Published Apr 28, 2007

The Right Man for the Job, Randy Shannon

When the University of Miami finally put Larry Coker and Hurricane Football fans out of their misery by relieving Coker of his coaching duties after six season at the helm, there was much debate within the program and nationally as to just who would replace Coker, who finished at UM with an overall mark of 60-15, and a national championship in 2001.

Many factions desired an individual from outside the program to take over the Hurricane sidelines. Names
like Steve Spurrier, Greg Schiano and Mike Leach were mentioned. But when it was all said and done, Miami looked within and tabbed their long-time defensive coordinator Randy Shannon to lead the Hurricanes.

Some yearned for new blood from the outside to inject a fresh perspective into a program that had grown
stale under Coker. Yet, three men - Melvin Bratton, Roland Smith and Claude Jones - who played and won
national titles with Shannon during his days as a smart, heady linebacker at Miami believe that the
Hurricanes have found the right man.

"I actually recruited him - Tolbert Bain and myself,” recalled Bratton, who lettered at UM from 1984-87 and was a standout fullback during his days in the orange and green. "A funny story: he was actually about to go to the University of Missouri. They were recruiting him very hard and I kind of leaned into him and told him this would be the best opportunity for him to play and just stay home."

Their efforts were fortified with the help of a Miami assistant coach. "Joe Brodsky, who's no longer here, pretty much worked at the school at the time and m.f.'ed him and told him he would never be nothing, never amount to anything and he's a piece of crap. Joe Brodsky ripped him in school - he was working part-time at Norland Sr. High School," Bratton recalled. "So when I told Joe he (Randy) was going to Mizzou, he ripped him and Brodsky went to the school the next day and he was in his class and laid into him. So Randy ended up changing his mind after that blessing."

Shannon would eventually find his way to Coral Gables and become a four year letterman at Miami, and an
integral part of the 1987 title team that would go 12-0. In his senior year in 1988 he was given the Christopher Plummer Award for most inspirational player. After getting drafted in the 11 th round by his
old, new coach, Jimmy Johnson, and the Dallas Cowboys in 1989, he would become the first rookie to start at outside linebacker for the Cowboys since 1963.

By 1991, he would join Dennis Erickson's staff as a graduate assistant. He was quickly moved up to defensive line coach the following season before teaching the linebackers for the next five campaigns. He would then move onto the NFL and work as a defensive assistant for the Miami Dolphins from 1998-99 before making his way back to UM in 2000 as the linebackers coach. As Coker was selected to replace Butch Davis as the head coach after the 2000 season, Shannon was then elevated to the position of defensive coordinator. He would win the Frank Broyles Award in his rookie season, leading the defense as the nation’s top assistant, and his units have annually been among the country’s best.

Shannon is a man of Miami, and a Hurricane at heart. "He's been through the era of Jimmy Johnson when he first got there, he's been through Dennis Erickson, he coached there," said Bratton, retracing his lineage. "He's been through the Butch Davis era, he's been through all the coaches and he's actually seen the program grow. Those championships, he's a part of them, a majority of them.

"The experience with the Dolphins kind of got him to this point. I recall him calling me about that job. He
hated it. He hated coaching pros. So that's one thing we don't have to worry about - him going to the next
level. He's going to stay college because he feels that the (NFL) players really didn't listen. They didn't
take the coaching bright eyed and bushy-tailed. They have all the answers at that level. He enjoyed the
fact that he wanted to coach the guys who wanted to listen, who wanted to get better. And that was a real
pet peeve of his. He wanted to help kids prosper. So what makes him the best guy for the job, he bleeds the
colors, he bleeds the attitude, he believes the whole deal. So he's going to bring back the competition
factor that we had back in the days. As far as, if a guy gets hurt back in our era, you may have never
touched the field again."

Roland Smith, a reliable cornerback at Miami from 1986-90, who is a head coach himself at prep powerhouse Miami Northwestern Senior High School, remembers his former teammate being a coach on the field during their time at Greentree Practice Field.

"I remember him being so sharp as a player when he played with me," Smith remembered. "And you envisioned him being a coach one day because he not only knew his position but the other guys’ around him. That makes a great player. He studied film real well while he was in school. He was committed to the film sessions and he was always knowledgeable about the game. When he had film sessions or skull sessions a lot of times Dave Wannstadt, who was our defensive coordinator, would go up the front of the board and call Randy up to go over the scouting report, what to look for and everything else. And he used to do a tremendous job for us. And we always used to call him 'Coach Shannon' from then. So you knew one day he would be an excellent coach."

Agreeing with those recollections is Claude Jones, who from 1987 to 1991 played offensive line at Miami and was a part of three championship squads. "First of all, I remember him as a solid person. Honest, with integrity, a stand-up type of guy. Next I remember him as a solid leader," said Jones, who now works in the field of sports medicine. "He was a solid teammate. He would take the defense into his hands and basically get everyone in line, call the shots and make sure the call was right.”

Jones wasn't surprised at how quickly the 41-year-old Shannon ascended up the coaching ranks. "Because even during his playing days he was developing coaching skills at that point. And it takes a lot to move up the ranks from volunteer to graduate assistant to assistant coach. Once you pay your dues that way and you've been through the NFL and then you come back to UM, now you have the experience on both levels. So I think that's going to make him a solid overall coach."

While many pundits wanted someone from the outside to come in, Jones felt they had their guy all along
inside the Hecht Center. "Oh, absolutely, without a doubt, if it wasn't Randy it should've been one of the other coaches who've been there. Randy is basically part of the program. He grew through the program, he played there, he coached there. He understands what it takes to win and the winning mentality. And not only that, he understands the community. He understands recruiting and what it takes to recruit the best players."

It's clear that Shannon had to change two things that had festered at the Coker Country Club of Coral
Gables: re-establishing recruiting dominance in Dade County, and the culture within the program.

So far, the early signs are positive. After salvaging this most recent recruiting haul in February, Shannon,
unlike his predecessor, seems to be putting up a fence around South Florida with his energetic staff and
they’re guarding it like junkyard dogs. "I think some of the top players have looked out and far to go to a school," said Smith, who has had more than a few blue-chip recruits play for his Northwestern Bulls. "Where back in the day, every top player in Dade County wanted to be a Cane. And we got to get that back. That's something he's going to shoot back by, to make sure he brings back the exciting type of football that the community and everybody in the nation is used to seeing. High-scoring offense, being able to run and throw the ball, keep teams off-balance, being physical up front and playing swarming defense and making plays."

Bratton adds, "That's one of his priorities, and I've spoken to him on numerous occasions, there are too
many kids leaving. You got CJ Spiller up at Clemson, that other fast kid, Jacoby Ford. There are so many
players all over the country. Louisville, I see all those players from Florida. There is no way in the world that those people can come into the state and take these kids out of here. Somebody is not doing their homework as far as getting the type of talent out of here."

Then there is the issue of discipline, accountability and toughness - things sorely lacking during Coker's tenure as head coach. But real competition, fortified with a stout depth chart can foster that, naturally. "That's why Randy is there," stated Bratton, who is now a sports agent, representing Laurence Maroney and
Vernon Davis, among others NFL'ers. "He will bring that back. He will be recruiting five of the top wideouts, he will recruit the top five running backs, two or three guys will pan out, one guy will transfer but the competition factor - we don't have that second- and third-team guy pushing the starters or the third-team guys trying to get on the field and push the second- or first -team guy. We battled."

"It's a competition mentality," adds Jones, "and you need that to give your starters an incentive to play well. The starters need to know that the guy behind you is just as good and he's pushing you. And if you're not playing well, he's going to play. I think that over the past few years there hasn't been that accountability. If a guy is not playing well, you're going to sit on the bench and the next guy’s going to come in. So they just continued to stay with the same guys who weren't giving effort. I think that's going to change with Randy."

While Shannon has been guarded on certain issues - such as the quarterback debate being waged between Kyle Wright and Kirby Freeman - he's been very clear on other things. As an example, players with less than a 2.5 GPA have to live on-campus, no questions asked. Players who don't meet weight requirements will not play. Firearms will not be permitted on his team. The law has been laid down. Again, the country club has been closed down.

"I think bringing back the culture is a must," Jones said. "I think Randy understands what it took for us
to win. And we won with discipline, hard work and we won through understanding and accepting what the coaches were teaching us. So I think coming up through the program the way we had it before, he's going to bring that to the table. He's going to bring that discipline back and that's needed but he's also going to bring back that aggressive style that we need."

Like Bratton, Jones and Smith, Shannon was recruited by Jimmy Johnson to come to Miami. "I'm quite sure he's going to do some of the things Jimmy had done while he was here at UM and try and make sure the kids are doing the right thing, as far as going to class, hitting the books and being accountable in every phase of being a student-athlete," said Smith, who led the 1989 national champs in interceptions with six. "Because that was one big thing that Jimmy told him and us as players, that we have to be accountable for everything that we do when we wear that 'U' on our helmet. Whether that's going to class or being the best
possible football layer you can be to help us win games."

What took place last season, a depressing 7-6 record, disgusted many of its past gridiron greats. "Disgusted," said Bratton, with emphasis, "is not the word. To go to Boise and play that bowl game in
that cold weather - that was disgusting. That's why I didn't even watch that game."

'That game' that Bratton speaks of would be the MPC Computers Bowl that took place on New Years Eve in Boise, Idaho against Nevada, a four-loss WAC team that Miami was fortunate to defeat in Coker’s last game as Miami's head coach.

It was during Coker’s last few years as head coach that so much was made of just what an untenable job Miami was with its high expectations, unrealistic fan base and sub-par facilities. But it's interesting - since Shannon ’s hiring and the subsequent moves he has made, the talk of inferior facilities hasn't been nearly as loud. Again, maybe the culture within the program is more important than a state-of-the-art weight room and a fancy players’ lounge - just ask the Oregon Ducks.

"It's a combination of both," Bratton concedes. "With a lot of these kids that's what they sell. Like if Cadillac comes out with a new car, they're going to sell the 'Never Lost System' into the car. So you've
got to look at the overall sell. And so these kids are going to three or four other universities and they
come to Miami, and the Texas A&M's of the world are showing indoor tracks, showing the offices, players’ lounges, big sofa chairs - we don't have that.

"Back then we didn't have it. But even now we don't have that. So it's comparing apples to oranges and you
can see the difference in facilities. A lot of the kids go for that. It's show and tell." But what Miami can 'show and tell' is what they have in the past - an exciting and fun brand of football that attracted the best talent across the nation.

So how long will it take Shannon to get to that point?

"We're going to support him. He should have at least a three year window to really get his guys in, his
classes in and get rid of all this slacker stuff," stated Bratton. "What he needs to do is take some scholarships, take them from some kids and get the dead weight out of there."

Starting with Coker, that has already begun.

 

BULLISH ON NORTHWESTERN

Last year Smith's Northwestern squad went 15-0 in the highly competitive 6A classification of Florida
football, winning the state title. Many observers considered that unit among the most talented in the
country. Smith, a Miami Northwestern alumnus, believes it's the best team the school has ever produced.

"I must say so," he admitted. "People ask me about this team during the course of the season but you
couldn't really evaluate it until the end of the season because I didn't want to say anything to take away from those great teams that came from Dade County.” It should be noted that this is Smith’s second team from Miami Northwestern to go wire-to-wire. “But the scores, the way we beat people this year and the way we played consistent all year long and stayed focused with the talent we have on this team, I must say it's by far one of the best teams I've seen in Dade County."

The 2007 edition of the Bulls should be even better as they bring back a star-studded cast led by a bevy of blue-chippers: Marcus Fortson, Aldarius Johnson, Sean Spence, Ben Jones, Tommy Streeter, Jacory Harris and transfer Brandon Washington, who will all be recruited by the collegiate super powers across the country. Washington has already made a verbal commitment to Miami.

Most of these players will be recruited by Miami, but others will not be offered full rides if they don't have the academic requirements. “You have to be a student-athlete when you step into the school system because the time you step onto that campus and you're trying to go somewhere, you have to buckle down on your grades as soon as you step into the Sr. High School and a lot of kids have been doing that, especially in my program," says Smith. "I reiterate that to them because that's the most important thing. If you want to excel and have an opportunity to go to the next level, you have to sell yourself, not only on the football field but also in the classroom."

 

 

Steve Kim is a frequent contributor on CanesOverHere.com and runs his own website, Maxboxing.com. He can be reached at k9kim@yahoo.com

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