Randy Shannon : ‘Swagger Is About Playing With a Lot of Emotion, a Lot of Excitement and Having Fun.’
September 21, 2009 – 9:51 am by Jimmy Shapiro
SRI continues to work in new writers. This post is courtesy of Tim Gunter of 790 the Zone in Atlanta. Randy Shannon inherited a Miami football program that used to be the biggest bad boy on the block. Seven years after their loss to Ohio State in the National Championship game, people were beginning to question whether Miami would ever make it back to those glory days of the ‘80’s and ‘90’s. After posting a 12-13 record in his first two years at Miami, Randy has been riding the coattails of their sophomore quarterback, Jacory Harris, this season and has his team moving up to #9 in the AP Poll.
You would’ve thought that Miami would schedule “cupcakes” to open up the season but they have one of the toughest schedules that I can remember to start off a season in quite some time. Playing Florida State, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech and Oklahoma is not easy for such a young team, but give Randy and offensive coordinator, Mark Whipple, credit for having Jacory Harris and the rest of the team prepared for such a hectic start to the season. Is Miami officially back? That remains to be seen but they have caught my eye.
Randy joined The Dan Patrick Show to talk about getting the swagger back with the kids at The U, Jacory Harris being a calm well-centered quarterback, whether he cares about Jacory being mentioned for Heisman, how long ago this season’s schedule was made, and whether Randy is a tough guy to please.
On getting the swagger back with the kids at The U:
“I like the kids playing with excitement and a lot of emotion like they have been during the last two games that we are playing. I think to me is what swagger is about playing with a lot of emotion, a lot of excitement and having fun.”
On Jacory Harris being calm:
“He don’t get rattled very easy. That is the one thing that you like about Jacory because he has always been that way. I tell everybody that Jacory is Jacory. He loves the game but off the field he is a normal guy. He is not a guy that is self-centered or egotistic. He is a guy that likes to be around everybody on the team. He do a little quirky things here and there. (Host: Like what?) Well he will come to practice one day with a red shoe and a blue shoe. Or he will walk around with some funny shades on to class or something like that. You know just a fun-loving kid.”
On whether he cares about Jacory being mentioned for Heisman:
“No. Not even part of what we are thinking about. We are thinking about just getting us winning games here and everything else and Jacory is the type of person that doesn’t think about that.”
On Randy being a tough guy to please:
“No, I just want the best for the guys and they know it. They know that I want the best for all of them. It may seem like I am tough on them but I am really not.”
On how long ago this season’s schedule was made:
“You know the ACC, they change on as far as like when you play certain teams each year…you are playing early or you are playing late. The Oklahoma deal was done long before I was head coach. Those kind of deals have always been done.”
Listen to Randy Shannon on The Dan Patrick Show
Tags: Miami crushes Georgia Tech, Miami Hurricanes, Randy Shannon, The U
