Last October we broke down the Miami Hurricanes’ 2004 recruiting class, player-by-player, in an effort to show the lack of development production out of last year’s senior class.
Unless you’re a stat geek with a well-worn stack of media guides, it’s easy to forget the names of every then-new recruits four years back.
A player-by-player look at last year’s class proved eye opening. 26 signees and after another year to reflect, safe to say 24 truly didn’t pan out.
2005’s story isn’t much better. Revisit the nineteen signees below.
Luqman Abdallah – Four-star Rivals prospect. Non-factor. Transferred to Hofstra.
Spencer Adkins – Top prospect, serviceable linebacker, never panned out.
Chris Barney – Serviceable offensive tackle. Scout team in ’07. Didn’t pan out.
Antonio Dixon – Talented defensive tackle. Struggled with weight. Hasn’t reached potential.
DajLeon Farr – #3 tight end. Never fit in. Transferred to Memphis, sitting out season.
Richard Gordon – Flip-flopped between DT, TE and KR. Never found a niche.
Courtney Harris – #19 DL in state. Serviceable lineman. Hasn’t reached potential.
Eric Houston – Undersized LB. #16 in nation. Only real task in four years; special teams.
Bruce Johnson – #12 CB in nation. Up and down career. Not quite uncle Kelly Jennings.
Joe Joseph – #25 prospect in state. Serviceable DT. Hasn’t reached potential.
Jerrell Mabry – FB who didn’t pan out. Transferred to Texas Southern.
Eric Marino – A 5-foot-9, 170 pound WR JUCO transfer from CA. Never saw field.
Kenny Phillips – Good career. Rode NFL U’s legacy into a late first round pick.
Randy Phillips – Early potential, struggled since. #7 safety in nation hasn’t lived up to hype.
Matt Pipho – Serviceable offensive lineman. Never solidified a spot on the OL.
Darryl Sharpton – Vilma comparisons were off, but a good senior year. Has heart.
Demetri Stewart – You can barely find this guy in a Google search.
A.J. Trump – Serviceable lineman. This decade’s Eric Schnupp. Was ranked #8 OL in land.
Reggie Youngblood -Five-star. Ranked #3 OL. Pretty good career, but not five-star.
Last week a scout from the NFL said he didn’t expect one Cane to get drafted, ending a thirty-five year streak. Seniors 2008. Coker’s fourth full recruiting class. The program progressively getting worse. Erosion continuing from within.
That’s not a knock on these kids. They bust their asses day in and day out. Everyone knows that, even if they’re too frustrated to admit it. This is simply a ‘tough love’, one-sentence retrospect of their careers, straight and to the point.
Football’s a brutal sport if you’re 12-0. It hurts even worse when you’re 0-12.
3-3 is no picnic, either. Not on the heels of 5-7 or 7-6. Not after a four-year, 46-4 run the early part of this decade.
Some put too much emphasis on recruiting. Others don’t put enough. The college game has changed. The recent hype of recruitment makes freshman a household name before taking that first snap.
The Canes’ biggest playmakers were high school seniors last fall.
A top-ranked class having an immediate impact is refreshing after years of watching Miami’s then-current youth movement buried on the depth chart.
Travis Benjamin has seen more action his first five games than Devin Hester, his first two years as a Cane.
Sean Spence. Marcus Forston. Jacory Harris. Aldrius Johnson. Thearon Collier. You’re seeing where this thing is headed, but it’s got new legs and is still a ways away.
Bring in the right players. Lock up South Florida recruiting-wise. Cherry-pick the rest of the nation’s top talent. Create competition, lay the foundation and develop these kids better than the 2005 staff did the seniors.
Any more questions regarding Miami being devoid of talent, scroll back up to the top and start again. It took a few years for this to unravel and it’ll take a few more to resurrect things to a more familiar level.
Regarding the immediate future, patience is the only option.
Its really sad to see this happen. When signing day comes around you never know what your gonna get. I saw fire in only ONE of Reggie Youngbloods play. And that was the very start of the Florida game this year,first play he slapped somebody to the floor. But other than that ehh. All the rest of these guys are just examples of how we just don’t recruit anymore. And I am a believer of Shannon. And I hope something like this never happens again. Coker. Like many have said. He just won off another mans gold in 01,02,03 but when it was his turn we get Kyle Wright and Willie Williams. Man its sad but its the price the program has to pay. Give Shannon some more years. We wont have the streak anymore but we do have the most people drafted in the first round! I just cant wait for Miami to be back! Love the New Canes..good luck the rest of the year. Cane fan from Wa!
That just killed me when I saw Devin Hester in your blog……what an immense waste of talent ! Coker should be horse whipped for the state of this program…..it still makes me sick when I vision him putting his headphones on his forearm and clapping when someone came off the field after screwing up….I’d be yelling at the mistake thru my tv and he’d be saying “we’ll get ’em next time boys.” As a long time follower I am just looking forward to the day when I no longer have to think of him and what he did to our Championship caliber program.
Go ‘Canes
big pimpin
The canes ohh the canes I love them but this is just pitiful all of Miami’s great recruits from the Coker era never panned out Reggie Youngblood, Kyle Wright, Dajleon Farr, Kenny Phillips, Willie Williams, Charlie Jones, Tyler Mcmeans, Akieem Jolla, all 5 star recruits and did any of them get drafted? No none of them panned out lets just hope that the Shannon Era will not be the same.
Hey allcanes, so do you think the lack of development of a lot of the above mentioned players is from a lack of good coaching or is it on the players themselves?
Uhh. Kenny Phillips plays for the Giants. And he was 1st round 31st pick. He was good. One of my favorite players actually. And he is really good for the Giants and he doesn’t even start.
Jeffery – I think the problem is as follows:
Larry Coker recruited poorly. Even if he landed a few kids highly ranked, most didn’t seem like Miami-caliber players. He ignored the south Florida talent, didn’t make inroads with local coaches and didn’t know how to evaluate talent or meet needs. How could Miami be so depleted at QB… WR…etc.?
Coaching is important in the college game. While some players might not push themselves or display the kind of heart you’d like to see, you’re talking 18 to 21 year olds. They need coaching. They need guidance.
Arthur Brown rolled into town a top-ranked linebacker, but coaches have spent much of the season working on his fundamentals and tackling. For some reason he was behind some of the FL kids, coming from KS. He’s being coached up.
A lot of these kids (2004-2005) weren’t coached well, weren’t developed and I’m sure on some level, threw in the towel as many came to Miami when the program was still good and might’ve expected to have things fall into place or just “work” as part of a dynasty.
All the hard work the kids did from 1997-2001 to build a dynasty, the kids between 2004-2006 really let it fall out. Maybe they had a sense of entitlement… or maybe they simply weren’t that good.
What we do know is that the kids Randy has brought in are looking solid only six games into their career. It’s been a while since we’ve seen that type of immediate imapact.
How long did Coker and staff struggle to get Devin Hester involved? Outside of a few specials teams plays as a freshman, he was a non-factor. Saw more action in 2004, but still mostly special teams. Injured a bit in 2005, but still mostly utilized on special teams… until the Peach Bowl where Coker’s last ditch effort to use him on offense (hoping he’d return in 2006) fell flat on its face.
Uhh. Kenny Phillips plays for the Giants. And he was 1st round 31st pick. He was good. One of my favorite players actually. And he is really good for the Giants and he doesn’t even start.
Kenny Phillips came to Miami the nation’s TOP safety product and USA Today defensive player of the year.
Miami coaches said he had “the body of Sean Taylor and the knowledge and speed of Ed Reed”.
#1 prospect in the state and #10 overall player in the country coming out of high school.
Phillips had a good, not great, career at Miami. Based on his accolades, you’d have expected a much better overall collegiate career. He didn’t necessarily live up to the “hype”.
As for being the 31st pick in the first round last year, again, a lot of that was the Miami legacy. Over two dozen first rounders since 2000 and a few have gone to the New York Giants.
Their front office loves Hurricanes and the way Miami kids play, so Phillips was a solid choice for the Super Bowl champs who needed a safety and could reach a little bit.
Based on his collegiate career, Phillips should’ve been an early second rounder, but squeaked into the first round.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xh1tpysFGbs
I made a Hurricanes football tribute video without the gimmicky words and crap. Just enjoy it. I used some of the videos you posted on there from AllCanes. I correctly gave credit for doing such, but it truly made it what it is. Without AllCanes I’d feel empty as an Ohio ‘Canes die-hard. Later! All About The U
Kenny Phillips was one of the most over rated players Miami has had. I would take a lesser recruited Brandon Merriwhether or even a healthy Anthony Reddick over him.
He wasn’t even in the same class as some UM safeties we sometimes forget like Tremain Mack and Charles Pharms.
The bottom line is that K. Phillips consistently played badly against good opposition. He made a game clinching play @ Clemson as a freshman but after that was shaky on a good defense that year- actually a weak link on what was Miami’s last really good D.
Then in 2006 other than the Duke and FIU games he was consistently out of position and seemed to be more effective as a corner or nickel back when he was forced to cover 3rd and 4th WRs.
Phillips positioning was often poor and he took bad angles on potential open field tackles.
I personally was shocked any NFL team would draft him so high.
I look at it this way. These kids from the 2004 & 2005 recruiting classes just came to Miami thinking they'd walk on campus and become 1st round picks just because they where "The U" on their helmets. They had no clue how much hard work guys like Ed Reed, Ken Dorsey, and Jon Vilma put in EVERYDAY.
I know our '08 class knows what it means to be a 'Cane.
305, save this post…MIAMI WILL BE 2010 NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!!!
The problem as I see it is the kids choker brought in dont have the heart or drive to give it 100% in practice or the games.Not one of them became the leader we have been known for.What the Onion has brought in is kids that will bust their ass for Onion and the U.This class will be looked at for many years as the ones that brought the fear back to the U,and for that we have the Onion to thank.In a very short time he will have us back to the top and with him and the type of talent and drive these kids have for the U we wont have the drop off that choker gave us
no excuse!!!Nix got to go
Eric Marino & Ross Abramson? Weren't recruits, they were WALK-ONS.
And why do people keep abslolving Shannon of blame? he had TOATL SAY over every defensive player recruited & deserves more than his share of the blame.
Yes Coker sucked hard, but so did/does Shannon.
allCanes/Canes 305
This isn’t exactly related to this post, but where do you think a win over Wake Forest would put us concerning the Top 25 polls? I understand we have three loses, and I believe there’s only one two-loss team even ranked, but do you think a 3 game win streak, one team being a ranked opponent, would be enough to put us on the cusp?
305, the rumors hear are starting to heat up that Harris is leaving at the end of the season and taking the Northwestern kids with him. They’ve had Omar Kelly and an some other dude that I forgot his name saying that no matter what happens the NW kids are out of here. Especially after Marve still being named the starter after Harris having better games then him.
Have you heard anything of the above mentioned?
This isn’t exactly related to this post, but where do you think a win over Wake Forest would put us concerning the Top 25 polls? I understand we have three loses, and I believe there’s only one two-loss team even ranked, but do you think a 3 game win streak, one team being a ranked opponent, would be enough to put us on the cusp?
Not a chance. Especially after WF was skunked last week by an unranked Maryland team.
I don’t think Miami cracks the polls until 4-3 becomes upwards of 6-3 or 7-3. Not by beating some unranked opponents on deck. WF and VT losing drops them in the rankings, so Miami won’t get much love for beating those teams.
Eric Marino & Ross Abramson? Weren't recruits, they were WALK-ONS. And why do people keep abslolving Shannon of blame? he had TOATL SAY over every defensive player recruited & deserves more than his share of the blame. Yes Coker sucked hard, but so did/does Shannon.
Marino was a JUCO transfer from CA. Did he really move 3,000 miles to walk on? The media guides usually tell you when a kid walks on and nowhere did it say that about Abramson or Marino.
Even if they were walk ons…. so be it. How can the rest of that 2005 or 2004 class be defended?
As for absolving Shannon of recruiting blame in the past, it’s two-fold: (1) the onus of recruiting falls on the head coach, for better or worse and (2) if Shannon was such a disaster under Coker, why is he recruting so well with his own staff? All the players he’s brought on are instant playmakers while some of Coker’s kids never got it together even after four years.
Too early to tell if Shannon “sucks hard”. You can’t make that call after 1.5. years. Everyone thought Butch sucked between 1995-1997 and we saw how that turned out.
Give it time. Shannon inherited a horrible Miami team.
305, the rumors hear are starting to heat up that Harris is leaving at the end of the season and taking the Northwestern kids with him. They’ve had Omar Kelly and an some other dude that I forgot his name saying that no matter what happens the NW kids are out of here. Especially after Marve still being named the starter after Harris having better games then him.
Again I ask, who is “they”? “They” sure talk a lot, don’t “they”?
Where did Omar mention that? Post a link. I want to see it.
That sounds like nothing more than a rumor to me. Why in the f**k would Harris, Spence, Forston and A. Johnson take off when ALL are receiving significant playing time?
Why would they leave the hometown program on the rise, only to sit out all of 2009 and not play again until 2010 — especially if “playing time” is the reason being cited as them taking off?
If they go, they go… but it seems like a ridiculous rumor.
“They” is 790 The Ticket here in Miami. And the program director came out and said that Sid Rosenberg, who initially reported it, was “playfully messing around” and it’s not true. He hasn’t been told by anybody anything of the sort. Not by Omar or his un-named source.
Sorry if you get mad by the questioning but I want to see Miami back on top where they’re supposed to be.
Citizen – Not mad in the least. Things get lost in the translation here sometimes. I just ask who “they” are as everyone seems to have a story… a source… an angle. Just curious where you’d heard that as I don’t listen to sports talk radio and hadn’t read it anywhere.
“They” always seem to start s**t, no matter who “they” are. Only these kids and their folks know what they’re going to do and I can’t see how it makes any sense that ANY of them would transfer.
All are seeing significant playing time — much more than they’d see as freshman anywhere else — and if PT is the issue, how does it make sense to sit out all of 2009 and literally not see the field again for a year and a half?
It’s just frusrating when the rumor mill gets going on crap like this. I’m not saying no kid will ever transfer, but halfway through 2008 when freshman are having such a significant impact on this team, where’s the logic behind any of them leaving?
I’m not asking you that – I’m just posing the question to whoever starts these rumors.
Miami’s recruiting class this year is not very good so far number 17 besides a couple of running backs Miami not even be in the top 25. How do you think Miami’s recruiting class will turn out ?There is no Miami Northwestern out there lets see how Randy Shannon could do.
Hey Kartik, nice observations on Kenny Phillips. You were “shocked that any team would draft him so high”? He’s a freaking beast for the Giants. You’re a great judge of talent. Thank God you are not involved in any player evaluation for any team.
Hey Kartik, nice observations on Kenny Phillips. You were “shocked that any team would draft him so high”? He’s a freaking beast for the Giants. You’re a great judge of talent. Thank God you are not involved in any player evaluation for any team.
I have to agree with Kartik here.
We’re not talking about what Kenny Phillips has become in the NFL. We’re talking about the fact he was such a highly-rated recruit, had a decent career at Miami, had the tools but didn’t have an Ed Reed-like or Sean Taylor-like career at Miami.
Phillips has proven he was first-round talent over time, but during the draft it was a bit of a reach.
Every team passed on him besides the Giants, who were the world champs and could afford to take a slight gamble.
Based on his collegiate playing career he was an early second round pick. Based on how he’s played since getting in the League he’s proven he’s definitely a first rounder.