Earlier this week, football head coach Randy Shannon was fired after what many feel was a disappointing four-year tenure. He was 28-22 in his career, 0-2 in bowl games and 4-9 versus ranked opponents. He improved in each of his first three seasons winning five, seven and nine games respectively but regressed in 2010 (7-5). Below are the top 10 reasons why many Canes will not miss Randy Shannon.
10) “The Process”
Shannon always spoke about how rebuilding UM to a national championship-caliber program would be a “process” that will take time and patience. He improved the players’ Academic Progress Reports and graduation rates and only dealt with one off-field arrest, but he was never able to translate his off-field success on to the gridiron. Meanwhile, Nick Saban was 40-11 in his first four years at Alabama and Urban Meyer was 44-9 in his first four years at Florida.
9) His relationship with the media
Shannon has never been deemed a media darling. He was always very terse and never disclosed injuries. He was very introverted and kept to himself. He left reporters’ notebooks dry as a bone. Also, he would often shield players from talking to the press.
8) Greentree Practice All-Americans
It was common for players to perform well in practice but not be able to translate their skills on the field. Tight end Chase Ford drew comparisons to Jeremy Shockey and Kellen Winslow Jr. over the summer, but was demoted to third-string tight end after ineffectiveness. A couple of spring seasons ago, Shannon compared safety Vaughn Telemaque to future hall-of-famer Ed Reed.
7) Ability to Fly Around
Only birds can fly… and UM football players. One of Shannon’s favorite sayings was “the guys are flying around making plays.” Unfortunately, however, the players weren’t flying to the end zone enough on game days.
6) 140 sins
Shannon banned Twitter accounts from all UM players after Miami’s loss to Ohio State in mid-September. Who knew 140 characters could have such an impact on student athletes? SMH.
5) Inability to Maximize Talent
Pulling talent out of his or her players is any coach’s main responsibility- to take what he or she has and make it great. Miami has 23 players that at one point were ranked in the ESPNU 150 in high school. Miami had the number one recruiting class in 2008… and has nothing to show for it.
4) The Extremity Report
After four years, many fans still might not know what an “extremity” is. Occasionally, Shannon would mix things up and say “head” or “illness” but his descriptions of injuries (or lack thereof) left many clueless.
3) Inconsistencies
The team was consistently inconsistent. Miami struggled against Duke and lost to lowly Virginia and South Florida. But this same team came out with swagger and crushed Georgia Tech and North Carolina. It simply played down to its competition.
2) Excuses
Excuses were common. Some included a tough schedule, injuries, the youth of the players, the adjustments that had to be made to new coordinators and bad weather. The one that baffles Cane nation was when he said Duke is a tough place to play and walking 150 yards to Duke’s stadium makes a big difference.
1) Bad Losses
There was an ample amount of demoralizing and heartbreaking losses these past couple of years. The one that sticks out to every Cane fan was the 48-0 debacle in 2007 which was the final game at the historic Orange Bowl. Miami also allowed 472 rushing yards to Georgia Tech in one game, lost by 28 at home to Florida State this year, trailed to Duke at halftime last year and lost to last place Virginia this year and shockingly lost to USF at home when the Bulls had a freshman walk-on quarterback engineer a fourth-quarter comeback.
Justin Antweil may be contacted at jantweil@themiamihurricane.com.