ItsAUThing.com — Formerly allCanesBlog.com — It's All About 'The U'!

Crazy how the switch from the ‘dog days of summer’ to being less than a month away from kickoff, changes overnight. In an effort to keep content fresh at allCanesBlog.com, we sometimes have to reach for stories to cover between the end of baseball and start of football season. No mas.

With the season 27 days out, it’s information overload regarding Miami Hurricanes football. Here’s the Cliff Notes version of what’s been going down the past few days:

The USA Today Coaches Poll was released last week and Miami came in #13 – pretty much in the middle of the Sporting News ranking (#4) and Lindy’s Sports rank (#20). As recently pointed out on College Football Live, Miami is picked as high as ACC Champs and as low as fourth in the Coastal Division, proving that the jury is out on UM and no one really knows what to expect.

Regarding in-state rivals, Florida State came in at #20 and Florida, a surprising #3 ranking – despite losing Tim Tebow and a slew of starters – while further proving the inexact (and pointless) science of newspaper men “predicting” where teams “deserve” to start the year.

As good as the Gators have done on the recruiting trail, does chemistry not play into things? Outside of losing the Heisman-winning quarterback / fullback, Florida also loses Jermaine Cunningham, Ryan Stamper, David Nelson, Jonathan Phillips, Dorian Munroe, Brandon Spikes, Riley Cooper, Wondy Pierre-Louis, Maurkice Pouncey, Brandon James, Aaron Hernandez, Dustin Doe and others role players.

Florida has unproven talent waiting in the wings, but lost the majority of the TEAM who was so dominant the past two seasons. Do the Gators really deserve to be ahead of Texas? Boise State? Oklahoma? Virginia Tech? Iowa? The writers obviously think so.

With almost thirty arrests on his watch, Urban Meyer still gets the benefit of the doubt. Guess this one will just have to play itself out.

Regarding the latest Sports Illustrated poll, Miami starts the season #15. Even crazier, UM is the fourth and final ACC Coastal team ranked. Virginia Tech leads the pack at #10, North Carolina is #13 and Georgia Tech ahead of Miami by one spot at #14.

Fans of other conferences wouldn’t give the ACC any credit the past few years, refuting the notion that it was a league of good teams that kept knocking each other off.

Five ACC teams reside in the Top 25. The SEC has four, two of which are #1 and #7. The Big Ten has four, three of which are in the top eleven. Big XII also boasts four, two of which are in the top ten.

While the ACC doesn’t have a legit prime time top five squad, the conference has substance … and the Coastal is arguably the most difficult division – top to bottom – in the college game.

Seantrel Henderson has officially made his way to campus and practiced last Thursday with his teammates, ending one of the crazier off-season recruiting sagas the sport has seen in a while.

Still crazy to see Henderson in that #77 Canes jersey at it seems like yesterday he was on the tube, choosing that Trojans jersey on Signing Day … about an hour after message boards and websites were a buzz, stating that Coral Gables would be his final destination.

According to Randy Shannon, Henderson’s size, strength and athleticism all provided that ‘wow’ factor, as did the mammoth freshman’s footwork. Biggest concern left, aside from the speed of the college game, is the humidity. Shannon pointed out that offensive lineman Orlando Franklin was in a similar boat years back and conditioning-wise wasn’t accustomed to that Miami heat until midway through the season.

Teammates are welcoming Henderson with open arms, with some even heading down to his hotel the night he arrived. (UM was unable to acknowledge Henderson until he officially stepped foot on campus, leaving him on his own to get from airport to hotel to campus.) That said, he’s also being viewed as “just another guy”. There will be no special treatment for the top recruit.

“There have been a lot of good players at this school,” said fellow lineman Tyler Horn. “Nobody just comes in and gets all the hype. You’ve had players like Bryant McKinnie, Vernon Carey.

“It’s hard for us to give [Henderson] his props if he hasn’t earned them yet. The great thing about football is you have a chance to earn them — especially during camp. That’s what we are really looking forward to. He got rated that high for a reason. It will be fun to see how good he really turns out to be.”

Fall ball is underway and the left tackle of the future is officially here – which is bigger than it sounds. With all the drama surrounding the new #77, it was one of those “believe it when you see it” moments and until he was officially suited up at Greentree, who the hell really knew?

The lack of depth at linebacker has been a hot topic this offseason (and the past six, for that matter). Shannon named converted senior running back Kylan Robinson starting middle linebacker as of spring, much to the chagrin of skeptical Canes fans.

Manny Navarro did a piece on Robinson, delving into his motivation and transformation entering his senior year. Players and coaches alike are raving about his attitude and work ethic.

Allen Bailey says Robinson “did a 180” last spring, changing his entire mindset. Shannon speaks of the senior’s maturity and said he was “unbelievable” in spring. Linebacker Colin McCarthy saw a realization in Robinson, that this was his last season and it was time to make the most of things.

Robinson spent his summer picking the brain of former Cane great Jon Vilma, learning a lot about both technique as well as how to lead.

Talk is cheap and actions will speak louder than words, but Robinson absolutely deserves not only support, but the benefit of the doubt from this fan base.

Last year this time fans were skeptical about former power forward Jimmy Graham’s transition to tight end. Graham hadn’t played organized football since high school and with one year of eligibility, what could he really do for the 2009 Canes?

17 receptions, 213 yards and five touchdowns later, Graham played himself into a third round pick and will suit up for the world champion New Orleans Saints this fall.

Not every convert will have Graham’s success, but based on what coaches and teammates are saying about Robinson’s work ethic, attitude (and the NFL company he keeps in the off-season), at least Kylan is doing everything in his power get better and grow into the position.

Whether he has the skills, speed or talent, time will tell. At least right now he’s proving he has the heart.

Last week Herald columnist, radio personality and sports TV talking head Dan LeBatard dropped a teaser on his show that the Miami Herald was breaking a big story about something going down in the athletic department.

For a fan base that lived through the probation hammer coming down 16 seasons ago, a currently optimistic fan base lost its collective mind for a good 2-3 hours between LeBatard’s heads up and the Herald’s official announcement.

In the end, Miami was hit with “possible NCAA violations involving impermissible text message and telephone calls to prospective student-athletes”. UM reported itself and is working with the NCAA which at best is a secondary violation. The text are said to have come from coaches in football, women’s track and possibly baseball.

Rules are rules, so it’s good that UM is attempting to be in compliance with with social networking boundaries. That said, the coverage of this situation has been rather laughable.

I receive Google Alerts for the term ‘miami hurricanes’ and peruse every headline, keeping and eye on the latest news. Recent headlines have been a bit sensational, with a “Miami in trouble with the NCAA” type vibe.

While conceptually the statement is true, we all know what the media is trying to invoke with that headline. They want to pique the interest of the casual Miami hater, while those choosing not to read the piece mutter a “same ‘ol Miami” type comment after reading those words.

It’s not a media bias. It’s simply the fact that a large portion of this country still hates Miami – proven in a recent SI poll where two UM squads were rated the #1 and #11 most-hated sports teams. Ever.

The numbers don’t like and anti-Cane chatter gets more click thrus and site visitors. That makes the advertisers happy and that is simply good business. Doesn’t mean the higher ups at ESPN have a vendetta against UM. Simply means they know a large part of their audience hates the Canes, so the play to that in effort to please the masses.

In the end, this grey area of improper texting will result in nothing more than a slap on the wrist – but to the opposition, another reason for them to ignorantly view UM as a renegade program.

Of course a bigger story that SHOULD be front page news, flies a little more under the radar. Last week Randy Shannon ranked third among all active Division I football coaches with an Academic Progress Rate of 977. Shannon’s lifetime APR average trails respective head coaches at both Air Force and Navy.

Many of the football diehards are quick to dismiss the off-the-field and classroom success, only caring about wins / losses and failing to see the bigger picture.

Success in the classroom equals success in life. It teaches responsibility, discipline and a sense of accomplishment – all of which translate directly to the football field.

Coach Shannon is molding young men and that’s what you want to make up your football team – men, not boys. Boys aren’t held accountable. They can be self-absorbed. They don’t respect authority or comprehend that there are repercussions for one’s actions. They don’t believe there’s an “I” in T-E-A-M, but are quick to focus on the “ME”.

The 2001 Miami Hurricanes did what they did because (1) there were uber-talented but (2) because they had leadership, maturity and acted like grown men out there, policing themselves and their teammates.

Shannon came down hard out the gates, in an effort to break old habits and to weed out dead weight. Entering year four he has a squad of guys who “get it” and know how to operate (and succeed) under his guidelines.

Maturity and success in the classroom goes hand in hand with what you need from these guys on the field. Hopefully more people see that than don’t. The APR is as important as the BCS.

Lastly, don’t forget to tune into allCanes Radio this Wednesday night from 7-9pm ET. Brian “The Beast” London will be back in full force and has a solid line up – the Herald’s Manny Navarro, former kicker Francisco Zampogna and former offensive line great Joaquin Gonzalez. Still trying to lock down legendary linebacker and current coffee mogul Rohan Marley.

For those yet to check out the radio show, do so this week – or check out the recent archives. Being part of the allCanes team, I can see how some might think I’m biased, but this really is a great show for Hurricane Nation. Beast and Phil de Montmollin have put together something outside the standard sports talk radio box, focusing more on the human interest angle of the U Family, while still focusing on athletics and the state of the program.

Last week’s interview with AP writer Tim Reynolds was refreshing as it was great to hear a national writer talking Canes – while actually knowing / following the program, while understanding the fan base and its expectations.

Billy Corben, director of ‘The U’, was “on” and did a great job riffing with Beast, while going into some U-doc related stories that folks might not have heard. Corben wasn’t up there hocking his DVD – (like we are here) – he was telling stories. Both he and Beast are long-time diehards and both talked about their passion for this program and its history. It was two fans talking, not interviewer and interviewee.

Miami’s new associate AD Chris Freet took to the airwaves and let fans know that it’s a new era for UM athletics on the media and technology front. For years UM seemed reactive instead of proactive, but it seems all that will finally change under Fleet. Like Kirby Hocutt, another up and comer who “gets it” and sees the potential. Aside from a great football program, the Canes need the support staff to capitalize, building this brand.

Last up was Nate Brooks. A blast from the past and a reminder that these guys have lives and careers after the game is over. Nate The Great has done so much since leaving UM over a decade ago and it’s great to hear the human interest side of things, which you’ll get from Francisco and Joaquin this week, as well as each following Wednesday as this season rolls on.

Check it out live Wednesday night or in the archives soon thereafter.

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