Flo-Rida
11-13-2007, 02:43 PM
Free pass for UM's Shannon? Let's examine
Posted on Tue, Nov. 13, 2007Digg del.icio.us AIM reprint print email
BY ISRAEL GUTIERREZ
[email protected]
JARED LAZARUS / MIAMI HERALD STAFF
Has UM coach Randy Shannon been able to escape criticism for this year's failures?
WEB VOTE
Should Randy Shannon be held accountable for UM's failures this season?
Absolutely! He's the head coach, it falls on him
No, this mess came from Larry Coker's recruits
No, it's his first year, be patient and give him some time
Yes, he helped recruit some of these players
Who cares, this year doesn't count. 2008 at Dolphin Stadium baby!!!
Your vote has been counted, thank you for voting.
UM GAME CHANGE
The University of Miami announced Monday that its Nov. 24 football game at Boston College will begin at noon and will be televised by either ESPN2 or ESPNU.
Even through the annoying confetti, the 1980s-style laser light show and the even more outdated radio highlight clips that followed the Hurricanes' final game at the Orange Bowl, 48-0 was hard to overlook.
It wasn't the type of history the Hurricanes were supposed to make on the night a historic building was playing host to its UM football finale.
But there were those numbers, 48-0, shocking your system like three consecutive cans of Red Bull.
And who walked away from that mess cleanly, not a leaf of confetti on his body, not a smudge of criticism on his white and green polo?
Randy Shannon, the head coach of the 2008 Hurricanes, who some forget was actually hired to manage this current group of Canes as well.
This shouldn't be considered a scathing assessment of a job poorly done, and certainly not a call for a head coach with 10 weeks of experience to even come close to losing his job.
It's just a chance to point out, especially after 48-0, that there are at least a few concerns about the coach who has been given the ultimate free pass in his rookie season.
College football is hardly as cutthroat as the professional version of the sport when it comes to coaching, with college coaches normally given at least a three-year window for the natural turnover process to take place before any serious judgment is passed. It's why Shannon's critics, if there even are any, have been easily muted by the sounds of highly touted recruits committing themselves to Shannon and ``the U.''
But consider for a second the contrasting experiences of Shannon and rookie Dolphins head coach Cam Cameron.
Cameron's Dolphins were not considered a playoff team in the preseason. At best, most considered the Dolphins would flirt with .500 and Cameron would improve an offense that hadn't been consistently good since Dan Marino.
And now, after nine losses, zero wins and a handful of questionable personnel decisions, Cameron has gone from honeymoon period to dodging poisonous darts about as quickly as any coach in South Florida history.
Shannon's Hurricanes, on the other hand, were considered a potential top-25 team before the season began. The Canes even fooled enough sports journalists (guilty!) and college head coaches into believing they were one of the 30 or so best teams in the country as late as Week 5 of the season.
And now, after a 5-5 season, including losses to North Carolina, North Carolina State, Georgia Tech and, of course, 48-0 to Virginia, Shannon's first season has been arguably as disappointing as that of the Dolphins. And most are now assuming that 5-7 and a bowl-free season are inevitable.
And what does Shannon hear? Calls for his job, like Cameron? Not even close. Shannon continues to be praised for getting the recruits, especially the local high school stars, to commit to him and the university to begin the turnaround process.
But the 10-game Shannon experience so far has to have tempered some of that excitement at least a little, has it not?
If the ultimate measure of a good coach is whether he can get the most out of his team, regardless of talent level, then Shannon has yet to prove his value as a head coach. He has taken a mediocre pool of players this season and turned it into something resembling quite bad. So who's to say he will take a more talented group in the next few years into something resembling great, which is the only standard this university will accept.
Among the red flags that have been mostly overlooked this season are, like Cameron, Shannon's questionable quarterback decisions.
If you recall, Shannon is the coach who chose Kirby Freeman as the starter to open the season, insisting he gave the team the best opportunity to win games. Maybe that was just Shannon's affinity for the underdog speaking, but the season has long ago proved that Kyle Wright was the best man for this team.
Those ''flat'' starts to games that Larry Coker was constantly taking blame for have reappeared this season, most notably in a loss to Butch Davis' Tar Heels, and in 48-0, both games in which the Canes had reason to be additionally motivated.
Shannon also has a tendency to place blame directly on his players for losses, taking almost none of it for himself or the coaching staff. In a college sports world where student-athletes are at least partially insulated from harsh criticisms, Shannon hasn't shown much of an interest in doing as much for his players.
Combine that practice with his constant talk about future Hurricanes, and it at least sends signals that Shannon has already looked past this group of Canes, despite what he has said to the contrary after each of the recent losses.
And perhaps it's convenient analysis, but 48-0 also indicates that some of his players have noticed that about their coach and responded, consciously or subconsciously, with incomplete efforts.
It probably doesn't help that Shannon chose inexperienced coordinators (defensive coordinator Tim Walton was strictly a defensive backs coach before taking this post, and offensive coordinator Patrick Nix only called plays for one season under Georgia Tech head coach Chan Gailey before Shannon hired him to handle this offense) that can't make up for any rookie head coaching errors.
It is a guarantee the Hurricanes will be more talented over the next few years. But based on the previous 10 games, there doesn't seem to be a guarantee that Shannon will turn that into UM-like success.
Let's remember, Coker got canned because of his weak recruiting classes and inability to maintain discipline. But he still won the ultimate prize when provided the talent. Who's to say Shannon can do the same when his roster is loaded?
Posted on Tue, Nov. 13, 2007Digg del.icio.us AIM reprint print email
BY ISRAEL GUTIERREZ
[email protected]
JARED LAZARUS / MIAMI HERALD STAFF
Has UM coach Randy Shannon been able to escape criticism for this year's failures?
WEB VOTE
Should Randy Shannon be held accountable for UM's failures this season?
Absolutely! He's the head coach, it falls on him
No, this mess came from Larry Coker's recruits
No, it's his first year, be patient and give him some time
Yes, he helped recruit some of these players
Who cares, this year doesn't count. 2008 at Dolphin Stadium baby!!!
Your vote has been counted, thank you for voting.
UM GAME CHANGE
The University of Miami announced Monday that its Nov. 24 football game at Boston College will begin at noon and will be televised by either ESPN2 or ESPNU.
Even through the annoying confetti, the 1980s-style laser light show and the even more outdated radio highlight clips that followed the Hurricanes' final game at the Orange Bowl, 48-0 was hard to overlook.
It wasn't the type of history the Hurricanes were supposed to make on the night a historic building was playing host to its UM football finale.
But there were those numbers, 48-0, shocking your system like three consecutive cans of Red Bull.
And who walked away from that mess cleanly, not a leaf of confetti on his body, not a smudge of criticism on his white and green polo?
Randy Shannon, the head coach of the 2008 Hurricanes, who some forget was actually hired to manage this current group of Canes as well.
This shouldn't be considered a scathing assessment of a job poorly done, and certainly not a call for a head coach with 10 weeks of experience to even come close to losing his job.
It's just a chance to point out, especially after 48-0, that there are at least a few concerns about the coach who has been given the ultimate free pass in his rookie season.
College football is hardly as cutthroat as the professional version of the sport when it comes to coaching, with college coaches normally given at least a three-year window for the natural turnover process to take place before any serious judgment is passed. It's why Shannon's critics, if there even are any, have been easily muted by the sounds of highly touted recruits committing themselves to Shannon and ``the U.''
But consider for a second the contrasting experiences of Shannon and rookie Dolphins head coach Cam Cameron.
Cameron's Dolphins were not considered a playoff team in the preseason. At best, most considered the Dolphins would flirt with .500 and Cameron would improve an offense that hadn't been consistently good since Dan Marino.
And now, after nine losses, zero wins and a handful of questionable personnel decisions, Cameron has gone from honeymoon period to dodging poisonous darts about as quickly as any coach in South Florida history.
Shannon's Hurricanes, on the other hand, were considered a potential top-25 team before the season began. The Canes even fooled enough sports journalists (guilty!) and college head coaches into believing they were one of the 30 or so best teams in the country as late as Week 5 of the season.
And now, after a 5-5 season, including losses to North Carolina, North Carolina State, Georgia Tech and, of course, 48-0 to Virginia, Shannon's first season has been arguably as disappointing as that of the Dolphins. And most are now assuming that 5-7 and a bowl-free season are inevitable.
And what does Shannon hear? Calls for his job, like Cameron? Not even close. Shannon continues to be praised for getting the recruits, especially the local high school stars, to commit to him and the university to begin the turnaround process.
But the 10-game Shannon experience so far has to have tempered some of that excitement at least a little, has it not?
If the ultimate measure of a good coach is whether he can get the most out of his team, regardless of talent level, then Shannon has yet to prove his value as a head coach. He has taken a mediocre pool of players this season and turned it into something resembling quite bad. So who's to say he will take a more talented group in the next few years into something resembling great, which is the only standard this university will accept.
Among the red flags that have been mostly overlooked this season are, like Cameron, Shannon's questionable quarterback decisions.
If you recall, Shannon is the coach who chose Kirby Freeman as the starter to open the season, insisting he gave the team the best opportunity to win games. Maybe that was just Shannon's affinity for the underdog speaking, but the season has long ago proved that Kyle Wright was the best man for this team.
Those ''flat'' starts to games that Larry Coker was constantly taking blame for have reappeared this season, most notably in a loss to Butch Davis' Tar Heels, and in 48-0, both games in which the Canes had reason to be additionally motivated.
Shannon also has a tendency to place blame directly on his players for losses, taking almost none of it for himself or the coaching staff. In a college sports world where student-athletes are at least partially insulated from harsh criticisms, Shannon hasn't shown much of an interest in doing as much for his players.
Combine that practice with his constant talk about future Hurricanes, and it at least sends signals that Shannon has already looked past this group of Canes, despite what he has said to the contrary after each of the recent losses.
And perhaps it's convenient analysis, but 48-0 also indicates that some of his players have noticed that about their coach and responded, consciously or subconsciously, with incomplete efforts.
It probably doesn't help that Shannon chose inexperienced coordinators (defensive coordinator Tim Walton was strictly a defensive backs coach before taking this post, and offensive coordinator Patrick Nix only called plays for one season under Georgia Tech head coach Chan Gailey before Shannon hired him to handle this offense) that can't make up for any rookie head coaching errors.
It is a guarantee the Hurricanes will be more talented over the next few years. But based on the previous 10 games, there doesn't seem to be a guarantee that Shannon will turn that into UM-like success.
Let's remember, Coker got canned because of his weak recruiting classes and inability to maintain discipline. But he still won the ultimate prize when provided the talent. Who's to say Shannon can do the same when his roster is loaded?