The more experienced, senior-heavy Cal Bears threw their best at Miami on Saturday night in the Emerald Bowl. Literally and figuratively.
Sporting a Heisman-candidate-in-the-making and a few big plays, the Bears were still in a dogfight with a young, inexperienced bunch of Canes who traveled the span of three time zones and were in it until the final moments. Those who called for a Miami ‘no show’ were wrong. The Canes showed heart, but came up short – as young teams oft do.
For those who struggle to take any good from a loss, let’s help you make sense of things.
Down 14-0 early in the second quarter, Miami could’ve folded. They didn’t. An 80-yard touchdown drive started in the final moments of the first quarter and culminated with a nine-yard toss to LaRon Byrd on a fade route. Other highlights of the drive – a 41-yard completion to Leonard Hankerson and an 11-yard run by Harris on a 3rd and 8.
Harris also engineered a 69-yard scoring drive early in the third, tying the game 14-14 and breathing new life into the Canes. He finished an effective 25/41 for 194 yards, 2 touchdowns and an interception, with a bum wing in his second career start.
The true freshman showed poise and promise, playing hurt after sustaining a shoulder injury late in the regular season finale at NC State. Bowl practice and preparation didn’t allow Harris time to heal, yet he still came to play and made no excuses after the loss.
Harris proved he’s “the guy” going into next spring. Regardless if Robert Marve stays or goes, #12 will be the next great Miami quarterback, in due time. The “it” factor is in full force.
There were some freshman mistakes – not sensing the blitz that caused the game changing fumble as well as not getting out of bounds on a run late on the final drive. Still, the upside is impossible to ignore.
Harris had a great outing against one of the better passing defenses in the game. All the talk about Cal’s ballhawks swarming, Harris gave up one interception on the night and only once played like a rattled freshman. The kid has poise, good instinct and makes solid decisions.
This coaching staff, however, a little more suspect this post-season.
In time, few will remember the final score of this third-tier bowl game. Conversely, every fan will remember the incompetence with 2:41 to play, down seven and with a shot at a game tying score.
Think back to ‘the drive’ at Virginia. Remember the amazing comeback? So fluid, effective and well-executed? Against Cal, the exact opposite.
With the ball on the Miami 32-yard line and one time out remaining, offensive coordinator Patrick Nix called for a handoff to Lee Chambers. On 2nd and 11, the ball finally snapped with 2:09 remaining. With time of the essence, upwards of half a minute is wasted.
A five-yard pass to Chris Zellner makes it 3rd and 6 from the 37-yard line. More time squandered, only to come up with a dink pass to Chambers. A typical Nix-designed play where the back is fighting for yards, instead of catching it beyond the sticks. 4th and 1. No one calls time out. Half a minute burns away.
The next few plays, even more discombobulated. Harris scrambles but doesn’t get out of bounds. Tick, tick, tick. Hankerson drops yet another pass. Cooper picks up a few yards on a broken play and gets forced out.
Game over for the Canes, but what about Nix? Will that seal the OC’s fate? For Shannon’s sake, it better. Nothing personal against the second year OC, but nothing about the past two years has earned him a third go around. Not with the future of Miami’s program on the line.
Two years into his stint as head coach, Randy is who we thought he was. That’s not an insult, it’s fact. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
As a defensive coordinator, Shannon was no figurehead. He wasn’t lauded for making adjustments or incredible schemes. What you saw was what you got. Superior talent. Coached up, well disciplined Miami-style players who came to play. Stubborn at times, Shannon would stick with his defense and would let his players “out-talent” yours.
If that was the case then, why does anyone expect a brand new Randy today?
You’re not going to see animated behavior on the sideline from a coach who’s spent his whole life keeping his cool in the face of adversity. There have been too many bleak moments in Shannon’s path that he’s overcome. A blown call or misused timeout isn’t going to rattle his cage. Nor will an in-your-face sports media. Shannon won’t play their small-minded game.
Fans who get caught up in the coachspeak (or lack thereof), get a grip. Worry about the end result, not the process. Last year Shannon said no one would be let go. A few weeks later, Tim Walton was canned. Instead of rejoicing and the hiring of Bill Young, some chose to ride Shannon about the process (“But he said no one was getting fired and then he fired someone!”). Same to be said for regarding suspensions, depth charts and other day-to-day events where fans want instant, ESPN-like results and updates.
One thing matters at Miami; winning. Shannon learned it as a player, dealt with it as an assistant and now lives with it daily as a head coach. Talking up the media. Shaking hands and kissing babies. Save that for the politicians. Randy’s job isn’t to be your friend or hero. He’s trying to rebuild a program that was in much worse shape than most wanted to admit. It’s hardly an accident no one else lined up to take the gig two Decembers ago.
My friends, all this revisionist history needs to go. It’s 2008, not 1988. Welcome to where we currently are. The run you saw two decades ago; it was a perfect storm. You’ll never see it again. The landscape changed. There’s more parity in the game today; a result of there being more money to spread around. College ball is big business, meaning even smaller state schools are joining the sweepstakes. Fork out the dough for a big name coach and you too could earn your very own trip to this years BCS!
The turnaround on Butch Davis’ watch a decade ago? It doesn’t happen at that magnitude today. That pre-BCS era where Nebraska and Florida State were your dominant forces and a few other players stepped up here or there? Long gone. Every big conference has their share of players and these days, neither the Huskers or Noles are dominating the conferences they once owned.
Money changes everything. It’s no accident Florida, Texas, Oklahoma, Ohio State and Alabama are in this year’s BCS – most of them perennial contenders year in and out. The current college game suits the big money schools. Cash to throw around for big names coaches. The best facilities in the game, in an effort to lure in the best recruits. It’s a proven science, people.
If Miami is going to rebound, it will again take someone with an unorthodox approach to rebuild. Anyone in high demand is taking the easier gig, the fatter paycheck and the state funding somewhere else. All of you who want to run Shannon out of town — who do you really think is coming here to replace him? Did you already forget how many big name coaches said ‘no’ a few Novembers ago?
Only a first-timer was heading south for a rebuilding project at a private school with an off-campus stadium, a small budget and a fickle fan base. A newbie who in this case bleeds orange and green and loves this program more than all the smack-talking message board folk combined.
For the Canes to get back on top, it’ll take “out-talenting” the competition… again. It’ll take a masterful recruiter who spots diamonds in the rough, reels in Miami-caliber players and addresses recruiting needs to a T, somehow pulling in a top-ranked class after a 5-7 inaugural season.
It also means doing so with coordinators who aren’t big name, “flavor of the week”, hot commodities.
Of course Gus Malzahn took the Auburn gig and hefty pay raise. Anyone who thought Miami would reel in the uber-hot Tulsa OC is nuts. Four coordinators turned down the job last year before Nix accepted it. Malzahn isn’t leaving Tulsa for a roll of the dice. He’s SEC-bound for the big payday and resume booster.
As for Young, another case where the stars were aligned. The veteran, in his early sixties, is in the twilight of his career. South Florida was a good fit and he believed in Randy, so he took the leap of faith.
Shannon will have to get crafty and find Young’s counterpart for the offense. He needs to find the ‘next Malzahn’ a year before anybody else does – though it starts with firing Nix; something I believe happens in the coming days. There’s too much on the line career-wise for Randy. Jimmy Johnson and Bill Parcells are said to be Shannon’s mentors. Good leaders know when to dump a bad hand. Neither could have a valid reason for backing Nix.
This decision is a make or break situation for Shannon. A fork in the road. His moment of truth. The clock is ticking. Another 7-6 season and those top-ranked recruiting classes will be a thing of the past. You can only sell the dream for so long. There’s no way he doesn’t realize this.
Few leaders are truly sound in all facets of their game. There’s always a flaw and their strength is knowing their weaknesses, filling the voids with people who are strong where they’re weak.
Shannon’s strength was never as some Xs and Os guru. The man can evaluate talent, recruit, sell the program and mentor. Anyone downplaying this discipline issue, you’re dead wrong. No one needs discipline more than 18-21 athletes with big heads. Discipline is necessary for the sake of team. Eliminate the “me first” mentality. Break down boys. Turn them into men.
Funny how this freshman class gets that and embraces Shannon’s culture, but the lazy upperclassmen who were part of the decline – they seem to be the ones not buying the hype.
Let these freshman become juniors and get two more like-minded classes are on board. Only then will Miami becoming “Miami”. When the depth returns and this staff isn’t subbing in a third string guard as a tight end, things will start to feel normal again.
For a program that once had Kellen Winslow II backing up Jeremy Shockey, the fact Tyrone Byrd was behind Zellner – it speaks volumes.
Shannon’s freshmen were the bright spot of an up and down 7-6 season. They made plays against a veteran Cal team and almost stole the game, much like they did from Wake Forest, Virginia and Virginia Tech. The culture is changing. The right kids are getting back on board. Don’t let three straight losses take anything from that.
A freshman coughed up a game-deciding fumble, but don’t forget about the senior lineman who couldn’t stop the bullrush of an undersized Pac-10 linebacker.
Reggie Youngblood came to Miami a highly-touted, five-star offensive line prospect. He’ll leave undrafted after an uninspired overall career and a footnote as to where exactly the Emerald Bowl took a turn for the worse.
Romeo Davis and Glenn Cook whiffed, while Sean Spence shined again. Par for the course with this year’s linebacking corps. Let’s get Colin McCarthy healthy and get highly-touted Arthur Brown and Jordan Futch out there next year and see where things go.
Safety Anthony Reddick announces that he won’t petition for another year of eligibility and nobody flinches. One of Miami’s most depleted positions and people would rather rely on a true freshman next year than the services of a once-promising prospect who flamed out.
Freshman stepped up to make plays, while seniors wilted down the stretch. Not exactly the formula for this year’s BCS-bound squads.
Things are always as strong as their weakest link. This defense struggled because of a spotty secondary and serviceable linebackers. The offense never got going because of putrid line play, which directly impacted the ability to run and pass.
Until those holes are filled, the struggles will continue. Some argue that it’s not a talent issue, but when you see games fall apart courtesy of missed tackles, dropped balls and the inability to hold or shed blocks – where else can you look for answers?
The writing is on the wall. Time for Randy to fire, hire and recruit. It’s only complicated if he overthinks it. There’s a proven Miami formula. Stick to it, ignore the critics and the Canes will eventually be back where they belong.
305: You truly saved your best for last. I had no idea how you were going to sum up last night’s debacle, but you did.
Things are bigger than an Emerald Bowl or postseason loss. Damn straight there’s a “formula” at Miami and I do believe Randy knows it. I’m not sure he’ll get the job done, but I am also not sure anyone can. Things have changed and there’s so much more competition out there.
Like you, I believe Randy Shannon is the man for this job and he deserves at least two more seasons to really fix all that’s currently wrong.
Nix must go immediately. From there, bring in a competent OC who can develop talent (especially quarterbacks!!!!!) and then line them up and knock them down on Signing Day in February.
There was improvement this year. Miami is a better program even though 5-7 and 7-6 don’t sound too far apart. Next year needs to be another big step forward, though road games at FSU, SoFla and VTech are difficult. So is a visit from Oklahoma.
Everyone needs to keep their head up and remember what we are dealing with here. Butch needed five years to fix Miami and he took over with the cupboard in much better shape!!!
Keep fighting the good fight for us 305.
W. Rayburn
Las Vegas, NV
I know it's tough sometimes to tease out who's screwing the game when the offense is in: Nix or Shannon. Ultimately, it's Shannon's team, so he is responsible. But realize that Nix is the only member of that coaching staff with playcalling experience on offense. Again: he's the only one qualified to run the offense.
The 2-minute drill was atrocious, and you think "how can a HC be this bad!?". But would anyone expect it to be better if Bill Young was suddenly in charge of the calls? That's on Nix. RS has been the HC for 2 years, but he's been learning offense from Nix. Other DC–> HCs have the benefit usually of a good OC they can learn from. And quite frankly, any OC without a 2-minute drill practiced and figured out is incompetent.
Put it together folks and it's a wakeup: We don't have anyone on this staff who can manage an offense. We've only got half a coaching staff! I will be astonished if Nix is still on the staff in a month. I don't know where they're going to pull an OC from. Anyone know an OC looking for a warm climate to retire to? Maybe the OC from Boise State is sick of smurf-field? Can we match his pay?
*sigh*
I for one have to say, I hate the nay-sayers. I’m looking forward and not back. This season turned out to be exactly what we expected, so what’s the problem?
We got nail-biters, with UiF, where we played WAY over our heads (possibly a glimpse into the future, and we lost games we should have won (NC, NC State) and we got blasted when we didn’t expect to (Ga.Tech) – But the fact that we actually competed for the ACC title after the shape of the program, is just amazing…AND we did it with a bunch of youngsters who are only going to get better.
Don’t they say the biggest jump in talent in from year 1 to year 2? I can hardly wait til next season. (Of course, it’ll be a lot brighter if Bradford goes pro and doesn’t show his face in Dolphins Stadium on the 2nd saturday in september)
Our toughest road games will be winable, @ FSUcks, VaTech, and NC…So, Cheer Up UM fans…stop being so darn fickle…Don’t be like Cal fan who was actually booing their senior QB…Get up, and make some noise and support the movement…no matter who’s under center, no matter who’s calling plays…watch the kids get better…it’ll make the final chapter, #6, so so much sweeter…
Happy New Year…
Carolina Cane
AllCanes, well said your still the best blog out there. Please stay the voice of reason.
Ending the season on a 3 game skid really sucks and makes for a long off season. I’m not letting Young off the hook either. It was obvious that all Cal had was Best and yet we let them run all night. We never sold out and dared them to throw. The whole team didn’t show up until halfway through the second quarter. You can’t spot a team 14 points and try to pull it out. It almost happened, but didn’t. I hope they spend all off season tackling, especially the secondary. How can you tackle standing straight up? You can’t. We barely had any pressure from the D Line all game, and had no disrupters on the line all game. They allowed themselves to be blocked. Very frustrating to watch.
As far as Nix, what can you say? ONE first down play in the first quarter that didn’t result in 2nd and 10 or longer. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a game start off with a screen pass either. That being said, we did have a few nice drives, actually passed to the TE and had some chances to win. The running game was pretty much non-existant aside from Chambers and the WR’s seemed to be challenged a bit. once again I come back to both lines. We need some mean SOB’s on both sides of the ball to be a force again. It all starts up front. I guess we see how things shake out in the next few days/weeks.
-Columbus Cane
Good points all, let’s hope that JJ and/or the Tuna can help find a replacement OC with the same zeal they seem to show in pointing out the need for one. Perhaps with their connections, etc., we can get someone in here with some promise. Regardless, Nix pretty much, HAS to go.
As far as Marve,,,, my position has been well expressed in here. For those who might label him a quitter should he transfer, I have no defense. That would seem to be a valid ‘opinion’. Was he twice picked apart for seemingly minor infractions? That ‘opinion’ is also valid. Only Shannon and he know for sure how one feels about the other.
Time will tell, I suppose.
Fact is, as you have pointed out on numerous occasions, we were not as close as many believed in the wake of a stellar Freshman class. And as you also stated above, those classes will dry up quickly if we keep our current won/loss pace. Those kids will find greener pastures. They will eventually stop listening, no matter the messenger.
I am a die hard Canes fan. That being said, I really hope you are right about this being a “talent” issue. I agree that the seniors and Coker’s guys are not talented. Wright was a dud. Our seniors today lack talent. However, it certainly isn’t because Coker was a bad recruiter.
If you look at the recruiting class from 2003, you see headlines like “Canes land another stellar recruiting class” in the Herald. They were ranked 3-4 in recruiting classes that year. Kyle Wright was lauded as the number one quarterback.
2004 was the same, with our team ranked third that year according to Scouts.com. An article “Re-Ranking the 2004 Recruiting Classes” by Scouts rerated that class outside of the top 25. Of the top 10 recruiting classes that year, 7 of the teams are in this year’s top 15. So the scout.com class ranking are not a complete fluke.
In 2005 Miami was 7th in recruiting. And while in 2006, they were 13th and 2007 they were 19th, those classes are still top 25 classes, and Miami should still be ranked.
2003 should correlate to 2007, right? With the seniors forming the #3 recruiting class and the juniors forming the #3 recruiting class, you’d expect us to at least break into the top 25. And this year with the seniors forming the #3 class, and the juniors forming the 7th ranked class, 7-6 is unbelievable.
There has to be something else going on here, and I doubt it is parity. With those stellar recruiting classes, why are we having lackluster results? Why was Kyle such a dud? How does this happen?
To me, you have to either say that 1) Coker (and all of the experts who formulate recruiting class rankings) had a terrible eye for talent and recruited duds in stud clothing two years in a row – very unlikely, or 2) that the players were not developed properly. You have to ask, if Kyle went to UF and played there instead of Tebow, would he have been as mediocre as he was? I hate saying so, but I doubt it. And I don’t think you can put the blame all on Coker either. As a figurehead he recruited the people the experts said he should recruit. So my questions are as follow:
Who is responsible for developing these players? Is it strength and conditioning coach? Position coaches? Coordinators? Does it take a village?
And more importantly do you think that Randy’s administration is developing them as they need to be developed? If not, what changes need to be made?
The over reaction on message boards and other fan sites is appalling. Firstly, Cal is from a pure talent standpoint the best team Miami has played all year that is not based in the state of Florida. This was a tough, somewhat unfortunate bowl matchup. I’d much rather play Navy as Wake Forest did or Vandy as BC will than Cal. So playing a team with more talent and experience than us, we came back and had a chance to win the game late. Besides these bowl games are all made for TV events, and while I’d like to win these games, they are to a large extent meaningless. This loss has zero bearing on next season and just provides an outlet for negativity among our fan base who is full of totally unrealistic people who don’t understand the current state of College Football.
Now the clock management was abysmal but I think that is more on the Head Coach than the offensive coordinator because at the end of the first half it was obvious Shannon wasn’t sure whether to run the clock out or not. But bad in game decisions are nothing new for a school that employed Butch Davis as a head coach for six years.
All in all this was a positive season and a positive game until the last few minutes. Beating Va Tech is always a mark of quality and our defense which let us down repeatedly this year will be a year older and stronger next season.
On another note It is mildly disappointing that Anthony Reddick is not applying for a 6th year. I think Reddick played better than most gave him credit for this year and is still not fully healthy: you just don’t come back from the two injuries he had. Next year I believe he could have given us some of the veteran leadership Glen Cook did this year as well as some solid tackling and playmaking in the secondary.
Great job as always allcanes. Reading and participating in this blog and Matt Bosher’s leg were the highlights of the season. A season I predicted us going 7-5, which is not a disappointment. But how we got to 7-5 certainly is. I also, unfortunately, saw the Cal loss coming the day the opponent was announced. We just don’t have a great run defense.
Anyway, I’ll start with the fact Shannon has no choice but to fire Nix. If he doesn’t, both of them will be fired at the end of the 2009 season FOR SURE. Shannon also needs to stop being an arrogant ass in front of the fans and the media. I understand he wanted the job when no one else did and only he could have pulled off the Northwestern deal. So kudos to you coach Shannon. But damn it man, I’m no where close to being qualified to be a head coach, but see the obvious for what it is during a game. You and your staff are very poor at play calling and clock/game management.
At this point all he shows is he can recruit and keep his players in line. Good, don’t get me wrong. But after watching the coaching decisions, specifically since losing to UNC after having a 10 point lead, I am not sure if Shannon can take this program to the next level.
Due to his recruiting he’s on pace to have his (future) replacement take this program to the next level with said players. As it will be the stable of players he collects that will make the head coaching job at the University of Miami once again a hot/desired position to have. Hocutt, just continue the fundraising effort to get that salary offer in place.
I’ve just grown tired of his response to tough questions after big loses. The typical response being, big time recruits called me to say cheer up coach and we’re coming to help turn it around. If that’s true, great! But give me a break. As soon enough, you’re going to run out of reasons for recruits to come here. Example: Who needs fancy facilities; we’re The U and send 1st round draft picks to the NFL year after year.
I’m not a fan living in the glory of the past. I’m a fan living in the belief of what The U is all about and mediocrity it is not. So, keep Nix and go 7-6 next season, you’re done. Fire Nix and go 7-6 or worse next season, you’re probably done as well. Get a new OC, go 8-4 and win a second tier bowl game, you get one more year to try and win the ACC title. For the sake of the team, I hope you improve as a Head Coach.
Name of the game right now, RECRUIT RECRUIT RECRUIT! So have fun as this is what you do best.
GO CANES!!
I have to agree with some statments above regarding the development (or lack there of) of players once they get on campus. We have had some solid classes in past years but for whatever reason never panned out. Maybe it was the schemes, maybe it was the players and maybe it was the position coaches. Maybe it was/is a combination. I do know that some top recruits come to Coral Gables and don’t produce. I would just say that I hope we are recruiting the best players who will fit our systems and players we plan to utilize based on their projected abilites in those systems. I look at Jon Beason and Devin Hester in the NFL as references…both Pro Bowlers this year….how are they Pro Bowlers now but didn’t have exceptional careers in Miami? Don’t get me wrong, they were good players here, but they’re doing better in the NFL than they ever did for us. Why is that? Are coaches underutilizing the talent? I don’t know. I do think that developing skills and putting players in positions to succeed are important. It can’t just be on the players who are teenagers. Coaches have to coach and teach these guys.
-Columbus Cane
It is time for our OC to be fired and it is easy to see this. My brother is a huge Notre Dame fan and he watched this bowl game with me. One half into this game, he turned to me and said “You’re OC sucks. You guys need a new one.” My brother knows what a poor offense with a poor offensive coordinator looks like.(Like I said, he’s a ND fan.) But if my brother can see this after only watching his 2nd Hurricanes game in two seasons, then I can’t see Randy Shannon not seeing the same thing. How many times do we have to see a calm Randy Shannon on the sideline just staring off into space immediately after his OC calls a terrible play. A run up the middle on a 3rd and 6 on our opening drive? And how many times do I have to watch a pass play where Harris just dumps it off to our RB who is on the line of scrimmage or no more than 2 yards in front of it? Once again, Sean Spence had a great game and showed signs of being possibly the next Sean Taylor. (I know Taylor was a safety but still). I just want to finish by saying that I don’t know how much more I can see a 2 QB system. Randy needs to make a decision next season and stick with it.
How many times do we have to see a calm Randy Shannon on the sideline just staring off into space immediately after his OC calls a terrible play.
Shannon has a crazy history. He’s been through more in one lifetime than others would see in a dozen lifetimes. I wouldn’t read into his sideline demeanor or coachspeak. The guy simply doesn’t play the game that way.
Judge the actions and end result. Right now we’re two years into a rebuilding project that will take 3-4 years. Let’s see if he cans some dead-ass coaches and let’s see what kind of class he brings in next month.
Let’s judge that instead of his stoic demeanor, which really means nothing at day’s end.
allCanes. I agree with everything you said. Shannon should evaluate his whole team. And start plucking. Nix. And who is the DB coach…cut him too…But we have nice freshmans coming in so i wouldnt worry about 3 seniors missing tackles and coverages.
Does anybody know if and when(plz god) when we fire Nix. Who then? Not many people are picking up the phone when they see 305 on the caller id…
And who else are we getting in Recruiting??
I heard that their is a 5star DT that could choose up. Line him up against #99. And this guy commited to play for Mizzou but we want him to play TE.
I like the players we got now. Also. Shawnbrey and Chris Adderly left..no big loss. And im glad Reddick didnt ask for a 6th year.
I watched the game and I like what i saw out of Harris. I really do. This kid is nice. Hope he gains more weight. But i am sure we will bounce back. Now we have to wait for April and hope Bryce signs the dotted line. And i hope Arthur plays next year. Him and Spence. But good luck Team Shannon. Bye Nix..have fun at Auburn.
Go Canes
ZarOkoN
i too liked what i saw from most of the young bucks, pretty much all season. the future CAN be bright, i certainly hope that it is but will keep pulling for them no matter what.
of course stockpiling talent is paramount in the rebuilding process … but there is a coaching component in the resurrection formula that can’t be ignored.
it’s silly to say shannon should be fired at this point. that’s shortsighted reactionary, and unfeasible.
nix, however, has earned his firing. his bred-in-the-bone chan gailey-esqueness is untenable. i can’t even begin to fathom what his internal rationalizations of his offensive decisions are. he is counter intuitive to the point of self-immolation. i don’t know if he thinks he is outsmarting the opposition with his ridiculous situational ineptness or if he really is just skull-f***ing retarded. either way miami is at a crossroads and doesn’t have time for nix to grow a sack, a spine, or a clue.
no, shannon shouldn’t be fired. he should be criticized though. i love the positive things he’s doing for the program, i love his green and orange pedigree … but his in-game coaching ability deserves serious rebuke. how will things get better if they aren’t admitted?
time management may be a subtle art in the heat of the moment but expecting managerial competence – and accountability – isn’t unreasonable or reactionary.
i don’t like the way shannon refuses to acknowledge any staff culpability when things go poorly. i don’t like the way he deflects hard questions by tossing kids that believe in and look up to him under the bus. a quickness to criticize the troops coupled with a reticence to acknowledge any personal shortcomings or missteps is unbecoming in a leader.
i don’t need to see randy rah rah-ing up on the sideline week in and week out, but i would like to perceive him as someone in control of his in-game environment and willing to accurately and honestly self-diagnose himself and his team towards the ends of overall improvement.
at this point i don’t, and i don’t say that with venom.
shannon can get better. and he needs to. honest, proportional, and appropriate criticism are means to those ends.
the team is improving though. randy has big decisions and i hope, like everyone else that he decides wisely; for him and the canes.
recruit em in, coach em up, and give everyone else hell.
go canes.
Finally someone who gets it. I get tired of people judging RS as if he’s been doing this for years. It obvious many folks have no idea what it takes to manage an organization. Shannon has made mistakes, no doubt, but that was to be expected. If he continues to make the same mistakes over and over, then I’ll have a problem with it.
Miami will have to build depth. They will have to get better coaches. Randy will have to do his due diligence and find the young and “up in coming’ coaches looking for something to prove and the right situation to do so. I believe Miami is that play for some, but not for most. It takes a special type of coach, and I believe Randy has learned that. Initially I think he may have gone with the best he felt he could get and maybe overlooked someone with less experienced, but move driven.
I just ask everyone to be patient. I have a feeling it will pay off. If he’s really learning from JJ and Parcell, then he’ll be in good shape.
Nix is gone from the program fellas.
Is ther any chance at getting Rod Chuzinski as OC? Cleveland
B
rowns fired their head coach and GM.
Certainly has proven track record and long histoy at Miami.
Nix is gone and had this to say.
[per Miami Herald] Nix said he and Shannon split because of philosophical differences. “I wanted to be a little bit more wide open – no-huddle, spread out, go for it. And he wanted to be more two-back, conservative. It was a fine line in trying to balance the two. And not that one is better than the other, it’s just a different philosophy.”
You have to love how the media loves to create controversy. As all that statement means is Nix didn’t (or wasn’t capable of) want to run the tradition pro-style offense we’re known for.
What saddens me is I am a Marve guy. I still believe in him, more so than Harris. The unfortunate thing is he is really close with Nix and as we know a big whiner. So if he transfers so be it. I’ll stick with the guy that wants to be here and compete to be the best.
Bring on the next guy! And Shannon, your a$$ is officially on the chopping block now.
I’m surprised.
At times I’ve been more rational about Shannon than some Canes’ fans — particularly after some of the bad losses earlier in the season.
Personally, I find the end of the Cal game to be a huge deal. Massive.
Guy’s been a DC for how long? Many years. And he’s now been a HC for two years.
He can’t even come close to managing personnel — I’m talking coaches — and resources — I’m talking clock — in such a way as to put his team in a position to win.
I believed Randy Shannon had showed so many signs of improvement this season.
But as of now, put me in the camp of people who believes Shannon is a “dead man walking.” He may be good for program discipline, may be a great recruiter, but he is positively Zook-like on gameday. Folks, take this to the bank: Shannon is not the long-term solution Miami so desperately needs.
If you doubt me, I’m the guy who predicted that Florida would destroy Ohio State in 2006 and also predicted Tebow would win the Heisman… after his 2007 spring scrimmage, and everyone thought it was insane to suggest that.
I’m predicting that Shannon won’t last past 2010 — possibly even 2009.
You heard it here first.