Randy Shannon to DC?

Discussion in 'On The Field' started by Friday, Dec 11, 2010.

  1. TexasGolf

    TexasGolf 2,500+ Posts

    The Link

    Texas Coaching Changes: Hire Randy Shannon
    by GoHornsGo90 on Dec 12, 2010 12:47 PM CST

    I'm not gong to lie, this hurts. A lot of you guys are, justifiably in my opinion, freaking out. So hopefully this post can be cathartic, informative, and hope-inspiring. I'm going to take a look at the impact of losing Muschamp and potentially Applewhite on the team from a non-coaching perspective, as well as what Major could bring if he were to remain on the team in some capacity (which looks like it would have to be, at a minimum, co-OC). I'm also going to analyze Randy Shannon as a potential replacement at defensive coordinator.



    Okay, first let's check out Muschamp. What did the guy bring to Texas? Well, other than good defenses, he broke the malaise of arrogance, laziness, entitlement that was floating around the athletics program since the national championship win. He replaced it with an air of youth, energy, enthusiasm, hope, and an unrefined passion for the game. Depending on whom you believe, he was responsible for much of the coaching change that was put into effect last week.

    But to the players and recruits, Muschamp was even more than that. He was a foundation to build on and the decided future of the program, both in leadership and in attitude. Many posters over the Internet that attend Texas have stated that the younger players they've talked to on campus have overwhelmingly expressed that it wasn't the family atmosphere or the prestige that drew them to Texas, it was playing for Will. Other people have stated that players and coaches alike basically thought of the team as being Muschamp's since he was supposed to inherit it relatively soon. Fait accompli, if you will.

    Now, the point of this post isn't to try to bring up some crazy notion about the team rebelling on Mack Brown and not following his leadership or quitting on him because Will was going to get the HC job soon. It's just a statement about how the team viewed Muschamp—he was going to be the guy, so Texas was becoming more and more "his team."

    Now, the problem this creates is, ostensibly, Muschamp is no longer with the team. We've lost our foundation for the future and with that comes a lot of uncertainty. For both the players on the team and the recruits. Thus, the panic is widespread, and I can understand why. Mack Brown was certainly the face of the team, but I firmly believe Will (and Applewhite, to an extent) were its heart and soul.

    Speaking of Major, he is a must to retain for the program right now. He is the hardest working recruiter on the staff and a young guy that injects the same fire, vigor, and work ethic that Muschamp does, albeit in a less demonstrative fashion. Why do you think the players in the locker room were so excited about reports that Applewhite was soon to be named OC? They love the guy as a coach, a friend, and as a change in the right direction.

    I don't understand the argument of having no production from the running game. Not only is that not Major's forte (I'd like to see him at QB coach or WR coach, preferably the former), but he also didn't have much to work with talent-wise and I thought his players were technically competent and played harder than anybody else on the offense, with the possible exception of Gilbert. I also trust his recruiting evaluations, as he wanted Christine Michael a few years ago and Brandon Williams as a complement to Malcolm Brown this season. Mack and others overruled him on both counts.

    By the way, Major is extremely close with Malcolm Brown, so whichever way that ends up going will likely play a huge part in whether Brown still decides to take his not insubstantial talents to Austin.

    Applewhite is the guy that can hold the program together from the inside. Put him at co-OC with Harsin and move him to QB's coach where he belongs. Throw the recruiting coordinator tag on there also, along with Chambers. Give him an assistant head coach's salary or more. Whatever it takes.


    Finally, I'm brought to Shannon, whom Texas was likely going to hire after the 2007 season before he took over for Larry Coker at Miami. if there's anybody in the country that has Muschamp's skill level as a DC, it's this guy. Remember all those absolutely loaded Miami defenses that crushed souls in the early 2000's? This dude. Let's run through a list of what makes Shannon, in my opinion, absolutely necessary for this team:

    —As defensive coordinator at the U, he had only one defense ranked outside the top 10.

    •2001 - 6th
    •2002 - 7th
    •2003 - 2nd
    •2004 - 28th
    •2005 - 4th
    •2006 - 7th
    Not bad, IMO. He also received the Broyles award in 2001.

    —He put a ton of players into the NFL, particularly into the first round.

    —He's supposed to be a very good recruiter, which shouldn't be too difficult considering he can go into a kid's house and recite the above two points.

    —He's African-American, which can't go understated as to making many recruits feel much more comfortable in their recruitment as well as giving Texas a progressive image regarding their athletics program, instead of the staleness and stagnation that had pervaded the team.

    —He had an absolutely horrible childhood, including his father being murdered when he was three, his older twin brothers becoming addicted to crack when he was 10, and his brothers and older sister all dying of AIDS. Despite all that, he turned away from that kind of life and is supposedly a really, really good human being. Incredible story. Point being, a lot of these kids have had tough upbringings, and Shannon knows what that was like.

    —He's still young at 44.

    —He coached both LBs and DL as well as playing LB in college. We all of a sudden have a very glaring hole at LB's coach...

    —He has connections to the Miami community, probably the single most fertile recruiting ground in the entire country. If we could at all tap the Florida pipeline, despite Florida and FSU's likely imminent (continued) dominance of it, we're golden.

    —His recent lack of success as a head coach works in our favor in two ways: First, he will be less of a target by big-time schools if he has a string of success as DC for Texas. Second, he will theoretically be less focused on becoming an HC himself, as he's already experienced the potential lows of that firsthand.

    —He's unemployed, so we don't have to be nice and wait for him to coach a bowl game. Yes, even after what happened to us, I could actually see us still waiting to be polite in hiring. Unreal...

    The guy is supposedly very good friends with Mack Brown [Edit: OB reports that this is untrue and that they hardly know each other, which is contradictory to everything I had read in the prior weeks. Wouldn't be surprised if they are correct, but I'm just kind of astounded that what they have is so disparate from what I read]. Recruits' families have stated that hiring Shannon now, not later, now, would go a long, long way towards solidifying their commitments. That's basically all I need to hear to know we need to lock this guy up within the next 24 hours and Stop. The. Bleeding. Not next week. Not two weeks from now. Not after the end of the year. Within the next day. He's the guy, so let's do this and get back on the right track ASAP.
     
  2. TexasGolf

    TexasGolf 2,500+ Posts

    Source: Discussions between Texas/Randy Shannon confirmed late last night 10 minutes ago via web from Travis Northeast, TX
    per Ketch
     
  3. oak forest horn

    oak forest horn 100+ Posts


     
  4. Dude

    Dude 1,000+ Posts


     
  5. WashU-Horn

    WashU-Horn 500+ Posts

    It has also become public knowledge that RS received some criticism for not being a schmoozer with the Miami boosters. RS doesn't like that aspect of the job and that makes it less likely for a big program (with tons of boosters) to hire him.

    It would appear that he'd be our DC for a while. The man was about to take on the DC role at Kentucky. If he was hell bent on becoming a HC, he would have waited for and accepted a smaller, less demanding HC gig.
     
  6. Kaiser Sose

    Kaiser Sose 100+ Posts


     
  7. ViperHorn

    ViperHorn 10,000+ Posts

    If Akina, Major and Giles stay, the Texas recruiting will be fine while Shannon is learning how to recruit in Texas.

    I just wish people would leave race out of the discussion. The best guy available (or who could be made available with $$$) is the one to hire.
     
  8. BevoJoe

    BevoJoe 10,000+ Posts

    I doubt that Mack was "blind sided" and that WM was first contacted Friday or Saturday and accepted the Fla HC job. Thia has most likely been informally going on for quite some time. Replacements on our staff have been in the works too, since Mack and the AD were prepared that WM and the other coaches were most likely leaving, resigning or retiring at season's end. Mack weekly evals of the team and coaching performance pointed to certain outcomes and he had to be ready. Right now, with a few of the recruits waivering, it is important to get a good DC and OC named and in here as soon as possible.
     
  9. The Eyes of Texas

    The Eyes of Texas 500+ Posts

    Didn't that ESPN 30 for 30 film on the U say that Shannon was the bag man for the boosters who were paying the players? If true, don't know how that would go over with Mack...



    <edit> corrected typo.
     
  10. Roger35

    Roger35 2,500+ Posts


     
  11. The Eyes of Texas

    The Eyes of Texas 500+ Posts

    don't want to point out the obvious, but Jerry Gray is African-American too.....
     
  12. brntorng

    brntorng 2,500+ Posts


     
  13. Hook 'Em Danno

    Hook 'Em Danno 1,000+ Posts

    At least one internet report has Shannon being hired as DC: Linky. It's the only one I've seen though and I'm not sure how credible it is. What is the "The Sports Jury" anyway?
     
  14. Spunkmeyer

    Spunkmeyer < 25 Posts

  15. TexasGolf

    TexasGolf 2,500+ Posts

    Uncle Luke Claims Randy Shannon To Texas Done Deal, Longhorns Spokesman Won't Confirm
    The Link
     
  16. IvanDiabloHorn

    IvanDiabloHorn 1,000+ Posts

    I am not understanding the love for this guy. He played and coached at Thug U. and he was/is a mediocre head coach.
    His defenses at Miami in his fourth year(his players and schemes)as head coach were less than average and blown up.
    What am I missing?
    We need to look at more candidates. Look at the DC at A&M.
     
  17. stanhin

    stanhin 5,000+ Posts


     
  18. mandingo

    mandingo 2,500+ Posts


     
  19. IvanDiabloHorn

    IvanDiabloHorn 1,000+ Posts

    Sorry about losing you, but the A&M DC has coached far inferior talent at Air Force and produced good defenses. A&M does not have the talent on defense(same or worse than last year) and there was marked improvement in schemes and performance. I wonder what he could do with
    superior talent. Now please excuse me, I have to go gargle the bad taste of saying something good about A&M out of my mouth.
     
  20. Murphy'sBoy

    Murphy'sBoy 1,000+ Posts

    Wade Phillips, rested and ready!
     
  21. Dionysus

    Dionysus Idoit Admin


     
  22. HornsForever'93

    HornsForever'93 1,000+ Posts

    A&M's DC doesn't come close to comparing to what Shannon has done. What are you smoking?
     
  23. BevoNation

    BevoNation 500+ Posts


     
  24. idahohorn

    idahohorn 250+ Posts

    From a recruiting stand point I dont know, but Wade Phillips does know defense.
     
  25. Horn89

    Horn89 1,000+ Posts

    I cannot imagine recruits getting excited to play for Wade Phillips.

    Give me young, energetic recruiters (e.g. Muschamp or Applewhite)... not old "been there, done that" NFL retreads (yes, I know there are exceptions, like Pete Carroll).
     
  26. Hook 'Em Danno

    Hook 'Em Danno 1,000+ Posts


     
  27. SmartChicOlena

    SmartChicOlena 100+ Posts

    I think it is indeed a done deal with Randy Shannon, although I'm not quite sure what the specifics of the deal entail.

    Recruits are reporting that they are being told that Randy's on board.
     
  28. TexasGolf

    TexasGolf 2,500+ Posts

    The Link

    Randy Shannon was not in Austin on Monday, but still could be Texas DC candidate
    Posted at 6:57 PM on Mon., Dec. 13, 2010 | Permalink | Yahoo! Buzz
    SportsDayDFW sports Bio | E-mail | News tips

    Upon further review, you can tap the brakes on speculation about Randy Shannon being named Texas' next defensive coordinator in the immediate future. But keep him on the short list of candidates, because he's clearly interested in Texas. The question is whether the interest is mutual.

    After lots of buzz earlier today on Austin-based radio stations and internet sites about Shannon being in town and headed to campus for an interview, it turns out that the private plane from Miami to Austin thought to be carrying Shannon had a different passenger.

    So there was no interview with coach Mack Brown . And it is unclear when Brown will name a successor to Will Muschamp, Texas' former defensive coordinator who was named Saturday night as the new head football coach at Florida, replacing Urban Meyer.

    Shortly after Florida's announcement about Muschamp's hiring, Shannon apparently backed out of discussions with Kentucky -- which was prepared to name him as the Wildcats' new defensive coordinator -- and contacted Brown to express interest in the vacancy in Austin, based on published reports.

    Additional speculation has surrounded Teryl Austin, Florida's defensive coordinator in 2010, as a possible candidate to replace Muschamp. He lacks Shannon's name recognition but he has solid credentials: 13 years of coaching at FBS schools and seven seasons coaching at the NFL level.

    Shannon, a longtime successful defensive coordinator at Miami, spent the past four seasons as the Hurricanes' head coach before he was fired last month. Brown has said in the past that he does not know Shannon. But he didn't know Muschamp or Gene Chizik, Texas' last two defensive coordinators, before hiring both of them, either.

    One thing is certain: Texas needs some positive publicity to convince its 23 commitments for the 2011 signing class that things are not unraveling at warp speed for a tradition-rich program coming off a 5-7 season. Hiring Shannon, a respected defensive guru with a long history of sending defensive players to the NFL, would accomplish that.

    Hiring another defensive coordinator with comparable credentials would work, too. So would landing a high-profile offensive coordinator.

    Anything, frankly, to turn around the public-relations hits the program has taken while losing four coaches in the past week, including Muschamp, Texas' announced coach-in-waiting to succeed Brown.

    Although speculation surfaced Saturday night that Muschamp could take running backs coach Major Applewhite - and possibly other assistants -- with him to Florida, that probably will not happen. Muschamp, from all indications, will cobble together his Florida staff without adding any more names from Brown's existing staff.

    Obviously, Brown needs to make the right hires in this process, rather than merely taking the first guys who express interest. But Shannon is a good name to consider. And, from all indications, he's interested.
     

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