During the off season, the University of Miami and head coach Randy Shannon agreed to a four year contract extension. Buoyed by his positive impact on and off the field, Shannon has steadily increased the national profile of the Miami football program without compromise. And for those successes, the university in turn awarded him a long overdue deal (Shannon was previously the 10th highest paid coach in the ACC) that should mean a period of extended stability. But the truth is – now more than ever – without significant progress this year (a BCS bowl or ACC title), Shannon will face a do or die season in 2011.
Start the clock – Randy Shannon is officially on the hot seat.
Shannon has two years to return this program to not only an ACC championship level, but also to national title contention. He needs to take the program to heights only previously achieved by venerable Miami coaches like Schnellenberger, Johnson and Erickson. Even Larry Coker, despite his uneven final years, guided Butch Davis’ ultra-talented recruiting classes to one championship (and it could’ve been three, if not for statistical anomalies and one errant yellow flag). Under Shannon’s guidance, the Hurricanes have steadily increased their win totals from 5 to 7 to 9. That is real progress. Is it slower than Hurricane fans would like? Yes. Is it slower than what Nick Saban achieved at Alabama? No doubt. But, it is progress nonetheless, which is why Shannon deserved the extension, and why we are affording him the two years to complete the journey.
Why only two years when his contract calls for four? It’s simple. Shannon has no excuses. He’s done a masterful job at recruiting. He’s stocked his team with talent and depth nearly comparable (but not quite) to the early Coker era. Shannon has assembled a staff of talented coaches including Mark Whipple and John Lovett to run his offensive and defensive strategy. The components for a title run are all in place. Now all he has to do is deliver.
And therein lies the rub.
His three year winning percentage as a head coach is .553. You have to go back to the 1970s with head coach Lou Saban to find a lower winning percentage. Even Butch Davis, with NCAA sanctions hanging over his head and limited scholarships to attract talent, was able to post a .718 winning percentage. You can imagine how much higher that would have been had he stayed on to finish the job rather than bolt for the doomed Cleveland Browns job. The amount of talent Davis assembled was obscene. Sixteen – yes, 16 – players from the 2001 team were taken in the first round of the NFL draft. And that casts a damning light at how precipitous the fall from grace was after Coker took over. This fact more than any other bolsters Shannon’s defense. He had to start from ground level, as Larry Coker’s ineffective recruiting and inability to coach up NFL-quality recruits stripped the cupboards bare of talent.
Three years in, both sides of the line are riddled with blue chip talent. Barring serious injuries, this team should be playing in the ACC title game at season’s end, if not contending for a January bowl game. If you want recent evidence, look no further than 2009 BCS champion Alabama. Four years after completing their own sanctions, Nick Saban led the Tide to an undefeated regular season in 2008 and the title run last year. If Miami suffers more than two losses this year or finds itself out of the running for the ACC, then 2011 essentially turns into a “BCS OR BUST” year. Extensions are signed all the time. Many never reach their expiration date. As you may recall, in September of 2005 the University of Miami rewarded Coach Coker with a five year contract extension. Fourteen months later, he was fired.
Canes Nation is among the most demanding fan bases in college football. Spoiled early by the dominance of the ‘80s and ‘90s, and reinvigorated by the resurgence of the 2000-2002 teams, the expectation is to be in the national title hunt each year. The rumbling has been held to a quiet simmer during the three four-loss seasons of Shannon’s tenure; but the fans, alumni and the board of trustees all believe that anything short of BCS bowls and national title contention is failure. Moreover, the University of Miami is supremely dependent on the additional funding that bowl game payouts provide to help finance the school’s operations and endeavors. Compare the $18 million that each BCS bowl game shells out to participating teams to the $2 million Miami shared with Wisconsin for the 2009 Champs Sports bowl. Beyond team pride and national bragging rights, the financial impact will weigh heavily should it come to a decision of holding onto Shannon or moving on.
If there is a point to emphasize, do NOT confuse the heightened expectations with disdain for Shannon the person. Many know of the tough circumstances of his upbringing and his loss of three siblings to AIDS. He is a testament to success for overcoming and persevering despite the obstacles. He is Miami born and bred, graduating from Miami Norland High and the University of Miami. He has been a part of three national titles as both a player and a coach. Most importantly, he has been a class act and a champion of discipline and decorum on and off the field. With the number of black head coaches in college football at a paltry 10%, Miami proudly boasts the most prestigious program on the list. Anyone who is not rooting for Shannon has a separate agenda or cannot appreciate the magnitude of the man.
We want Randy Shannon to succeed. He is one of our own. It is with excitement and a great deal of hope that we await the start of a new season. The anticipation of success, however fair or not, is tethered to the stinging despair of failure. With expectations ratcheted to an even higher level, an ACC title or a major bowl game win (or both) means Shannon likely has a chance to re-up on a second extension. Fail to contend for either or suffer through another four-plus loss season and the coach’s hot seat starts billowing smoke. Shannon has waded through some tough waters in life. Let’s hope the coaching waters he finds himself in now aren’t boiling by season’s end.
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He will really be on the hot seat when they get smoked by OSU on Sept 11th.
…says ‘Anonymous’ Buckeye fan. Don’t think he’ll be on the hot seat if he loses to OSU then wins out. at Ohio State…at Pitt…at Clemson..FSU…he’s afforded at least one loss in that gauntlet.
I would like Randy Shannon to know that I think he has brought back respect to the UM Football Program and I would like to thank him for that.
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