Randy Lennard Shannon (born February 24, 1966 in Miami , Florida ) is the former head football coach of the University of Miami Hurricanes .[1]
Early life
Shannon had a difficult childhood. At 3, his father was murdered. At 10, his older, twin brothers became addicted to crack cocaine . His brothers and older sister died of AIDS . Shannon studied at Miami's Norland High School and earned all-state and honorable mention All-America recognition from Street & Smith's as a senior linebacker at Norland. Shannon also competed in basketball, averaging 19 points a game, and competed in the triple jump on the track and field team.
Shannon is a graduate of Miami Norland High School in Miami Gardens, Florida . He played college football for the University of Miami , starting at outside linebacker for the 1987 national championship team .
After graduating in 1988, Shannon played briefly as a linebacker for the Dallas Cowboys .
Coaching career
Early years
Shannon was first hired by Miami coach Dennis Erickson in 1991 to be a graduate assistant . He later became the team's defensive line coach and linebackers coach. Shannon worked as linebackers coach for the Miami Dolphins in 2000 and as a defensive assistant in 1998 and 1999.
In 2001, Miami coach Larry Coker hired Shannon to be the defensive coordinator. That year Shannon received the Broyles Award given annually to the best assistant coach in college football.
During Shannon's six years as UM's defensive coordinator, his defenses ranked as follows in total defense nationally:
- 2001 - 6th
- 2002 - 7th
- 2003 - 2nd
- 2004 - 28th
- 2005 - 4th
- 2006 - 7th
University of Miami Head Coach
Shannon was officially introduced as the head coach of Miami on December 8, 2006, replacing Larry Coker in the position. Shannon reportedly agreed to a four-year deal worth over $4 million. He was the sixth black head coach at the time in Division I-A NCAA football, the others being Kevin Sumlin , (University of Houston ), Sylvester Croom (Mississippi State ), Tyrone Willingham (Washington ), Ron Prince (KSU ), and Turner Gill (Buffalo ). Coker stayed on to coach the team to a 21–20 MPC Computers Bowl victory over the University of Nevada ; Shannon assumed all other functions, including recruiting, immediately upon his hiring.
2007: Debut season
Shannon's first decision as head coach was to remove the players' surnames from their jerseys. This led The Miami Herald to jokingly refer to the team as a "no name offense, no name defense." Fans found the decision made the game more difficult to follow.
The season opened with a victory over Marshall in his first game as head coach. The second game was a 51-13 loss to the University of Oklahoma .
Miami did defeat then-20th ranked Texas A&M in the third game, but then collapsed, losing to unranked North Carolina and, in the Orange Bowl, to unranked Georgia Tech and North Carolina State . One highlight was Miami's fourth quarter comeback against rival Florida State . However, this was offset by the team's embarrassing final appearance ever at the Orange Bowl in which Miami suffered a 48-0 loss against 21st University of Virginia , the worst loss for the program in the history of its play at the Orange Bowl and the worst overall loss since the 1998 'Canes loss at Syracuse (66–13).
Miami finished the season losing to Boston College 28–14. Under Shannon, the team lost 6 out of their 7 last games, finishing with a losing record and failing to qualify for a bowl game for the first time in over a decade.
Two days after the season ended, one of Miami's former players, Sean Taylor , was shot in his home in Miami. Shannon expressed frustration over the media's handling of such incidents, alleging that the coverage made it appear as though the University of Miami is a haven for crime.
2008 season
Prior to the start of the 2008 season, Shannon was ranked dead last in a Sporting News ranking of the 66 BCS head coaches .
Shannon's squad finished the 2008 season with a 7-6 record (4-4 ACC ) and a loss to Cal in the Emerald Bowl . The regular season was highlighted by losses to in-state rivals Florida and Florida State , and a surprising victory over eventual-ACC Champion Virginia Tech . Miami's loss to Florida, was its first in the rivalry since 1985 and snapped a 6-game winning streak over the Gators. After the game, Shannon garnered national media attention when he implicitly accused Florida head coach Urban Meyer of trying to run up the score late in the Gators' 26-3 win and suggested that it was an indictment of Meyer's character that should not go unnoticed by recruits. The 'Canes briefly returned to the Top 25 rankings for the first time since early in the 2006 season before surrendering 472 rushing yards—and 518 yards of total offense—to unranked Georgia Tech in a 41-23 late-November loss that eliminated Miami from ACC Championship contention. Tech's 472 yards on the ground were the second most ever allowed by Miami. The following week, the Hurricanes were defeated at North Carolina State , 38-28, in the final game of the regular season.
Miami then received an invitation to the Emerald Bowl in San Francisco , where the Hurricanes fell 24-17 to Cal. Shannon was widely criticized for the team's clock management in the game.
Off-season turmoil
In the immediate aftermath of the bowl game, Shannon fired his offensive coordinator, Patrick Nix , over philosophical differences. Nix wanted to employ more of a spread attack , whereas Shannon remained committed to Miami's traditional pro style offense . Shannon eventually hired former Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles assistant coach Mark Whipple for the position.
Nix's departure was followed by news that Robert Marve , a redshirt-freshman quarterback who started 11 of Miami's 13 games during the season, asked for a release to transfer to another school. Marve cited a strained relationship with Shannon as his reason for leaving. Shannon granted the request, but initially included broad restrictions blocking Marve from transferring to any school in the ACC, SEC , or state of Florida . After the conditions drew harsh criticism from Marve's father, his former high school coach , and members of the media, Shannon softened his stance somewhat by dropping the blanket SEC prohibition and barring Marve from three SEC schools in particular: Florida , LSU , and Tennessee . In defending the new restrictions, the athletic department alleged that Marve's camp initiated improper contact with the three schools during the season. After a hearing before the university's athletics appeals committee, Eugene Marve claimed that Shannon did not produce any evidence of the allegation and instead argued that allowing the banned transfers would hurt Miami in the "recruiting wars." Ultimately, the committee partially repealed the restrictions, permitting Marve to transfer in-state to either South Florida or Central Florida but upholding the prohibitions on a transfer to Florida, LSU, or Tennessee.
On the heels of the Marve saga, wide receiver Jermaine McKenzie announced that he was transferring to Memphis . McKenzie became the fourth member of Shannon's first recruiting class to transfer out of the program during the off-season, joining Marve, and running back Shawnbrey McNeal.
Shannon's staff suffered more upheaval when defensive coordinator Bill Young left to assume the same position at Oklahoma State , his alma mater, in late January. Young's departure made him the third offensive or defensive coordinator to leave the program during Shannon's two seasons as head coach, joining Nix and former defensive coordinator Tim Walton, both of whom were fired. North Carolina assistant John Lovett was hired to replace Young in February.
The off-season losses continued when freshmen backup quarterbacks Cannon Smith and Taylor Cook both asked to be released from their scholarships just before the start of the 2009 season.
2009 Season
Randy Shannon's Hurricanes did show improvement in the 2009 season, in which the canes finished with a record of 9-4. The Canes started out the season with an impressive 3-1 record against a tough group of four ranked opponents. The Hurricanes did go on to drop two regular season games following the impressive start, and ended with a disappointing loss in their bowl against Wisconsin. Even with the four tough losses, Shannon's teams have shown an improvement of at least two wins per season every year he's been the head coach. Following Mi
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