Shannon gets ‘personal’ with former players

However you personally feel about the man or not, kudos to former head coach Randy Shannon for reaching out to his former players with some post-season handwritten notes.

When players returned to their lockers days back, they each had a note from Shannon – a “U” on one side and a personal letter on the other.

“It was the nicest thing he ever said to me since I’ve been here,” said senior left tackle Orlando Franklin. “He was just telling me to keep my head up and don’t get sidetracked.

“I’m going to actually rewrap it and put it under my Christmas tree so I can open it on Christmas Day. I felt real nice when I [saw] it in my locker.”

Ryan Hill also mentioned some bits from his note and his former coach’s message: “”Just keep working,” Hill said. “Keep going, keep pushing, you’re going to have a great career. [He said] it was fun and that he loves me.

“I was surprised. … For him to take time to sit there [and write], just shows not only his compassion but the character of him. I really appreciate it.”

One gets a sense this was out of character for Shannon (especially after reading that Franklin cited it as the nicest thing he’d heard from the fourth-year coach in his playing career) and that’s too bad. Yet one more little thing that Randy would probably do over if given the chance.

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