Shannon Says Miami On "Upward Movement"

Miami first year head coach Randy Shannon is no stranger to the Miami Hurricanes. Shannon helped the Miami Hurricanes win three national championships. Now he'll try to reverse their decline. Shannon, a former Hurricanes linebacker and their defensive coordinator since 2001, was chosen to replace Larry Coker as head coach after the Hurricanes went 7-6 in 2006. "I deserved a shot," Shannon said. "I'm going have a lot of fun with it." He may not be having as much fun with the Canes at 4-3 and headed to a showdown with the Noles.

Miami President Donna E. Shalala says this about Shannon. "Randy Shannon is Miami -- tough, disciplined, smart, caring, passionate, enthusiastic, and no-nonsense. He has been preparing himself for a head coaching position his whole life and I am very happy that the opportunity came at the University of Miami, his alma mater."

In his six seasons as defensive coordinator, the Hurricanes had seven All-America players (and he tutored eight other All-Americans as a position coach). He coached 13 defensive players who were selected in the first round of the NFL draft in the last six years. As a player, Shannon was a member of five teams that went to bowl games (including one as a redshirt freshman). He has coached in 11 bowl games.

"This is my dream job. It always has been," Shannon said. "This program is not at a standstill. The program is not on a down slide. We are on an upward movement. As a coach, you want a challenge. I want somebody to say that I can't do it. If I hear `I can't,' I'm going to prove you wrong. Nobody can ever tell you that you cannot achieve what you want. That's what I believe in.

Shannon does say all the right things. "We're going to do a lot of great things here for the community, for the school, and for the football program," he says. "We're going to have accountability, discipline, and a lot of emotion to do the right things. Being at Miami, the expectations are always high. Players come to Miami because they know they will always have an opportunity to win the national championship. If you settle for less, you're going to become less. We're going to have a lot of fun. And we're going to win." Time will tell if he can meet those goals.