This is what one of the Scout guys put up when it looked like BMFP was going to hire Shannon:
Hey guys,
I see that you're on the verge of hiring Randy Shannon as DC. Having covered the Canes and their recruiting efforts for Scout since Shannon was first hired at Miami in 2001, I wanted to share some insight on him as a coach/recruiter.
early years:
When he first got the job under Larry Coker in 2001, he was given the keys to the most talented defensive roster probably in the history of college football. Guys like Sean Taylor, Antrel Rolle, and Rocky McIntosh couldn't even see the field that year. The Canes had the most talented unit in America in his first three years on the job and he did a very good job with it. They were ranked in the top 10 each year and they created pressure, forced turnovers, and were tough to score against. Those three units produced nine first round draft picks.
later years:
In 2004, all of Butch Davis' recruits were gone and the Coker/Shannon kids took over. That began a steady decline in production. His 04 unit was exposed a few times, giving up 30+ points 3 or 4 times that year. Bobby Petrino brought his Louisville team in and hung 500+ yards and 38 points on them. In 2005 his unit ranked pretty high but they didn't see a top 30 offense until, LSU at the end of the season and the Tigers hung 40 points on them.
as head coach:
He became head coach in 2007 and his defenses were always solid but unspectacular. They never had a top 20 unit but averaged 28th in the country in his 4 years. That was with three DCs (the first one he hired was fired after 1 season and is now an asst with the Detroit Lions and the 2nd one left to Okie State after one year. His third one is now ST coach with the Hartford Colonials of the CFL). He had the same LB (the only UM coach retained after Golden got the current job) and DB (now at Vandy) coaches in those 4 years and two DL coaches (one is now at Louisville and the other at Duke).
coaching style:
Shannon had a philosophy and stuck with it the whole time. He was almost stubborn at times. He loves playing man, cover 2. He rarely blitzes (which is why his first DC didn't last). He relies heavily on his front 4 to generate pressure. The MLB runs the show, and he always put his smartest and most experienced LB there, often moving over a senior from the outside. His defenses give up a lot of yards between the 20s and then get real tough in the redzone. His units were geared towards not giving up big plays. Opposing offenses ran the ball with success but rarely made big plays in the passing game, which limited their yards and touchdowns. As a result, his defenses were always among the best in pass efficiency numbers.
personnel:
He loves the prototypes. If a 5-10 MLB who was first team all-state and an athletic phenom wanted to come, forget it. Ask Brian Rolle (Ohio State and now the Eagles). Same with 5-9 corners (ask Purdue's AA Ricardo Allen). Size/speed/athleticism were far more important to him than playmaking ability/football IQ/instincts. As a result, his units always looked great coming off the bus. They looked great in pre-games and often times a lot of his players wound up in the NFL despite below average college careers (see GB corner Sam Shields, who never started a game under Shannon in college). He'll assemble a very talented unit, no doubt. 6-5 defensive ends, 6-2 linebackers, and 6-0 corners are very common under Shannon.
recruiting:
His evaluations were always so/so. A lot of south Florida kids who wanted to be Canes werent offered and are now playing in the league (the Lions have 3 on their starting defense alone). He was, however, good in the home and with parents -- especially those without father figures (a large portion of the top recruits). He was able to change some minds (Jon Beason grew up a huge Florida State fan, for example). He doesn't put much emphasis on summer camps. Rarely did they have good turnouts and rarely did they make many new offers after them. He puts a huge emphasis on recruiting kids from winning programs. If they're choosing between two similar kids, the one who won 2 state titles will get the offer all day over the one who played on a losing team in HS. He doesn't recruit many kids. At Miami, he rarely spent any time recruiting OOS kids who weren't interested in Miami. Maybe that will change now that he doesn't have a home recruiting base like south Florida but he focused mainly on kids who already had some interest. Schools are allowed to host 56 kids for visits. At Miami, they rarely had more than 35 come in. Some coaches will try changing a lot of minds. Shannon, instead, focuses on building the relationships and convincing the kids who are already interested.
His teams will be tough to score against in the redzone. They'll be tough to gain big plays against. He'll probably put together a pretty talented unit before long. And his kids genuinely like him.
I wish him well. I think it'll be a good fit under Petrino since they've competed against one another in the past. It'll be very interesting to see how well he does in the SEC. Any follow up questions to this, just ask away!
Mike Bakas
Scout.com/FoxSports
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