Bruce Feldman did a recent Q&A with Randy Shannon on ESPN.com which I’m poaching and posting here. It’s that good and I think the haters need to read it.
Q: What do you see as the biggest reason why the program went into decline the past few years and also saw the end of Miami’s record run of first-round draft picks?
Shannon: It’s the recruiting aspect of it. You have to make sure you recruit the right type of players that fit what you do offensively and defensively. That’s when you’ll get back to where you have players drafted like that. Sometimes you can make a mistake by recruiting players just because he is “a name” or he’s considered a “top-10” or “top-5” guy. Well, that may look good on those recruiting reports, but when it all comes down to, are you winning, that makes more difference than anything. You have to recruit the right type of players.
Look, I was here for almost everybody. I was recruited by [Howard] Schnellenberger. I played for Jimmy [Johnson]. I coached with Dennis Erickson, so I’ve seen the transition. I coached with Butch Davis when we got it back going, and then I coached with Larry Coker.
With Butch, we identified players that we felt were great athletes that we could play at different positions. When Edgerrin [James] came in, we tried him at receiver. He finally went to running back. We got Santana Moss. Nobody knew about him, but he fit what we needed because he was a fast guy that had great hands and was explosive and a tough kid. Dan Morgan was a free safety/running back in high school, but he was an athlete. Jon Vilma was a tight end/linebacker. We found tough athletes and realized those were the guys that made a difference. And that’s what we’re doing now. Finding athletes that can do more than one thing out of high school, and then when they come here, they’ll be better players.
Q: Is it simply doing more legwork and being more thorough as you evaluate not only how tough and athletic they are but also the character side of things?
Shannon: It’s being on guys earlier and really having people at the school you trust. You do not want to take a great player who will be detrimental to your team. You have to be very careful now, especially with the APR and the way everyone is on coaches about making sure you don’t bring in the wrong players who represent the school in a negative light.
I insist on all of our guys making sure we talk to everybody we can. It may be a janitor at the high school. It may be a counselor. It may be a regular student. Anybody that you can talk to so you can find out the information on a kid to find out, is this the right person? Is he going to be passionate about playing football? Is he going to represent your university well? That’s the key.
Q: I remember hearing [Butch Davis’ right-hand man] Pete Garcia saying that after the probation that you guys had to make sure you had strong leadership within the locker room so that it could police itself, and then after that maybe then you could roll the dice on a borderline guy with the thinking the team will have an influence on that player. Do you think at one point the program may be strayed too far from that?
Shannon: My first year as the head coach we just didn’t have many leaders. We had “guys.” They were all friends, but no leader to really step up like an Ed Reed would or a Dan Morgan or a Santana Moss would. When I was a player here, we had Jerome [Brown]. Or when [Micheal] Barrow played here, he was a leader. We’re getting that now. Jason Fox is a leader. Jacory [Harris] is a leader. Sean Spence has that. Randy Phillips has that. We’ve got a mixture now that want to be part of it. When you see that your team doesn’t have that, when it can’t police itself from the inside to making sure the locker room is clean, make sure guys are showing up on time for classes and for everything, then you know you’ve got to change up how you’re doing the evaluations.
Q: When you’re signing 25 kids, do you look at your recruiting board and see who those guys probably are?
Shannon: To be honest, these last two years we’ve done a great job with that. My first year, we got [CB DeMarcus] Van Dyke and a couple of players here and there, but we really just had a month to put it together. But since then, I think we’ve done a great job of hitting on the right kids. You see it at receiver. You see it with Sean Spence. You see it with Marcus Robinson. You can go to any position on the team and you see that we did hit on some real good kids that are hard-nosed, that love UM, want to work and you won’t have to worry about any problems.
Q: From interviewing top college players around the country the past year or two, I hear about how a lot of kids grew up as Miami fans at first but then shifted over to other schools as they move into the recruiting process. When you hear that, what do you think?
Shannon: A lot of people say when we recruit them, “Ah, I always loved Miami.” Well, the hardest part is really getting people to understand where Miami is located. Some kids and parents think we’re right in the middle of Liberty City. They don’t understand we’re in Coral Gables. They don’t understand that Miami is a private school, that we only have 8,000 students. They think Miami is 40,000 students. That perception you have to knock down real quick.
If we can get the parents on campus with the kid at the same time, I think we have an 80 percent shot that we’re gonna get him.
Q: When you first got the job, some of your rules got a lot of attention, especially your mandate that your players could not have any guns. You’ve got a reputation as a strong discipline guy, but the pressure is building to get Miami back to the days of contending for national championships. How connected are these two things?
Shannon: The wins will come. The thing I always believed is that when you have distractions, it’s very hard to win because you’re fighting other battles instead of coaching and your team sticking together. The wins will come. I think we have 56 freshmen and sophomores on this team. That’s unheard of. And out of that 56, probably 38 to 40 of them are going to contribute. We’ve got a senior class and then these freshmen and sophomores. There is a big drop-off between. We have only about eight juniors.
Q: If you didn’t have the two new coordinators, where your opponents are probably more in the dark about what they might see early, would you be more worried about having to open with those first four games [at FSU, against Ga. Tech, at Va. Tech and against Oklahoma]?
Shannon: I’m pretty excited about it. [Former UM defensive coordinator] Bill Young was great, but he went back home to his alma mater. He’s probably going to retire at Oklahoma State. [Former UM offensive coordinator Patrick] Nix is a good coach. I felt we just needed to get something else going. I hired coach [Mark] Whipple because he’s a great offensive mind, and he’s also a great quarterback coach, so he could work with Jacory. And on defense we got John Lovett, who has that experience, and he knows the ACC. They bring a lot to the table, and the players see that.
I go back one year ago and I didn’t know what was going to happen because we had so many young kids we had to depend on. Right now, I’m thrilled to death. I’m excited about what we have going into next season. The players are much more experienced, and they’re much better athletes going into the season.
Q: How did the players here handle the end of the first-round draft streak?
Shannon: The players on the team took it as a challenge. Most Cane fans probably were shocked but then the reality hit: The program had probably got worse than what everybody thought it was. I mean we had one guy drafted [LB Spencer Adkins] and maybe three guys get free agent contracts out of maybe 18 seniors.
Q: And that recruiting class had a pretty high ranking when it was signed …
Shannon: See, that’s what I’m saying. You have to be careful of going about rankings and what’s on the board instead of going after players. We’ve been fortunate the past two years. We got players now, but they were all young and we had to play them. A lot of people get on me for playing them so early, but they were still our best players.
Q: How many guys do you suspect might become first-round picks in the 2011 draft?
Shannon: You probably could have four. In terms of the NFL draft, 2011 and 2012 will be big years for us.
Q: What kind of similarities do you see to when you get the head coaching job and to when Butch Davis came in?
Shannon: Back then, we still had four or five players. We had Ray Lewis, Kenard Lang, Kenny Holmes and Duane Starks, so we won nine games, but when we ran out of those guys, we had nobody. We went 5-6 and had to play Santana, Reggie Wayne, Dan, Damione Lewis when they were so young. That’s what we had to do in 2008 and we went 7-6. It’s kinda like the same situation. After we went 5-6, then we went 9-3, then 11-1 and then we won it. Well, we as a team feel like we should be a whole lot better than 7-6 next year.
Q: What would it take to win the ACC this year?
Shannon: Luck. And what I mean by that is we have to stay injury-free. Jacory cannot get hurt. We have to bring the second-team QB around, and the offensive line and linebackers have to stay healthy. We gotta get more depth. Our first-team offensive line is full of seniors and juniors and then behind them are guys who haven’t played a snap. We don’t have that third-year sophomore who has played some. All we need are two guys to come around. Right now, there’s a gap. Now that’s not supposed to happen in a program, but that’s called rebuilding.
Sporting news giving us some good Press
http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=551304
Been on your side from the beginning Coach and I remain there. You WILL bring our team back to where we fans expect it to be! Ripe with SoFla talent !!!
It’s great…to be…a Miami Hurricane !!!
big pimpin
Shannon has the goods, I can’t wait to see him deliver next season. He sounds hungry, I like that.
It is glaring how bad our recruiting was 3-4 years ago.
WE WILL BE BACK!!!
“Some kids and parents think we’re right in the middle of Liberty City. They don’t understand we’re in Coral Gables”
WHAT THE FCUK IS THAT?!?
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/181186-from-unbeateable-to-rebuilding-the-miami-hurricane-story
all canes…tell me what you think
VA CANE
i agree with your opinion and your perspective. i believe the program deteriorated dramatically and got complacent under Coker and that Shannon has had his hands tied with respect to assistant coaches and other elements of the program. i like the human being and the coach.
the case could not have been made any clearer following this year’s NFL draft.
but i’d like to know something: what compels you to re-hash the argument for Shannon and the context in which he is coaching (i.e. the freefall of the program)? is it pressure being exerted from trustees, donors or fans? don’t take it wrong, i’m on your side, but i want to know the context of your posting. thanks and keep up the great work.
but i’d like to know something: what compels you to re-hash the argument for Shannon and the context in which he is coaching (i.e. the freefall of the program)? is it pressure being exerted from trustees, donors or fans? don’t take it wrong, i’m on your side, but i want to know the context of your posting. thanks and keep up the great work.
My defense of Shannon is personal. I spend a lot of time checking out the message boards or comments on articles (re: Herald, Sentinel, etc.) and I get very frustrated when it seems the majority of this fan base is anti-Shannon.
Many feel the problem should’ve been fixed in two years (… which is idiotic). Others think he’ll be gone in a year, with Tommy Tuberville taking over.
I think a lot of fans are missing what’s right in front of them — a young coach who knows the Miami culture, knows how to recruit, is building a staff and is the right guy for the job.
Over the past two years the haters are quick to post every bit of coachspeak to come out of Randy’s mouth… every quote from the paper which might’ve been taken out of context and what not.
I thought this piece from Bruce showed that Randy has a plan and my only goal is to drive that point home that, as well as the fact this is a 4-5 year rebuilding project. We’re entering year three, so people need to chill out and keep things in perspective.
To hear some thoughts from Coach Shannon is always a great thing in my book. He’s program first, himself second kind of guy. Unlike a lot of today’s coaches, he’s not an egomaniac who calls out anyone who dares disagree with a decision made. He does what he thinks needs to be done and doesn’t worry about outside perceptions. He was part of the history of Maimi and knows better than anyone what it takes to continue that. I think 20-odd years speaks for itself.
Anonymous who tried to twist what he was saying about Liberty City: One, he’s from there; Two, he was addressing the PERCEPTION that UM is in a dangerous area, and was simply saying Coral Gables is not the same as LC, or Palm Beach or Ft Lauderdale. He was speaking to the belief out there that Miami is the thick of a bad area, and there has been plenty of negative recruiting spreading that notion – just ask Chris (FSU, UF, NC State..). Don’t get it twisted.
I’m glad Shannon got some unbiased press for once. He’s not a media- seeking, used car salesman, bow- when-I-enter-the-room guy. He’s focused on The U and winning games. Let him work on depth some more and then judge him. This is a pro style team and it will win out in the end. We will be back at our rightful place soon. Keep it going Coach!
-Columbus Cane
Yeah, Liberty City is a dangerous area. That is a fact.
And Coral Gables is one of the most exclusive neighborhoods in Miami. That is a fact.
So where would you rather live/go to school?
Coral Gables, Duh.
Great interview with Coach Shannon. The Hurricanes are headed for a big year and great times ahead, I am really excited.
Thanks Coach Shannon, for turning this thing around!
Carl
All you canes fans are the same. The canes will NEVER be grreat again!…
Sorry,
26-3…We own u, UF GATORS!
All you canes fans are the same. The canes will NEVER be grreat again!… Sorry, 26-3…We own u, UF GATORS!
Yawn. Heard that before, most recently in the late 90s when idiots were saying Central Florida would surpass Miami and become the third state power. We saw how that turned out.
Florida owns Miami, eh? Is that how it works – a top five team beats an unranked and is now 1-6 against their state rival in the past seven meetings?
Lest not forget your ‘mighty’ Gators were nursing a 9-3 lead for the majority of that game. Also don’t forget that was one of your highest televised games of the year — when lowly Miami came to town, not some SEC foe.
Sounds like your bitch-ass AD doesn’t feel the same way as he doesn’t want to schedule the Canes in the near future. Foley knows Miami is on the rise as he’s seen it before. He also knows the post-Tebow era Gators aren’t going to be the same AND that Urban Liar ain’t sticking around forever.
Yeah, funny that Miami is so irrelevant… yet Gators lurk on this Canes board in the offseason. When Miami was on top, I could’ve given two shits about going to a Florida board to talk smack… yet you losers keep trolling here.
DAMMIT ALLCANES!!!I WAS ABOUT TO SAY THE EXACT SAME THING!!!
This message is from BZCANES here in Tampa.
I think we're missing something very important when we talk about Shannon.
I'm on the Randy bandwagon, and I think the steps he has taken to this point are very essential and necessary to build back our program.
Discipline, and Recruiting.
He's also cut loose dead weight quickly–ie Nix.
Lets just say everything does work out with Shannon. We win the conference or the Coastal this coming year, the following year win a BCS game, and then the national championship.
I think we can do it in 2 years, but who am I kidding—I'd be happy with 3 or 4.
Now after we win a championship we remain on top for a while–staying in the top 3 annually. It's 2015 & Randy has 2 rings, a cuople of more BCS bowl wins.
I think Randy would stay at the U forever–despite any big time success. That is completly speculation, but from what I've seen, Randy is more the U than any other coach we've had. He's played here, and GAed here, and spent the majority of his adult life in the program. THIS IS RANDY SHANNON'S DREAM JOB!
If Butch were still here there is no doubt in my mind we'd still be dominant. But he left because he's a rebuilder–likes new challenges.
Jimmy left for the NFL–Erickson left because the team lacked discipline.
Do you see where I'm going with this?
If Randy gets Miami back to Miami—we could have a long sustained run at the top with a coach that will become the face of the program.
I think Randy has that ability.
He is a great defensive mind, and he's starting to surround himself with other good football minds.
I don't think Randy would leave just because we started dominating again. I think Miami is his home, and where he'll stay. I think it's worth an extra year or 2—and in my mind he has at least 2 left to prove his worth—should be 3.
We go out and hire a big name coach who will use Miami as a stepping stone to the NFL—and maybe get us 1 ring in the process.
I want a coach here for 20 years and I want a run like we had from 2000-2002 to last 5 or 6 years.
It's possible, but I think having a consistent figure head is the only way. And I think Randy's heart belongs here & he could be the next Bowden—only a younger and more dominant version with a more dominant program.
Just food for thought—but I think if Randy does what I think he's going to do—we'll be back on top in 2 years—and I think it would take a Godfather offer to ever pull Randy out of Miami.
Loyalty is hard to find these days. Look at Saban–Petrino–some of the best coaches in the game.
Lets not undervalue what that could mean in the future. We all want to get back to where we were earlier this decade. Wouldn't it be nice to get there again—and stay there!?
I think Randy gives us that—and I'd love to hear some credible evidence that suggests otherwise.
I'm not saying he'll definitely get us back (I really think he will), but I think that's more of a ? than what would happen after we return to days of swagger and become the most dangerous team in college football.
bzcanes here again to follow up on the gator comment-
Yawn, and more importantly—LAUGH!
Not only was that game at 9-3 for most of the game, but it took a ridiculously bad call on 3rd and long to give the Gaytors their first TD. The play where Phillips knocked the WR out of bounds (AND THE DAMN BALL CAME OUT).
The call on the field was correct–and that was the worst overturned call ever. I’m biased, but that’s the worst reversal I’ve ever ever seen in sports. Not to say we go on and win that game, but down 9-3 with the start of the 4th coming up really could’ve made things interesting.
Just remember at your current pace you’ll beat Miami again around 2032–once every quarter decade.
nailed that one AllCanes, them silly little reptiles are so concerned about what’s going on down in Coral Gables that they’re afraid…very very afraid…weren’t they talking that crap in the 2001 Sugar Bowl too, where they got beat down on Bourbon Street, then beat down in the Super Dome?…yeah – gayturds suck….
—
As far as these people wanting tuberville, he didn’t want us when we were “needing” him so screw him…he was part of Dennis’ regime and I vividly remember him, and Lubick, and a couple others turning there backs on us….which worked out VERY well, Cause we got Butch…
allcanes, don’t let these asshole gaytors post our OUR blog.
WE OWN ALL OF FLORIDA PERIOD!
allcanes, don’t let these asshole gaytors post our OUR blog. WE OWN ALL OF FLORIDA PERIOD!
Ahh, I’ll let a ‘Turd post here if they’re going to make a point and not act like an idiot.
The same moron responded to my retort like a child, reiterating the 2008 score and not even attempting to debate any of the points I made… he he got denied.
I’m always up for a debate. That said, I’m not going to let some non-Cane just come on our board and spout drivel… which is sort of redundant when talking about Gators.
BZCANES:
liked your post a lot…you always get me fired up …i agree with you 100% in that i think randy is the guy we needed…he has brought the fire and energy back to miami that we needed…and the reason why is because he loves miami…this is his home…it is all he knows…and i agree that if we get back on top he would not leave…i think he would stay right at the U and continue to dominate…and be a long term coach that we need and have not had…i do not think he would dip out for a nfl gig..he has been there done that…he really loves this school…also he undertands the one thing people are missing…he understands that if he wants to win and get back on top …he has to RECRUIT…and keep the kids in his back yard at miami…and he is doing that…
i am from virginia…and for some reason support no sports from my home state..i remember how excited i was when kentucky hired coach calipari…and i think coach cal and coach shannon have one thing in common…they both understand the importance of recruiting
i rememember what coach cal said we he got hired…if you want to win and win national titles…you have to have three things:
1. great players
2. great players
3. great players
that means you have to recruit…randy understands that…we are getting back to the days where we have depth and soon will be able to out talent people…but what will be nice..is that we will have a coach in place to coach them up as well..i am excited about our future
3 years…we got em
VA CANE
Thanks VA Cane–
BZ here-
I wasn’t trying to type a 1000 word essay. I just read what I wrote the other day and it’s too damn long!
I get a little too into it at times.
I do feel like Randy would stay even if the NFL came calling. I know he’d never leave for another college, and honestly unless it was the dolphins…I can’t see him leaving to coach pros. If he pans out–and I think he will—I see a long tenure (which these days is 10+ years).
I’m thinking 15-20, which would be a nice change. I hope the players are as excited about this season as I.
Thankfully NCAA 2010 will be out in about 58 days! That will give me something to do until Labor Day—mashing the Noles on a daily basis on PS3!
A TRUE CANE FAN WOULD NOT BE SCARED TO TALK A LITTLE $HIT WITH A NATIONAL CHAMPION FLORIDA GATOR, WOULD THEY???
ALLCANES, YOU ARE SOOOOO HATING RIGHT NOW!
AND ALL OF GATOR NATION IS JUST LAUGHING AT THE POOR LITTE HURRICANES…(SORRY I MEANT DEPRESSION!) HAHAHAHAHHAAAAAAA
A TRUE CANE FAN WOULD NOT BE SCARED TO TALK A LITTLE $HIT WITH A NATIONAL CHAMPION FLORIDA GATOR, WOULD THEY???
ALLCANES, YOU ARE SOOOOO HATING RIGHT NOW!
AND ALL OF GATOR NATION IS JUST LAUGHING AT THE POOR LITTE HURRICANES…(SORRY I MEANT DEPRESSION!) HAHAHAHAHHAAAAAAA
Problem is you clowns don’t even know HOW to talk shit. Again, that’s you’re play — poor little Hurricanes, er, I mean TROPICAL DEPRESSION. Har har har!!
How old are you, six?
We’re Miami. We could give a shit what Florida thinks about us. We’re the small private school with no money, shitty facilities, no big time state funding… and still have 100x the football tradition you do. End of story.
Yeah, yeah… nice two year run you had. Finally.
Miami is rebuilding. Welcome to college football. It’s cyclical and no one is on top forever… as you’ll see when Jesus Christ Tebow is gone next year.
Like all delusional fans of a top-ranked team, you’ll swear the next guy in line is “just as good” and that you “won’t miss a beat”… but it happens. Ask anybody who’s been there before you. All the mighty fall.
Miami is on the mend and while you idiots are “laughing” Randy Shannon is recruiting the pants off the Urban Myth and has South Florida on lockdown… so keep yukking it up, my friend… and work on your smack as it’s “sooooo” weak.
BZCANES–
To all of Gator Nation,
Whoever posted that was a bandwagon UF fan. I know that because any true diehard gator fan knows that talking smack about Miami only makes their program look bad.
We play once every 6 years unless we get to stomp you in a bowl game…and there is a reason for that. UF doesn’t want any part of Miami. NONE–and the freakin head coaches admit it!
In 16 years you’ve yet to leave the state of Florida to play an out of conference game. That’s pathetic. You’d rather roll up Heisman numbers against The Citadel.
Hell—we spotted UF 23 points after 3 quarters with your leftover garbage QB B Berlin and you still couldn’t beat us.
Allcanes hit the head on your age. You must be old enough to only remember the 1 regular season victory–which was arguably UF’s best ever team–against one of the worst 3 we’ve had in 30 years.
Here’s a quote to remind the BANDWAGON UF fans what the actual coaches think of Miami. Diehard Gator fans are aren’t the brightest—but they traditionally at least recognize their place. That’s 2nd or 3rd in this state.
Apparently Meyer isn’t the only Florida coach that wanted no part of a regular series.
“I asked [Steve] Spurrier about that at one of the [SEC] meetings and he said, ‘Yeah, I would always come out publicly and say we’ve got to play them, we’ve got to play them, but deep down I didn’t want to play those guys.'”
That’s what Meyer said before last year’s game.
Spurrier has admitted this since publicly.
You should not talk smack to a team that your head coach is afraid to play, and if you do–come a little stronger than tropical depression.
We have 3 decades of smack talk in the record books—you have 2008.
allCanes
BZCANES–
Let them punk ass turds know what “THE U” is about!
3 months 11 days till Hurricane ’09 hit’s Tally.