Many of my friends, most of them varsity coaches in Dade County, told me they felt Randy Shannon was the wrong guy for the job. Some of them even stopped being Hurricane fans when he was hired because they felt the program was heading in the wrong direction. Randy Shannon was a good defensive coordinator, they'd say, but not head coach material. Year in and year out, I would find myself wondering if they were correct when I would notice several blunders that even a casual fan could see. To begin with, I felt Shannon handled the Robert Marve/Jacory Harris quarterback competition the wrong way. Reading between the lines, and I could be wrong, I felt Shannon had made promises to both players. After Randy brought in the entire Northwestern team, I thought the writing was already on the wall--Jacory would become the starter.
Then there were the clock management issues. Shannon seemed to use his time-outs at the most inopportune times, leaving the team vulnerable in the last few minutes of games. Why was he taking so many time-outs? Too many men on the field, the wrong personnel on the field, not knowing how to line up against certain offenses, etc. These are things that an organized coach takes care of way before the game on the practice field. As a guy who was a high school coach for a few years, I understand that these things happen. In my first year I found myself calling time-outs all the time. Difference is I was 23 and had no experience in managing a team. Shannon has been around football his whole life and is getting paid a hell of a whole lot more than I was.
Another thing that bothered me about Randy was he always seemed to be so calm on the sidelines. I know ranting and raving during games isn't for everyone (personally, I don't know any other way to behave. I am naturally a loud guy, so as a coach, I stormed up and down the sideline the entire game. Especially when a player would jump offsides or forget their blocking assignment). So when I read this story that Randy Shannon lit into his players after losing to Ohio State, I felt this was something long overdue. He should have done this a very long time ago. He should have done it last year when we lost to Virginia Tech.
People have been making excuses for this team for far too long. I have heard it all from blaming Larry Coker for his poor recruiting to Randy just needs more time to get his guys in place. I am sorry to say this is the Northwestern class' third year and I have seen very little improvement from most of their players. I am not at practice every day but I do watch the games. Where the hell is Tommy Streeter? Why is Aldarius Johnson playing so poorly? We were told these guys would be the next wave of great receivers at the U and we have barely seen anything from either of them. Jacory Harris has been nothing but mediocre at best!
I know it is a sports cliche, but I firmly believe it to be true...a team takes on the personality of their head coach. Attitude is contagious. I am not friends with Randy Shannon, nor am I with the team when they are behind closed doors. Judging from what I see during games, there does not seem to be much urgency from this team. The Miami fans are getting tired of being told to wait. They are tired of being told that this team is too young. Watch the Ohio State game again. We should have won that game.
