Randy Shannon; finally unfiltered

The media is having some fun these past few days regarding news that’s broken on the Randy Shannon front. After losing 36-24 at Ohio State last week, Shannon went on a tirade and laid into his players for giving away what he felt was a winnable game.

Papers, bloggers and social networkers are latching on to the moniker “Nasty Randy”, which seems rather juvenile, but at least it has people talking.

The fact Randy let his kids have it is news to some, but it shouldn’t be. Those who called the fourth-year head coach statuesque or void of emotion these past few years have missed a key element; there was nothing to be upset about until now.

Expectations are finally high in Coral Gables after three years of serious rebuilding. Shannon spent the past few years rebuilding, weeding out bad seeds, waiting for upperclassmen to move on and letting the youth learn and grow on the job. What good would it do to rant and rave while fielding a lesser team that wasn’t ready for the spotlight – holes across the board at several key positions?

Miami spent the last three years learning on the job and 2010 is when the Canes were supposed to start turning the corner. Get some signature wins this year. Compete for an ACC title. Best case scenario, get to a BCS game, win and start next year in the top five, gearing up for a national championship run.

Ohio State was the No. 2 team in the land at home and Miami came to town No. 12, with a game plan that could’ve and should’ve put the Canes in position to pull an upset. For the first time in half a decade, UM finally had the talent to hang with and take down a top five team.

Many expected Miami to get owned in the trenches. They didn’t. Special teams finally looked special again on two returns, though the coverage teams had their breakdowns. The Canes have a stable of running backs, which should’ve been given more chances. The secondary had their shots at turnovers, but didn’t get their job done – while Miami was plagued with turnovers on its own, some on Jacory Harris and others on his wideouts.

Guys running the wrong routes. Receivers dropping upwards of nine passes. Linemen missing block and giving up sacks. Defenders missing tackles in the backfield (Shannon says he stopped counting at ten.) It was a 12-point ball game on the road against No. 2 in the land and mistakes at that level are unacceptable – especially in a “next level” year.

Shannon knows what this team is capable of as he’s been the architect for three full seasons now. When the pieces in place and guys know what they’re supposed to do, but aren’t doing it? Maddening and in his case, finally forced him to blow his stack – which can be a good thing.

Sports is about execution, but motivation also plays its role and this is a little bigger than rubber bracelets and cutesy catch phrases. When a coach not known for being overemotional finally loses his cool because he knows that you know you should be better – that can be a rallying cry to hit home. Shannon has waited over three years to finally unload and might’ve picked the perfect time.

Shannon isn’t asking his kids to reinvent the wheel and he’s not calling on a bunch of scrappy freshmen to do the unexpected. This is a battle-tested team who knows better and simply needs to stick to fundamentals. Those who want to lay the majority of the blame on the coaching staff are off-base. You can only direct so much in practice and on the sidelines. When it’s go-time, guys need to do what they’ve been taught.

Shannon and staff can’t be blamed for dropped balls wrong routes run by upperclassmen receivers. Same to be said for talented kids in the secondary who let sure turnovers slip right through their mitts. Throw the ball. Catch the ball. Be in position to break down and make tackles. These are skills taught at the Pop Warner level.

We’ll never know if Miami was mentally in this game or not, but coaches don’t seem to be leaving anything to chance. Not with Pittsburgh, Clemson and Florida State on deck. Shannon felt this was the time for a verbal ass-kicking and should be commend for doing so.

When you’re known for being a quiet one who choose his or her words carefully, there’s a lot more weight put into what you say. People understand that when you finally speak and chime in, you mean what you’re saying.

Enough is enough with this current group of Canes. Freshman mistakes when you’re an experienced junior – that can’t be the case when already in 1-1 hole early in the year. You hate to say “win out” but at minimum the next three games have that “must win” feel if this is going to be a turnaround year. Shannon’s message was loud and clear; “Do your job. If we do our job, ain’t nobody that can stop us”.

Time for guys to take inventory. Play as a team but take personal responsibility. Every man must do his job. Period. Take care of business and the feeling will be infectious. Success breeds success and everyone will inevitably feed off each other.

Think back to the 2001 season when things just seemed to “happen”. Players made it look easy and a new guy stepped up on a weekly basis. You always had a new hero because everyone on that squad rose to the occasion, playing to their potential and filling the role they needed to fill – be it leader, motivator and capable back up.

Even if you aren’t a Shannon fan, you can’t deny the fact the man knows how to win – both in life and on the field. Won as a player, won as an assistant and won as a defensive coordinator, while also coaching under some of Miami’s best coaches, learning what it takes to get it done at The U.

Shannon has a long way to go before he’s mentioned in the same sentence as Jimmy Johnson, but raising the bar and dropping the hammer after a winnable loss is a good start. Let’s see how those words resonate next Thursday when Miami takes the field against Pittsburgh.

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