I’m pissed off. The negativity and the angle the local media is choosing to take regarding this year’s Miami Hurricanes and head coach Randy Shannon is deplorable. South Florida sportswriters are forcing me into the role of some blogging vigilante – defending the Canes honor – which is the last thing I expected at this point of my life.
For a kid who grew up with a guitar in hand and aspirations of rockin’ like Dokken, online debates with sportswriters was never supposed to be in the cards. Then again, Bruce Wayne never expected his folks to get clipped, forcing him into a life of crime fighting in Gotham City.
Sometimes we just do what we’re called to do, regardless of our own personal agenda.
A few weeks back I mentioned the lack of love The U was receiving from Israel Gutierrez at the Miami Herald and Jorge Milian at the Palm Beach Post. This week’s toughest critic; the Post’s Greg Stoda and his latest piece, “UM’s Randy Shannon faces questions about his coaching ability”.
Shannon hasn’t coached a game in 266 days and won’t take the sideline again for about two more weeks. Between last November and this August, Shannon has reeled in top talent, dismissed dead weight from last season’s 5-7 squad and he’s rejuvenated his coaching staff with a veteran and some fresh blood.
The intensity during fall and spring practice has new school Canes performing like old schoolers. Competition is the name of the game, no one’s job is safe and this mentality is being embraced by Shannon’s kids. The culture at The U is changing. Old is new again as vintage ways are being embraced by a second-year head coach who won at Miami as a player in the 80s, as a grad assistant in the 90s and a defensive coordinator in 2001.
Instead of entering this fall with a bit of optimism and belief, the media continues piling on – with Stoda’s piece comparing Shannon to former Florida coach Ron Zook, whose since found success in Illinois after being ousted from Gainesville.
The knock on Zook was an inability to coach, though he could recruit like a madman and relate to his players. Florida’s championship squad in 2006 was made up of Zook’s recruits, which Urban Meyer coached to a one-loss season and the program’s second title.
Shannon knows there’s no honeymoon and that all eyes are on he and his Canes, yet the crux of Stoda’s article is that Miami’s boss needs to be prepared for any criticism that would come his way IF the Canes stumbled to another 5-7 record.
Stoda acknowledges that Shannon can recruit, but to draw Zook-like comparisons after year one is a joke. Zook had three years to attempt his turnaround at Florida. He also inherited a Gators team that went 10-2 in 2001, beat Maryland in the Orange Bowl and finished the season #3 in the nation. This was on the heels of 10-3, a #10 ranking and a Sugar Bowl loss to Miami in 2000.
Shannon took over a battered and bruised Miami squad that went 7-6 in 2006 and was mentally whipped. Stoda listed Coker’s career record as 53-9. It was actually 60-15, with 12 of those losses coming over his final three seasons.
Aside from inheriting a program in better shape and having three years to implement his agenda, The Zooker also had state funding, one of the largest athletic department budgets in the land and better facilities, en route to a 23-14 overall record at UiF.
As for all the talk that Zook couldn’t coach his way out of a wet paper bag, he took over at Illinois in 2005, went 4-19 his first two seasons and year three, led the Fighting Illini to a 9-4 season and the 2008 Rose Bowl — a bit more prestigious that the Capital One Bowl the Gators played in last January.
Stoda admits Coker left the cupboard bare, but is ready to turn up the heat and expect a turnaround thanks to a top-flight recruiting class — as if the impact should be immediately felt.
Shannon did reel in a top-flight recruiting class back in February and while many of those players will see some playing time this fall, the notion that it’s on them to turn things around overnight is preposterous.
“It’s not fair to expect anybody – at Miami or anywhere else – to ask first-year players to contribute so much that everything changes immediately,” said Shannon. “The goal is to establish depth that will allow us to do the things that are necessary to be great for the long run.”
Patience is a virtue that uber fans and diehards don’t want to employ, but an informed writer should know better. Miami’s 2008 class was the cornerstone of a rebuilding project that will take a few years to complete. The goal for this upcoming season is improvement, a new attitude and changing a losers’ mentality that plagued the program for the past three years.
It’s no accident Coker’s teams went 35-3 his first three years on the job and 25-12 his final three. It took years to turn a great program into an average one and it’ll take a comparable amount of time to right the wrongs done by the Canes previous skipper.
If opinionated, uninformed writers like Stoda want to make the Zook comparison, save it until fall 2009, when Shannon’s tenure in Coral Gables matches Zook’s in Gainesville. Even then, it’s still off-base regarding the shape of both programs with each respective first-time head coach assumed the reins.
Here’s hoping South Florida’s newsfolk can adopt a ‘wait and see’ mentality as this new season comes and goes. Shannon and the Canes not only deserve some homefield advantage with the local papers, but the benefit of the doubt as well.
not sure if I’m better off now not having to read the dribble of the palm beach post, or not getting ANY Canes coverage in Charlotte…probably the latter…
I agree 100 percent…
Its terrible that the guy who brought in the #1 recruiting class in America (according to ESPN) isn’t getting any love in his hometown. It’s devastating that Larry Coker brought this program so far down.
It is all good we will do better with a chip on our solder.
It is all good we will do better with a chip on our shoulder.
Ahh, we’ll see. All that ‘chip on the shoulder’ and ‘us against the world’ stuff didn’t do much for Miami the past two seasons when 12-13 was the record.
The talent is returning and the attitude is changing. Once the depth is back and the kids have that winner’s mentality, they’ll get out there and win some ball games.
The U won’t get any love anytime soon so instead of fighting it, it’s almost better to embrace it. I love the U and I hate it when these stereotypes are placed on us but you know, the media won’t stop and honestly, it’s good business for them. Nobody wants to hear about a Notre Dame player being arrested for drugs but when a Cane gets benched for bad grades, everybody feels good when they are yet proved right again. “Oh those troubled Canes…once a thug, always a thug.”
It’s just like when Paris Hilton gets arrested for drunk driving we cheer and when Shia LeBeouf gets a DUI, we don’t want to believe it and deny that he did any wrong-doing.
Anyway…enough about that. I was wondering about 2 things..
1) are the “No Excuses” bracelets coming at all?
2) has anybody given Robert Marve the nickname “Luke Skywalker” yet? If not, I just wanted to throw it out there for you all. He does wear the black glove like Luke Skywalker did after Darth Vader cut it off and he is the new hope!
Go Canes!
p.s. did I just compare the Canes to Paris Hilton??!! My bad.
Seems like most of these South Florida “Sports” Writers are so against the Canes, its like they want them to fail. In the end these are all opinions, and none fact. Very Sad.. Pathetic almost.
Obviously its pretty ridiculous to judge a coach after 1 season, especially when he inherited a program that dropped off the map in the blink of an eye. Its obvious to not expect a complete turn-around this season even if we do have the greatest recruiting class. We will be a totally different team than last year, but don’t expect us to be Championship bound. If we are im all for it, but either way the rebuilding has begun. As Allcanes has stated, Meyer brought home the title with recruits from the Zook era at UF. So even if Shannon doesn’t win now at some point down the line another championship will be in our grasp, because of what Shannon has begun building today. It is sad though to see local writers give us the cold shoulder. Yes, we didn’t have a great season like whats expected of the U. But even with such a bad season we are still able to recruit some of the top talent from South Florida and around the country.
While I think that no one (including Coach Shannon) should be above criticism, I also think the local media is an absolute joke. Having been a writer and PR hack, I think Randy doesn’t exactly endear himself to the Israel Gutierrez’ of this world either. He hates their guts and they take it out on him the only way they can — in print. In any event, it’s a waiting game. Take notes and take names, we’ll be 9–3 at the end of this year.
The U won’t get any love anytime soon so instead of fighting it, it’s almost better to embrace it. I love the U and I hate it when these stereotypes are placed on us but you know, the media won’t stop and honestly, it’s good business for them.
It’s good ‘business’ but this goes beyond playing up the negative regarding Miami.
Trash Shannon and the team in December if another losing campaign is delivered. To write a piece talking about how the fans could/would turn IF the Canes tank again – it’s pointles and it’s bush league for the local papers.
There is reason for optimism. New players. New coaches. Top-ranked talent returning.
How about a piece pointing out the positives in the move to DS… More news on the new talent… An in depth piece on Bill Young or Aubrey Hill…
There are positive angles the local media could/should take – and they don’t. They create the negativity and focus on worst-case scenarios…
While I think that no one (including Coach Shannon) should be above criticism, I also think the local media is an absolute joke. Having been a writer and PR hack, I think Randy doesn’t exactly endear himself to the Israel Gutierrez’ of this world either. He hates their guts and they take it out on him the only way they can — in print.
– No coach should be above criticism. Absolutely agree. That said, all the focus on the ‘if’ factor — IF Shannon fails. IF Miami has another losing season. There’s time to write about that IF it happens. It should be the focus a week from the season opener.
– Randy absolutely doesn’t endear himself to the media… but it’s a stretch to say he ‘hates their guts’. The sports media has become a joke and is as tabloid journalism as anything in the entertainment world.
Shannon doesn’t care to play the game, but he’s one fragment of this program. There are a ton of kids with human interest stories that are good interviews. There are assistant coaches, as well. Shannon’s refusal to play the game shouldn’t force that to be ignored.
Yeah, I think it’s fairly ridiculous to question Shannon’s coaching ability after just one year. I think some of the trouble he is in might be due to setting expectations too high in his first year. I’m referring to his expectaions of competing for an ACC title. When the realization of the state of his team hit him (although since he was already on staff I would expect him to have some inkling of the relative talent level) he found himself in damage control mode electing to clean house and go into rebuilding mode.
If Illinois has a good year again this year (after being such a perennial doormat for so long) will it even be an insult to compare coaches to Ron Zook? Maybe Shannon will take Miami to a BCS bowl in his 3rd year just like Zook did in Champagne.
I’m not convinced about Shannon’s coaching ability but I doubt he’s a bad coach. And as a head coach he is more in a management and delegation position. If he stocks the team with talent and stamps the overall team’s personality then it’s up to the assistant coaches and coordinators to do their jobs to ensure a successful season.
I’ll reserve judgement for Shannon until after his 3rd year. Anything sooner is both impatient and short-sighted.
We get enough hate from the national media without local guys piling on. Maybe they’re looking to get picked up by ESPN or something and are trying to show they can criticize the home team, who knows. For anyone to compare Shannon to Zook after 12 games is idiotic. Give Shannon a chance to get HIS players and implement HIS system into the program. He’s still using primarily Coker’s players. You made great points about the two situations are worlds apart and I agree.
I hope the new AD can work more of his fundraising magic and get the buzz back for this deserving team. This is really a blue collar type program that has always had to fight uphill and earn everything its received. I don’t think success is far away at all. I say another solid 2009 recruiting class, get some depth back for the first time in years, and The U will be back on its way to the top. Top programs have great depth and we have none right now.
Give the man some time to prove himself. Remember he’s never run a program before and he’s learning as he’s going.
This is the time when the true fans show themselves. Obviously none of these so called writers are. I don’t want fair weather fans. I only want the people who are behind the team now. There won’t be any room on the bandwagon in 2 years when we’re back on the national scene on a yearly basis.
-Columbus Cane
It is with great pride I point out Illinois was in a BCS Bowl last year and Florida WAS NOT!
As far as Stoda is concerned he’s just a muckraker like all the foolish writers down here. He is best totally ignored.
The program is in real trouble,of course there is going to be people taking shots.When you lose 6 of your last 7 including 48-0 in the last game at the OB,how can any fan defend that.Randy Shannon better turn it around this year .I look for Florida to finally put one on the Canes this year.A big lost at Gainsville and Shannon will be one step closer to his exit.
The program is in real trouble,of course there is going to be people taking shots. When you lose 6 of your last 7 including 48-0 in the last game at the OB,how can any fan defend that. Randy Shannon better turn it around this year. I look for Florida to finally put one on the Canes this year.A big lost at Gainsville and Shannon will be one step closer to his exit.
Disagree.
Losing 6 of your last 7 shows what kind of garbage Shannon inherited.
Coker’s last three teams at Miami went 9-3, 9-3 – including a 40-3 loss – and then 7-6. The program was in an absolute tailspin when Shannon took over and 5-7 was the natural course of progression.
The turnaround starts this year.
Your notion that his job is on the line should Shannon’s Canes lose big at The Swamp against the top five Gators and a Heisman-winning QB – that’s preposterous. You’re as bad as some of these sportwriters.
Zook took over a squad that lost two games and finished the season #3. Shannon took over a dog.
Judge Randy Shannon after the 2009 season. If his teams are still losing 6-7 games then, I’ll be the first one leading the charge that he’s not the right guy for the job.
I enjoy reading your blogs! GO canes! Israel Gutierrez is WEAK, i see him on Around the Horn wearing sweater vest in Miami in the middle of Summer…..
Its amazing how far the Canes have fallen.With all the talent in South Florida,any coach with above average abilities should be a winner.I’m not sure the turn around is about to start.Last year really said alot about where the talent level really is.I really have to question the heart of the current group.Last year has me questioning if Shannon has got the team to buy in to his system.
I think it’s laughable how you can even compare Zook to Shannon. Maybe recruiting wise, but even that is a stretch.
As a Cane fan (parent, I have a biased opinion, but the truth of the matter is we have always been hated upon even when we were winning! They(media) will find something to write about regardless of what happens. When we win, they will write about the behavior of a FORMER player(s), loose, they say it was coaching!!! We cannot please them no matter what. I know things a turning around & in the end we will prove them all wrong on the feild & off!!!