College To NFL Pipeline : Canes are No. 1

It may be another quirky ESPN.com off-season time-filler, but when it comes to providing NFL talent, there’s never been much doubt. It’s all about The U.

Ivan Maisel broke it down, explaining why second-seeded Miami took out top dog Southern Cal in the faux finale. Corey Long focuses on The State of Miami and cites Howard Schnellenberger as being the game-changer, keeping talented local talent home and inevitably putting the Canes on the map.

ESPN put together a ‘sweet sixteen’ regarding programs who have pumped the most talent into the National Football League. Miami took out No. 15 Oklahoma State, No. 7 Notre Dame and No. 3 Pitt before eventually besting No. 1 Southern Cal. Sunshine State rivals Florida State and Florida were ranked No. 4 and No. 13, respectively.

By the numbers, Miami had 100 total Pro Bowl appearances, two Super Bowl MVPs (Ottis Anderson and Ray Lewis), two Hall of Famers (Jim Kelly and Michael Irvin) and a “notable alumni” list too long for this blog.

The fact Miami topped the list is no surprise, but the path this program took to the top – it took the stars aligning and for lack of a less cliche term; a perfect storm.

Schnellenberger knew that keeping local talent home was the key – but convincing kids to stick around and selling their parents – that’s where the magic was truly worked.

Columbus High’s Alonzo Highsmith was sold, but mom wanted him at Michigan or Notre Dame. Melvin Bratton, a Northwestern product and also a high school senior in 1982, decided to stay home. So did Southridge High’s Winston Moss.

The tradition started there and continued building steam.

“Miami kids want to make their own impact. They don’t care about what happened 10 and 15 years ago, they don’t want to live up to someone else’s standards,” said Highsmith. “They want to be the guys who set the new standard.”

A few years later it’s Bennie Blades and Micheal Irvin staying close to home, like their predecessors.

“The players in Dade County are nowhere near as pampered,” Highsmith said. “Around here you have some of these schools with four practice fields, a 5,000-foot weight room and a $60 million stadium with a big JumboTron. I didn’t have that stuff until I got into the NFL. That is unheard of in a place like Miami.

“In Miami you battle through high school and college to earn those things. But in some places they give it to you when you get into high school. Not taking anything away from the players [in Texas], they are very talented. But they don’t have hunger that I saw with the inner-city kids in Miami.”

Hunger. It’s long since been a driving force for Hurricane players – as well as their fourth-year head coach, a local product who has been part of UM the majority of his life. Honestly, who gets this culture better than Randy Shannon? (I still marvel at those in the fan base who actively root against this man.)

For the Canes to remain relevant and keep this pipeline open, this program must remain true to its roots. There’s a blueprint for success at The U and with the college football landscape changing as rapidly as it is, it’ll take a “Miami guy” to negotiate this terrain. Urban fits in Gainesville and Saban gets Tuscaloosa, but neither would’ve signed on and dug deep to reignite this Miami program. (Hell, Saban couldn’t even cut it a few miles up the road in Davie with a huge NFL paycheck.)

The UM culture would swallow many coaches whole. It’s all about the right fit, the right guy and the right timing – another perfect storm.

Maisel’s piece stated that Schnelly and JJ turned a blind eye to their players while Dennis Erickson and Larry Coker proved unable to stop theirs. All four won national championships their own way, but left off the list – Butch Davis, the man who set the stage for the early 00s run and was deserving of a title shot his final season, not to mention what could’ve been the following three seasons. (Coker amassed a 35-3 record with a title, a lost title and three BCS wins/appearances between ’01 and ’03).

Shannon won’t turn a blind eye like the 80s era coaches, nor will he be run over as the last two UM title winners were. Shannon is more like his old boss Davis – a hard-ass, defensive-minded assistant who learned from JJ and followed the Gospel According To Howard when it came to keeping local talent home. Davis never saw the fruits of his labor come to fruition in Coral Gables, keeping him off the Mount Rushmore of UM coaching greats. That said, no one argues that he was the architect who set the Canes up for their incredible run the early part of last decade.

Shannon has his chance to do his best Davis, which is necessary if the University of Miami is going to cling to it’s perch regarding being anointed the pipeline to the NFL.

In the end, another pointless ESPN poll, though it’s nice to be on top – recognized for such an incredible feat.

On paper this means nothing, but to the current Canes on campus and the future ones who will sign on next February, another reminder the shoes you have to fill and the power of this program when clicking on all cylinders.

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