Canes305… ‘The State of Miami’

I was originally going to write a piece this week detailing Randy Shannon, how he’s the right man for the job, how he’ll out-recruit anybody and he knows the blueprint for bringing the Canes back.

I was going to call it ‘The State of Miami’ which was a term conjured up by Howard Schnellenberger during his tenure at The U.

As I sat down to lay out my piece, I received my weekly alert from the Miami Herald and stumbled across Barry Jackson’s piece on the Miami Hurricanes and the state of the program this off season.

Jackson beat me to the punch and touched on much of what I was going to explain to you outsiders regarding Miami being “back” – and it being a matter of “when”, not “if”.

At The U, it’s all about family. Miami lacks the rah-rah tradition of the big college school and the Canes are their own entity.

An Independent from their inception until joining the Big East in 1991 (and the ACC in 2004), the Canes built their legacy with that “anybody, anyplace, anytime” mentality that many smaller programs have employed over the years.

Miami played the big boys, whipped ’em, won titles and became the force to be reckoned with the past 25 seasons – outside a brief drop off in the late 90s and again the past two seasons.

The Canes won five titles with four different coaches and did so in a way outsiders couldn’t understand.

Howard laid the foundation, but it was Jimmy Johnson who brought things to the next level, going 44-4, winning a title (1987) and leaving another in the desert (1986). Randy was a four-year letterman under Johnson in the mid to late 80s. While at Dallas, JJ made Shannon a Cowboy in the 11th – not for his size and skills, but for his football knowledge and ability to lead.

Shannon wound up starting as a rookie in the league.

When his playing days rapped, it was back to The U as an assistant for seven years – his final three under Butch Davis, his position coach at Miami in the 80s – as well as with the Cowboys. From there, to the Dolphins, reuniting with JJ and then back to Coral Gables, to take over for defensive coordinator in 2001, when Larry Coker took the reigns.

Outside of a few years in Dallas, Shannon has spent all his playing and coaching days in Miami. He knows the city like the back of his hand. He knows the high school football programs, the coaches, the players and how things are done.

Shannon saw Johnson take Schnellenberger’s Miami program to that next level, which is why he spent time this off season down in the Florida Keys with his mentor. Johnson is taking Shannon under his wing, teaching him how to utilize players and get the most out of them – starting with the upperclassmen who will be beat out by hungry freshman that were part of the nation’s top-ranked recruiting class (per ESPN).

Get these guys on board with the rebuilding process. Get them one-on-one and ask them how they can make the team better. Get everyone involved and don’t let them check out mentally. Eliminate any back-talking or counterproductive behavior by dealing with it immediately.

At Miami, it’s not just young coach talking to old coach about how to maintain the tradition. Par for the course, older players and NFL superstars are reaching out to the new crop of Canes.

Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma has already reached out to true freshman Sean Spence and Arthur Brown, offering up his cell number and explaining his desire to mentor both of them. Panthers linebacker Jon Beason has done the same.

Patriots defensive tackle Vince Wilfork has followed suit and did the same for Marcus Forston.

Texans wide receiver Andre Johnson has reached out to Aldarius Johnson, as have Colts wideout Reggie Wayne and Redskins flanker Santana Moss.

Enough is enough. After a 12-13 run since November 2005, the Miami alum know they’re as important a piece in the rebuilding puzzle as the new Canes that will have to get it done on the field.

Beason said he was “in tears” when watching last season’s 5-7 campaign. Vilma complained about “guys not improving year to year”, refusing to just blame it on talent and hinting towards a lack of developing the skills set of the past few recruiting classes.

The first rounders and superstars that have earned Miami the moniker ‘NFL U’ are on campus this summer, working out to gear up for another season – and they’re working out side by side with those Canes already on campus, preparing for fall.

Early as it may be in the process, they see change and a desire to improve.

Miami won’t be back on the road to the National Championship in 2008, but it’s also not as far off as some of the critics might feel. The Canes truly bottomed out last year, which happens after the wrong guy for the job ‘Cokerizes’ the program and leaves it in need of a full-on overhaul.

Shannon is one step closer to bringing things back and I’m going to keep selling you on that message as things progress.