On the way home from last Saturday's 24-17 loss to California in the Emerald Bowl, University of Miami coach Randy Shannon couldn't help but think of the future after his team finished 7-6 this season.

Over the two years he has been head coach of the Hurricanes, Shannon has posted a 12-13 mark. Not what fans like, but something that had to happen during one of the toughest times this program has experienced in recent years.

College football today is much different than it used to be. There are no automatic recruiting tools and certainly, as we have watched with schools such as Utah, Boise State, Wake Forest, Louisville, USF, Oregon State and Cincinnati, every school is open to getting quality athletes who could lineup anywhere, and yes, end up on a grand New Year's stage.

What Shannon and his staff did last year, by bringing in the No. 1 class, really went by without a lot of fanfare. Sure, many talked about it happening, but what some never really understood, and perhaps still cannot comprehend, is the manner in which this program locked down Miami-Dade County. In fact, the entire South Florida region -- from Pahokee to South Miami.

It's all about locking down South Florida. Sure, you will lose some gems along the way, and that is always expected to happen, but what Shannon and his team did was let other schools, who had been feasting on escaping stars in the past, know exactly what's happening in South Florida. While the overall swagger has not returned, there are enough athletes in the last class, as well as the upcoming two classes, to believe that Miami has a huge edge as far as talent is concerned.

A GOOD DIRECTION

Having been around the Miami program for much of the past 40 years -- as a fan and as someone who appreciates great football talent -- the direction that this team is currently taking is something worth hanging around for. While we see a drop-off this year in NFL talent in the senior class, I can assure you that the pipeline will be more than tapped over the next three, with potential first round talent in the freshmen and sophomore classes.

If you follow Miami, you understand that this year could have ended differently. Other than a few contests, this may have been a 9 or 10 win season. That's with freshman and sophomores calling a majority of the shots. But what Miami has really done by getting commitments from Plantation's Brandon McGee, St. Thomas Aquinas lineman Jermaine Johnson, Killian star running back Lamar Miller, Olivier Vernon (American) and Kayvon Webster from Monsignor Pace is seal the region with athletes coveted by dozens of schools. Score one for Miami -- again, getting the players they needed locally.

The Hurricanes already leaped into the 2010 class locally, with a commitment from Northwestern junior defensive nose tackle Todd Chandler, who helped lead his Bulls to the 6A state championship game after being injured most of the year.

The Hurricanes will not give up this territory, and with the assistance of local high school coaches, some relationships that were once bruised have been mended -- and the recruiting doors are beginning to open at more and more South Florida schools, which makes good assistant coaches more and more valuable.

While letting go of offensive coordinator Patrick Nix was a move that was needed in order to continue making progress, finding a replacement with a good coaching/player relationship is a must. The new coordinator also needs to be much like Bill Young, knowledgeable and able to help identify and patch the deficiencies. A Mike Martz-type of innovator who opens the offense and gets the most out of everyone.

Join the discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.repliedToText@

@Nyx.replyAnswerText@

Reply to this Comment @Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@