Shannon steering Miami in the right direction

By Lee Roberts  |   Thursday, February 19, 2009  |  Comments( 2 )

Miami Hurricanes
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The University of Miami football’s bad boy imagine is quickly coming to an end. Head coach Randy Shannon always talked the talk as a disciplinarian, but he’s now proving those words aren’t hollow.

After winning five straight games to take the lead in the ACC Coastal Division, the youthful Hurricanes stumbled down the stretch and finished 7-6 after losing to Cal in the Emerald Bowl last season. Unfortunately, the disappointing finish to the season continued when the Robert Marve saga turned into a soap opera.

A highly touted recruit, Marve missed the season opener thanks to a suspension for an off-field incident, but he appeared to set those issues behind as the Canes’ starting quarterback throughout most of the campaign. Unfortunately for Marve, those issues reappeared late in the season and he was suspended again for the team's bowl game.

After the season, Marve decided he didn’t want to deal with Shannon’s iron fist, so the school granted his release but restricted the schools to which he could transfer. Those restrictions were eventually loosened but not removed, and credit should go to Shannon for not putting one player above the program.

Shannon recently exercised that same toughness in dealing with star recruit Bryce Brown -- who verbally committed to Miami but has yet to sign under the influence of some suspicious handlers who have said he might head to the Canadian Football League. Shannon and Miami have reportedly rescinded their scholarship offer to Brown, saying that one player isn’t bigger than the university.

Players like Marve and Brown expect to be treated like royalty because they can play football well. Fortunately for Miami, it has a head coach who will not tolerate insubordination and the program will benefit from that attitude. While a few recruits or players may be scared off, Shannon has done an excellent job finding players to buy into his system, as evidenced by a recruiting class that was ranked seventh by ESPN.com.

Miami’s tradition is one of high performance on the field but questionable character off it. While every program is going to have a few kids misbehave – after all, they’re college students – Shannon is doing his part to make sure his Hurricanes excel both on and off the field.
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About Lee Roberts

Born in Richmond, Va, I moved south to UNC-Chapel Hill for college and received a degree in Journalism and Mass Communication. I currently live in Charlotte, NC and cover Auburn, LSU and the ...
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