. Word is that the Longhorns have contacted Sun Devils’ defensive coordinator Bill Miller. The same Miller who Miami canned after the 1998 season where his squad gave up 66 to Syracuse and 45 to UCLA in back-to-back weeks. I can’t even imagine the uproar in Austin if a Pac-10 guy is brought in as the next “defensive guru” in Big XII country.

– Arizona State really passed on Norm Chow for Dennis Erickson and really hired Rich Olson as their offensive signal caller after a horrendous 2006 stint at The U. Old news, but I still find that scary and worth mentioning as a reminder that things could be much worse.

The point in all this? There’s a lot going on everywhere. Good hires, bad hires, coaches leaving in the middle of the night for more money, underclassmen turning pro, etc. It’s the nature of big business college football. Hell, we’re now living in a world where the National Championship game is on Monday January 8th. Unreal.

A lot of programs are getting broadsided right now and more is to come. Be happy Miami kept a homegrown guy in charge of a program which have always thrived when keeping it in the family and recruiting our own back yard.

Miami Faithful needs to refrigginlax here. Shannon has a game plan. If you want to judge him on something right now, judge something tangible – his recruiting efforts. He’s targeting receivers who can make an immediate impact, he landed the top running back out there (Graig Cooper) and he’s making a run a top-notch quarterback (Robert Marve).

Dirk got Randy’s best sales pitch, but Miami can’t compete with NFL cash. You can’t blame the program, the top brass or the coaching staff if Koetter goes elsewhere at this point. Shift the focus to who’s next on that list and wait patiently to see where things go.

The Larry Coker era has been unofficially over since Thanksgiving night and since then, Shannon has done a yeoman’s job trying to get this thing right again. Have faith that he’ll land the best man for each position he’s looking to fill.

.:Canes305:.

Comments

comments