It’s been a week since the Randy Shannon hiring and things have been relatively quiet since the long-time assistant was promoted to head coach. Many were hoping a new offensive coordinator would be in place by now or that the “Mario Cristobal to FIU” rumors would die down, but that hasn’t been the case.
After the spotlight being on Miami for the Larry Coker firing and Shannon hiring, things have slowed down and it’s business as usual at The U. Coaches are out recruiting as well as game-planning for Miami’s December 31st match up against Nevada in the Smurf Turf Bowl.
Some recent news and notes:
>>> Shannon was hired last Friday and soon thereafter, Miami received it’s first commitment of the Randy Era. Hialeah senior defensive end Adewale Ojomo pledged to play for The U. Ojomo is the #28 defensive end in the country and chose Miami over Pittsburgh. He stated he’d become a Cane if Shannon took over and stayed true to his word.
>>> Yesterday Miami landed Leonard Hankerson of St. Thomas Aquinas in Ft. Lauderdale. Hankerson is one of the top recruits in the state of Florida and had been considering Ohio State, Michigan and Florida, along with Miami. This is a huge pick up for Shannon. The 6’2″ and 185 lb. receiver committed on the spot after Shannon’s in home visit.
Hankerson was a stand out in St. Thomas Aquinas’ 45-42 loss to Lakeland last weekend at Dolphin Stadium.
>>> Hankerson is Miami’s fourth receiver commitment along with Kayne Farquharson, Taurus McKinley and Daniel Adderley. All big pick ups considering how weak Miami has been at the wide receiver position since Andre Johnson left after the 2002 season.
>>> Shannon traveled to San Antonio, TX to meet with current QB recruit Nick Fanuzzi. His father Mike called Shannon “a good guy, aggressive and down to earth.” The elder Fanuzzi feels that Nick will end up at Miami “no matter what” but mentioned they’re still waiting to see who comes aboard as offensive coordinator.
Shannon also told the Fanuzzi clan that he had met with running back Graig Cooper. Cooper has pledged his allegiance to The U, but backed off that commitment after Coker was fired. He has listed Miami, Ohio State and Florida as possible destinations. Shannon claims his meeting with Cooper went well. Did he win him back over or is the door wide open? We’ll see.
>>> For every commit, there will be some decommits. Miami lost cornerback commit Phelon Jones from Mobile, AL and defensive tackle Chris Perry of Texas. Message board rumors had Miami defensive line coach Clint Hurtt out in Texas talking to Perry, but nothing has surfaced since.
Miami lost two out of state guys, but landed two in state studs. Shannon talked about aggressively recruiting the state of Florida and it looks like he’s doing just that.
.:Canes305:.