The 9-3 record, the first chance at a 10-victory season since 2003, and the bowl trip to Central Florida are all reflective of the hard work put in by Randy Shannon and the University of Miami football team.
But there’s all the other stuff, too.
The player who lost a cousin and a brother over the last two years.
Two players who found out that their dad was really not their dad, and another dad popped up out of the blue.
Another player whose brother was kicked out of the house by their dad, and killed on the streets two days later.
All of this usually doesn’t come up in the BCS rankings or the polls or in the fiery spittle of blogs. But it measures the strength of a team in a much more powerful way. It’s mostly on Shannon’s shoulders on how to make sense of it, how to manage the chaos, how to make sure his team is prepared every week.
Perhaps it’s not a unique challenge given the diversity of teams. Not every young man who signs a scholarship is a fortunate son.
But navigating through this dysfunctional maze is something that most coaches won’t find on the job description. For three years, Randy Shannon has tried to figure it out as best he can. With only one player arrest in those three years, I’d say he’s finding his way.
“You get past one day, you get past another day and all of a sudden there’s something else that’s going to hit you,” he said Wednesday afternoon. “How do you respond? You can’t close your eyes and hope that it goes away. It will never go away. That’s the hardest thing.”
So yes, by all means celebrate the journey that leads the Hurricanes here to play in the Champs Sports Bowl against Wisconsin on Dec 29th. There’s a good vibe at the U this bowl season, especially when you take a comparative peek in Tallahassee and Gainesville.
Bobby Bowden is still pulling out arrows from his back after getting speared from fans, media and even school administrators who didn’t have the courtesy to show up for the announcement that he was stepping down as football coach at Florida State University.
Florida’s Urban Meyer is still catching heat after only one team – not his – showed up to play in the SEC Championship game last week in Atlanta.
Shannon is chillin’: Stepping out of a limousine and into the tropic vibe of a place called the Tiki Lounge in downtown for a casual meet-and-greet with the media Wednesday.
“Life is very good,” he said. “No stones, no targets.”
But he knows that football fans are impossible to please. All they see are five national titles at Miami since 1983, and what’s up with that 7-6 record last season?
“When the darts and everything else start coming, I look at it from this perspective: Anybody who is upset with me or the players or not happy with the way we are performing, that means they care about the University of Miami,” Shannon said.
So does Shannon, obviously. That’s why he has no time for the blogs or the papers or the TV during the season. He has a family to take care of every day, players who lose their way in one catastrophic step. Shannon knows the deal. His father was murdered when he was three. His twin brothers died of AIDS. So did a sister.
“You just can’t send a young man off to see a psychiatrist,” Shannon said. “He doesn’t know who the psychiatrist is. He doesn’t have a relationship with him.
“I have to be the psychiatrist. I may not know what I’m talking about but I know the situation they’ve been in. I say what’s in the heart.”
There will be a final score on Dec. 29th, a measure of how successful this University of Miami football team has been in 2009. If Miami loses, some people might still look at Randy Shannon and say he didn’t get the job done.
Those people won’t have a clue.
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View Comments
It will be majorly upsetting if the U loses to Wisconsin, but it will be huge to win and go out with a bang.
I have to admit that I've often wondered if Randy Shannon was the right man for the job. Changes in assistants though, has helped a lot. Also, seeing the U play last year and at times this year, I felt like they were boys playing against men. The opposition often seemed to be much bigger and stronger and faster.
There's a lot of teams on the way up, including some in the ACC.
Hopefully, Miami does go out with a win and between now and next year, the 'Canes do a lot of growing.
Expectations, will be high!!
Randy Shannon is such an asset to Miami. I think people forget that college football is a big business and a source to of revenue to the university.Many players come from broken famlies and yes are still kids at 18 years old when they arrive on campus. A coach and his staff have to be a friend, mentor and the parent in many cases. Yes, I'd love a National Championship, but it's nice to see players graduating with honors and achieving a 9-3 season. We'll be back on top, but with a team of well structered players that thankfully are staying out of trouble.
one question? Wasn't it the Champs Bowl played on New Years Day? I think Coach Shannon is doing it his way it will be only a matter a time when Miami be back on top of the mountain.
Miami 40 Wisconsin 17
VERY NICE POST!
Canes' fan want the U to win, every game, just like in the 80s 90s ... But when compared no arrest, and degree for every player. I say the wins, the bowls, even the champions are secondary.
U is university, that is what Canes' fan should be proud of.
x.
university thug u players gonna get whooped by wisconsin!
miami thugs 17
wisconsin 31
Shannon has done a hell of a job so far. The program is making progression on the bottom line: wins and losses. This is a first-time head coach who didn't exactly inherit a program on top. He's done a great job in dealing with whatever he has come up against. The product on the field is getting results. You don't go from 5-7 to 12-0 in a year. Those who don't like Shannon never have and never will. Shannon deserves a pat on the back, an contract extension and go on to smack Wisconsin around in a couple of weeks.
-Columbus Cane
We lose this game = major disappointment
no doubt about it
university thug u players gonna get whooped by wisconsin!
miami thugs 17
wisconsin 31
... way to stereotype, Johnny Midwest.
"Thug U". How original. Forget the fact Miami hasn't had more than one arrest in about a decade and that clown is no longer enrolled at UM.
Florida... 27 arrests since Meyer took over and we all know the trouble Bobby's kids keep getting into... but hey, be an idiot and keep calling Miami "Thug U".
Can't wait to see your pasty Badgers get mopped up.
Wisky couldn't put up more than 10 or 13 against Ohio State or Iowa, but you think that offense will put up 31 against Miami's defense?
You think Mark Whipple's offense is only going to score 17 when Fresno State put up 31.. Northern Illinois put up 20... Michigan State scored 30... Minnesota scored 28... Indiana got 28... Michigan got 24.
Nice bleeding heart prediction, pal.
It will be majorly upsetting if the U loses to Wisconsin, but it will be huge to win and go out with a bang.
.... how is it majorly upsetting if Miami loses to a good Big Ten team that finished 9-3?
This is the type of game the Canes should win, but I'd hardly call a loss a 'major disappointment'.
Thug "U". Yeah, that is brilliant. Do you say that, because you know it, because you think it, or because that's what your mama told you?
Apparently you are a Badgers fan, so I guess you do deserve some respect. 27 National Championships through 2009. That's remarkable!!
One thing though, not even 1 of them was in football.