RANDY SHANNON

Age:  42

School:  Miami

Alma Mater:  Miami, 1991

Conference:  ACC

Salary:  $1,500,000

Official Bio:   www.hurricanesports.com

Years Coaching:  1

Career Record:  5 - 7   .417

Years at School:  1

Record at Miami:  5 - 7   .417

2007 Record:  5 - 7   .417

2007 Cost per Win:  $300,000

Attorney/Agent:  

Contract:      

December 2008 Buyout:  $1,500,000

Coaches Hot Seat Analysis

We have to admit, we don't know a lot about Randy Shannon.  What we do know is that Shannon was a very good football player at Miami and that when he was the defensive coordinator with the Hurricanes they almost always finished in the top 10 in total defense in the country.  Watching Randy Shannon on the sidelines in 2007 we also learned that like most first-time head football coaches, he has a lot of on-the-job learning to do.  Sitting in the booth calling defensive plays is a lot different than being the head football coach leading your team on the sideline, and in '07 Miami certainly suffered from Shannon's inexperience in his new job (By the way, we would encourage all coordinators to work from the sidelines if they possibly can, because that really helps prepare you to be a head coach.  The press box gives coaches a great view of the game, but the sideline is where the action is and where all great football coaches can call plays from).  The 5-7 record by Shannon and the Hurricanes  in '07 was troubling, because in the past 12 seasons under Larry Coker and Butch Davis, Miami only had one losing season (1997), and that was when Davis was rebuilding Miami during a period of NCAA probation.  Another troubling thing was that Miami seemed to get worse as the season wore on, as they finished the year by losing 6 of their last 7 football games.  One thing about Randy Shannon, he certainly knows the importance of recruiting, and he landed a Top 5 class in 2008 according to Rivals.com.  Let's hope some of those all-star recruits can come in and have an immediate impact, because the 2008 schedule is even tougher than last year, and that leads us to our analysis of the upcoming season.

Coaches Hot Seat Bottom Line

We predict that Randy Shannon and Miami will have an 3-9 record in 2008.  You (Randy Shannon) are coming off a 5-7 record at a school (Miami) that expects to win national championships, and right out of the gate (after cupcake Charleston Southern in the first game) you have trips to Florida and Texas A&M.  The Gators look loaded for bear in 2008 and the Swamp will be jumping with the Hurricanes in town, so that looks like a certain loss.  Texas A&M will be working under new coach Mike Sherman, but there is plenty of talent in College Station to beat Miami at home, which leaves Miami at 1-2 after three games.  Next up is a game against old friend and now a direct competitor, with Butch Davis returning to Miami with his Tar Heels team.  Last year UNC beat Miami in a close one, and we see another win for North Carolina this year, with Butch Davis having one more year under his belt in Chapel Hill.  After four games, Miami is 1-3.  One of the few bright spots in 2007 for Miami was beating Florida State in Tallahassee, but we are betting (or are we too confident in Fisher?) that Jimbo Fisher will have more of an impact upon the Seminoles in year two.  We see another close Miami/Florida State matchup, but the Seminoles find a way to win, and Miami is 1-4.  Just when Miami needs a breather, they don't get one as George O'Leary brings his improving UCF team to Miami.  We went back and forth on this game, but we see Miami winning a close one over UCF, which will be a badly needed win for Shannon among the increasingly antsy Miami fans.  A trip to play David Cutcliffe's Duke team in Durham is next, and although we see Cutcliffe fielding a dramatically better Duke team in '08, the sheer talent difference should get Miami the win.  Miami's record after seven games is 3-4.  Wake Forest and Jim Grobe come calling next in Miami, and that is bad news for Shannon and the Hurricanes.  Grobe is building a very strong football program in Winston-Salem, and we see Wake Forest winning this game in convincing fashion. Record at eight games:  3-5.  The Miami fans are really starting to get loud by now, and Randy Shannon knows full well what is expected at the "U" and that makes the next game on the road at Virginia all that more difficult.  In past years, Miami would have walked into Charlottesville and slapped around the Cavaliers, but this is not your momma's Miami team, nor is UVA a walkover under Al Groh.  In another close game we see UVA coming out with the win, and that runs the Miami record to 3-6 after nine games.  By this point, Shannon is determined to really play for the future by getting all of his young freshman and sophomores into key roles, and with three very tough games left on the schedule, Virginia Tech, at Georgia Tech, and at NC State, we see three more losses to end the season.  All of that adds up to 3-9 for Shannon in his second season at Miami, and no doubt the pressure will be on Shannon as he heads for year 3 at the helm of the Hurricanes.  There really is only one thing you can do when you are on the outs in college football, and that is to recruit like a madman, or rather like Nick Saban.  No doubt, Randy Shannon will continue to rope off south Florida for Miami and he will bring in another very good recruiting class in 2009, but a winning record in '09 will be a must, or Shannon is going to find out quickly what he already knows very well, losing is just not tolerated in football at the University of Miami.

2008 Coaches Hot Seat Prediction:        3-9

Will Randy Shannon be back for the 2009 season?       YES