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.
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View Comments
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...