I’ll never understand the hype that surrounds spring football. This year’s game already came and went, prompting every type of fan to come out of the woodworks and chime in. This team sucks. The quarterbacks suck. We have no offensive line. There’s no skill at the skills positions. Our kicking game is pathetic.
Maybe there’s some truth to some of this, but being that it’s April, who the hell cares?
Spring football is insanely overrated. There’s no other way to slice or dice it. The players have been off their game for three months, injuries are nagging and everyone knows the season is still a lengthy five months away.
Big time decisions aren’t made in spring. No one is climbing up the depth charts for something they’ve done in March. The goal is to break a sweat, get used to the pads and avoid injury – yet some folks seem ready to determine the 2007 Canes’ fate based on a few recent scrimmages.
I’ve traded a bunch of emails with members of our fan base this week. Many are asking if they should be worried. Are the Canes that bad? Can Randy Shannon turn thing thing around as soon as this upcoming season? We’ll see. For now, let’s look at some of the facts:
>>> Shannon has officially been on the clock just over three months now. In that time he landed the #9 recruiting class in the nation (according to Scout.com). He did most of this without a staff in place and on the heels of Florida winning the National Championship and competing with a young, flashy Urban Meyer, as well as the best closer in the business, Bobby Bowden.
>>> Larry Coker’s fingerprints have been on this program for just over six seasons. While I believe Shannon can change the philosophies and instill that “winner” mentality, it’s fact that it’ll take a year or so before this is officialy his team, made up of his players.
The point? You’ll immediately see Shannon blaze the recruiting trail and rebuild The U with the right players – know it’ll take a little longer for his impact to translate on the field. Fact remains, a lot of these players are still Coker’s guys. Anyone who expected to see a complete 180 by the spring game is off their rocker.
>>> Defense always dominates spring football. The offense rarely clicks this early and with Shannon’s new orange vs. white format and splitting of the squads, the offense will feel those effects more than the defense. A back up defensive tackle will usually win the battle against a back up left tackle. Toss in the fact that Miami was without it’s top three offensive lineman, two of its top wideouts and minus super frosh tailback Graig Cooper. The offense also lost Javarris James early, due to injury. This is hardly the offense you’ll see lining up against Marshall in the season opener.
New offensive coordinator Patrick Nix also stated that he was going to keep this scrimmage very vanilla, due to personnel mismatches and the fact that the game was televised. No reason to give anything away to the opposition this early in the game.
>>> Did I mention the season opener is forever and a day away? The product you see today will benefit greatly from five more months of Shannon in their ears and Andreu Swasey busting heads in the weight room. Because Shannon isn’t releasing a depth chart in spring, expect competition to be taken to new levels when fall ball is upon us. I expect to see a battle at almost every position.
At day’s end, what should we really expect here? I don’t know about you, but I want to see a throwback to the late 90s. The effort and unity of our players was apparent. Bring me back a decade right before Miami peaked and became a major player (2000-2003). There was talent, but more than that, there was heart.
Give me the type of kids who can get throttled 66-13 at Syracuse, losing a shot at an Orange Bowl berth against Florida – only to regroup a week later and upset #2 UCLA, 49-45. The past four seasons, Miami has struggled in “rebound” games and Coker was unable to get the kids’ psyche back to where it needed to be the week after a loss. Shannon needs to end that mindset immediately.
I’d love to see a 1998-1999 type effort out of our current kids. A crop of young talent which stepped up and made plays. Sure, they lost to the likes of Florida State, Virginia Tech, Syracuse and choked a few away against Penn State and East Carolina, but you never questioned the heart of those Hurricanes.
The 2007 season is going to be a rough one. Make no mistake about it. Coker had a cakewalk in 2006 with Florida State and Virginia Tech coming to our house. Not to mention OOC games against the likes of FAMU, Houston and FIU. This year Miami treks to Norman, Tallahassee, Blacksburg and Chestnut Hill while welcoming Marshall and Texas A&M to the OB, out of conference. The Canes also travel to North Carolina, where Butch Davis is now in charge and get Virginia, NC State and Georgia Tech at home.
It’s too early to talk wins/losses, but you have to believe the mindset and effort level will be greatly improved when September rolls around. You hear it in the players and coaches alike. Last year’s Canes lacked unity whereas this year’s bunch hears the word “team” come out of Shannon’s mouth more frequently than anything else.
Make no mistake, this won’t really be Randy’s team until 2008-2009. These are Coker’s kids. Butch left the cupboard full; Larry left it close to bare. We getting the recruits again, but that’ll take a year or so to translate on the field. Shannon knows what he needs to do.
Part of the reason Miami struggled on offense the past few years is due to a lack of playmakers. That issue was partially addressed by bringing in quarterback of the future Robert Marve, uber tailback Graig Cooper and a handful of capable receivers, some of which who will start immediately. Other kids already on the roster will obviously have to step up.
More talent on offense will make Nix’s job easier, over time. Right now he inherits a very average bunch. It’ll take a hell of an effort on his part to turn that around year one. It sounds like he’s mixing it up and has that “do what it takes to move the ball” mentality instead of worrying about balance or what looks pretty.
Still, recruiting is only half Randy’s battle. He needs to take that talent, put it on the field, get their heads right, score points and win games. He know how to run a defense – but can he run a team and make some offensive decisions? Miami hasn’t consistently scored points on offense since 2002. Fixing that is job #1.
For now, do your best to ignore spring ball. It’s pointless. Pay closer attention to the cloud of Shannon which now hangs over this program. Watch the mindset and attitude change over the coming months. Pay close attention to developing storylines, increased team unity and how the competition plays out between now and the opener.
Let’s see if the raised bar regarding competition has guys like Kyle Wright and Kirby Freeman working with the wideouts this summer on their own watches, when coaches aren’t allow to work with the players. That type of stuff is infinitely more important than a 7-0 final score between a few depleted squads this past weekend.
Miami needs to heal and get their heads right after a tumultuous 2006. Once these Canes are mentally on the right page, you’ll see a different product on the field.
.:Canes305:.