Commentary about the players and the first few practices is some fluff and easy reading, but the Shannon contract story is definitely worth checking out. Randy’s story has been told time and time again. Inner city kid escapes the same streets his siblings and father couldn’t. Drugs. Disease. Poverty. Shannon proved he was a one-percenter by getting out.
Lettered at The U, won a national championship and spent just about every year in his own backyard – minus a short-lived stint with the Dallas Cowboys. Even the three years spent coaching in the NFL were just up the street with the Dolphins. The other twenty years spent either playing or coaching were spent in Coral Gables.
As if Shannon didn’t go through enough en route to earning his shot as Miami’s head coach, he’s dealt with nothing but criticism and second-guessing since moving into the big boy office in December 2006.
While Shannon doesn’t have the universal support of a fickle fan base, the Miami administration is behind him and went as far as to offer a contract extension… which Randy turned down. Haters reign down cries of “Oh and four, out the door” in reference to Miami’s brutal early schedule – @Florida State, Georgia Tech, @Virginia Tech and Oklahoma. Shannon chooses to ignore those critics, focusing on nothing more than recruiting the pants off most coaches in the game – rebuilding depth so he can rebuild this program from the ground up.
Shannon believes this team has the potential to go 9-3 or even 10-2 this year, with a major bowl on the horizon.. ‘if’ all goes according to plan. In the past he’s mentioned that it’ll take a stroke of luck as well as some solid ball.
Those who don’t buy the ‘luck’ argument, look no further than Virginia Tech and their preseason #7 ranking. The Hokies lost Orange Bowl MVP running back Darren Evans to a torn ACL in practice on Tuesday. Tech has some capable back ups, but none at Evans’ level. This stroke of bad luck could be the difference in a few wins or losses in a very competitive Coastal Division.
Shannon is banking on a turnaround this year, not next. He believes that a national championship run is in the cards for 2010 and that this team has a shot at the ACC this fall.
I read articles like this and continue to scratch my head regarding the portion of the fan base who questions this man. A protege of Jimmy Johnson and Butch Davis who also seeks counsel from Bill Parcells and Pete Carroll. A local kid made good. A national champion as a player and coach. A Broyles Award winner for defensive coordinator of the year. A tireless recruiter who has finally assembled the coaching staff he wanted… not to mention the fact he bleeds more orange and green out of one pore than an entire message board full of supposed fans.
On top of all that, Shannon just put his money where his mouth is. Don’t pay me a little now; get my back when I turn this thing around and give me what I deserve then. Honestly, what’s not to like here? Why don’t more people believe?
Prove the idiots wrong, Coach.
Newbie running back Lamar Miller was today’s star with two long touchdown runs — the first a 50-yarder and the second for 70 yards. Thankfully Miller didn’t geek out the same way the online folk have. He’s taking it in stride, talking about it simply being practice and a whole new ballgame when he’s in full pads later this week. The new #27 wants to help the Canes win ball games again and he realizes he needs to remain motivated and hungry. Hopefully he does just that.
Tommie Streeter grabbed Monday’s headlines with a touchdown, while senior/first year tight end Jimmy Graham and junior Leonard Hankerson both had big grabs of their own. On the other side of the ball, the defense is focusing heavily on creating turnovers. Ramon Buchanan reeled one in off a deflected pass.
Guys are working hard… but that’s what you’re supposed to do in summertime after going 19-19 in the past 38 games. Shannon hasn’t been overly impressed, again, because he knows what it will take for this team to compete in the ACC and win ballgames.
Following fall ball is always fun, but like verbal commitments leading up to signing day… there’s only so much weight you can put into the reports coming out of Greentree mid-August.
All disbelievers look no further than defending ACC champ Virginia Tech, sporting a #7 rank entering the season and predicted to win the conference again this season. Before you could even think about the season opener against Alabama, running back and Orange Bowl MVP Darren Evans blew out his ACL the first week of fall practice. The Hokies have a handful of capable backs, but none that ‘wowed’ like Evans did as a true freshman last year.
This will be an interesting sub plot as this season rolls on. Can Virginia Tech overcome this loss? What would a healthy Evans done for their 2009 campaign? Will a new star emerge or does this injury give Georgia Tech and Miami a leg up on the conference champs?
Luck has as much to do with winning as anything else. Better hope the Canes can stay healthy this year, avoiding the injury bug.
“It all comes down to talent. If you have more talent and more athleticism on the defensive side of the ball than the offense has, you’ll stop the spread. But Florida has so many good athletes and so much good talent, you’re not going to be able to have more speed and athleticism, so it all comes down to familiarity. Michigan lost to Appalachian State at the beginning of the year because they weren’t used to seeing the spread. They weren’t ready. If you see it week in and week out, you get used to how to read it and you get much better at stopping it,” said Johnson.
“First you have to take away the quarterback, but with a guy like (Tim) Tebow with too much strength and power, he’s too effective running the ball and can produce even if you get to him. And then you need the defensive backs to be able to stay with the receivers so you can focus mostly on stopping the quarterback. Most importantly, you need fast, athletic linebackers. … Or you can be USC and you can pick your guys to stop the spread. They have the big, fast defensive linemen to take away the quarterback and let the big, fast linebackers and defensive backs take care of the rest.”
Sounds like JJ has the recipe… and thankfully Coach Shannon is following his mentor’s advice regarding keeping local kids home and recruiting Miami-caliber players.
Hopefully someone can step up and put that blueprint to work this season. Florida will play with that bull’s eye on their back. How will their opponents respond? Will teams roll over or will someone find a way to slow the spread and capitalize on the lack of Percy Harvin and his yards after catch? Stay tuned people, in a few weeks the journey begins.
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Yeah!...do it @ Joe Land Pro Robbie Dolphin/Shark Player Stadium ?!?
Canes305...thanks for the update.
The only concern I have on Shannon turning down a contract extention this year is on the negative recruiting end by other teams. I think a lot of other teams will use this on an impressionable kid ("See, he doesn't even have an extension. You may not be playing for this coach in a year or so.").
At the end of the day you'd hope the kid sees that UM wants to extend him, but you never know...
Nice read AllCanes. Regarding the spread and UF, I agree with JJ. It's all about speed on defense and filling those lanes. We all seen how well the U did against UF in the 1st half last year. It was obvious that our young defense was a lot faster than the gators offense. The Gators was not expecting the canes to be that fast. Perhaps if we didn't have Nix last year, we could have put some points on the board in the 1st half and it could have been a completely different game. Also, someone always seems to figure out a spread offense at least once a year (Ole Miss/UF-2008, Michigan/App St-07, Pitt/WVU-2007) I don't think a spread team has ever gone undefeated (outside of the Mountain West Conf)
With all the talk this year about our talented receivers I think there's going to be a lot of opportunities there for Jimmy Graham. He's definitely going to have an opportunity to go 1 on 1 with some LB's due to the way other defenses will have to play our fast WR's. I'm looking for a huge year from Jimmy!
4 weeks and counting!
Another great post and lots of good info. Questions.
1. Given Shannon's and UM's prior position of not responding to the issue of the contract extension, which party (or was it a third party) disclosed the fact that Shannon turned down an extension?
2. When was the extension offered and when was it turned down?
3. The Herald article cites no sources to support the story. Has the story been confirmed by Shannon and UM?
4. Timing is everything. Why do you believe that information was released now?
RSA
Nice write up! I am a Shannon fan becasue I realized that he was not preparing for a one & done type team. He is preparing this program to be dominant on & off the field for a looong time to come!
It will not happen overnite and he has shown improvement from year #1 to year #2. I see the same improvement coming in year three in spite of the schedule.
I like having the tough games up front while our players are healthy! by the time we get to the 2nd tier teams of the ACC we should be well ahead of the pact.
No coach has gone through some of the things I've heard fans say, in just two years under contract, and improving all the way around in the process!
If Charlie Weiss still has a job, Randy Shannon sure as HELL should keep his!!!
Like you said allCanes, i cant stand all these Randy haters who call themselves fans of the U. for the past 2 years he has a brought in an amazing recruiting class and is looking on a 3rd this year. i have a ton of faith in RS and he's right, this season has all the makings for National Championship appearance. that's why when i read some of these predictions by these ESPN guys who have us finishing 4th. That doesnt mean anything because look at what happened to VaTech RB Daren Evans. one wrong step and turn and BAM he's out for the season. The only person that surprised me (in a good way) was Mel Kiper, Jr.'s prediction. He was talking about the many sleeper teams of 09 and he picked Miami to win the division and finally get an ACC title shot. He's my new favorite sports writer HAHA! I know we've been waiting a long time CanesFans but time is now. They got the team...now they just need that sold out "Joe Robbie LandProSharkPlayer Stadium" crowd...
ITSALLABOUTTHEU!
Going back to the last thread, here's my biggest concern about Lovett:
In the last 10 years, this guy went from being Auburn's DC to Clemson's DC to Bowling Green's DC to UNC's special teams coach. Doesn't that seem to be going the wrong way on the coaching ladder? I worry this hire had more to do with the fact that he came from UM bloodlines (Tuberville & Butch) and had a cheap price tag rather than this guy's ability.
I hope I'm wrong. I swear I do. But if any legit top-10 team made this hire, you'd be doing a double-take and laughing about it.
don't be surprise the canes go 4-0!
I honestly feel that the worst we do in the first 4 games is 2-2, with 3-3 most likely but even 4-0 possible. We should handle an overrated FSU team with no proven skill players, aside from a decent Ponder (who's turnover prone). GTech we get early and I think before they'll be in synch and we'll be more ready with a full complement of defenders. The VTech game should be even more winable now with Evans out. We shut him down last year anyway. Focus on the run like last year against the Hokie and we'll win since Taylor has no passing game at all. OU will be the toughest of the first four but they have a new line and if we bring pressure to Bradford, we can rattle him. He's not mobile by any means. I happen to back a 3-1 start, and Shannon will be justly rewarded with a better offer at the end of the season, putting all the negative recruiting to rest.
-Columbus Cane
Don't be surprised when Taylor Cook takes the starting job from Harris.
Taylor Cook has the size (6-7!!) and strength to be the next great Miami QB!
Very excited about Miami destroying Florida State in the opener - get ready FSU, we're coming for you!