First and still standing: Randy Shannon.

Then came Tim Walton.

Next: Bill Young.

On the eve of a nationally televised showdown at Florida State, the latest version of the Miami Hurricanes defense will be brought to you by new coordinator John Lovett. He is the fourth UM defensive coordinator in four years.

``Coach Lovett loves to teach,'' said safety Randy Phillips, who has gone from Shannon -- his current head coach -- to the other three coordinators. ``Coach Lovett teaches every position to each player. He specializes in technique, and he's really precise about what he wants in a coverage.

``We're ready.''

Lovett, 58, came to UM from the University of North Carolina, where he served as special teams coordinator and defensive backs coach for former UM head coach and defensive specialist Butch Davis. Lovett's 18 years of experience as a defensive coordinator included stops at Clemson, Auburn and Mississippi.

``He's a fiery guy and I love him,'' senior cornerback Chavez Grant said. ``He's always coaching us, even when he sees us going to lunch.''

Grant and his teammates, for the most part, believe this will be a more in-your-face defense than last year's defense led by Young.

``Our defense this year is a little bit more old-school aggressive,'' linebacker Jordan Futch said. ``Last year, FSU had [quarterback] Christian Ponder running all over the place. We missed a lot of tackles and assignments. FSU's offensive line blocks well, that's for sure. But we're feeling pretty confident.''

`PHYSICALLY TOUGH'

Grant said playing Lovett's preferred man defense ``is a lot more challenging than zone. Because in zone, you just have to play an area, but with man you have to play a guy. You don't know where he's going to go, and that's where it gets physically tough.

``Mentally, in the beginning it's kind of stressing because you feel like, `Man, I just jammed a bunch of stuff in my head, and now I've got to erase it and jam some more stuff in my head.' But we have it down.''

Last year, the Seminoles hung 440 yards on Miami -- 281 on the ground (144 by Ponder) and 159 through the air in a 41-39 victory. UM's 75th-ranked run defense in 2008 was a sore spot, something Lovett and other assistants focused on in the offseason.

Lovett said he tailors his defense to the strengths and weaknesses of his players.

``I think we have guys who can cover,'' he said. ``I think we have guys who can rush. And if we need to add guys to help the rush, then we have guys who can cover so we can blitz. Then, I think if we have to protect somebody in the back end we can protect them where we can drop a safety over the top.

``If we're having trouble against the run we can drop a safety down in the box to play defense.

``The big thing I hope we have gotten across to these guys is there are 11 of them on the field at once, and they all need to know what they're doing, play together and play really hard.''

VIEW FROM ABOVE

Lovett will work from the press box, with new offensive coordinator Mark Whipple on the field, said Shannon, who gives Lovett freedom to run what he believes is best. Lovett was asked if he ever felt pressure because Shannon was UM's defensive coordinator for six years.

``You know who I worked for in Chapel Hill,'' Lovett said of Davis. ``He was the Cowboys' defensive coordinator. And before that I worked for a guy at Auburn and Ole Miss named Tommy Tuberville, and he was the defensive coordinator down here and at Texas A&M. It's not a new experience for me.''

Shannon said ``winning the turnover battle and tackling well'' will be the keys to a victory at Doak Campbell Stadium.

``In the beginning of the season, people are kind of sloppy with their tackles,'' Phillips said. ``Guys try not to tackle as much in training camp because they don't want to get other guys hurt. But Coach Shannon had us do a lot of tackling drills this camp. We were real physical.''

UM outside linebacker Sean Spence, the 2008 Atlantic Coast Conference defensive rookie of the year, said he feels secure with Lovett leading the defense.

``Coach Lovett is a cool guy,'' Spence said. ``He's a coach who is going to get it all out of you. He's going to teach you and teach you until you have it jammed in your head.

``He's not a coach who is scared to blitz or leave the corner out there on an island by himself. He's aggressive. He's going to come after you.''

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