Hurricanes Should Demote Randy Shannon: Changes Needed after Blowout Loss to FSU

The Miami Hurricanes had a chance to seize a golden opportunity. They had the ability to get Miami back into the top 10. Most of all they could have reassured their fans' faith in boasting "The U" was back after road wins at Pittsburgh and Clemson.

A fantastic scene had been set with a sellout crowd on hand to witness one of college football's best rivalries in perfect weather. The lights and cameras were on for some prime time pigskin.

Then the game started, but apparently no one told the Hurricanes.

What transpired Saturday evening at Sun Life Stadium was down right embarrassing. Miami got whooped by their biggest rival at home in a game they were favored to win. That's a slap in the face of this entire football program.

The coaches and players should all feel as though they were stripped of their manhood. In essence that's what happened. The 'Canes had someone else come into their home, sleep with their wife, eat their food, and kick their dog on the way out.

This wasn't Miami during a down year. This wasn't a rebuilding year where a loss like this to FSU might be expected. This was Miami in what amounted to a 2000 Hurricanes-like team that lost a Week 2 road game before running the table and winning a national championship the following season.

Well Miami fans, guess what, they're not there yet. The Hurricanes of 2010 aren't going to make the same leap that the squad from a decade earlier did. That 2000 team beat a top-ranked Seminoles team at home on a late touchdown pass to Jeremy Shockey. They then ended the season playing so well that many felt they would have beat Oklahoma in the BCS title game.

Here's the shocker: This team isn't there because of the coaches more than the players. Miami needs to add more talent on their offensive line but they have enough to beat anyone in the nation. The problem is they don't have the coaches capable of doing the same.

Miami would probably be competing for a title this year if they had someone like Mike Leach or Les Miles as their head coach.

Randy Shannon may be a great recruiter but he has proved that he is not a good game-day general.

He seemingly can't manage a team during a big game.

During his tenure Miami has come out flat one too many times in games that could have vaulted the program back to prominence. This was the seventh blowout in his four seasons as head coach.

Shannon may be a feel-good story because he's a Miami native and former Hurricane player that overcame a rough upbringing to get to where he is. Shannon also is a good person, who cares deeply for this team and program. Still, what matters most is on-field results.

College football has become a cut-throat business. Gone are the days where a school would be patient and forgiving of an underachieving head coach.

Losing this game to FSU in the manner that the Hurricanes did is going to hurt in more ways than one. Not only does Miami take a hit in the rankings and standings but they're also going to take a hit in the checkbook as well. 

What do you expect attendance for North Carolina and Maryland to be? I'd say they'll be lucky to average more than 35,000 for both of those games. That is pathetic for a program such as Miami's, but facts are facts and South Florida fans are notoriously fickle when it comes to supporting/attending games for teams that aren't winners.

Therefore Miami athletic director Kirby Hocutt needs to be alarmed by this past weekend's catastrophic loss. Hocutt has to be pacing in his office contemplating what he should do.

Miami just gave Coach Shannon an extension and thus they're not going to fire him. They should but they can't.

For starters Shannon has proven capable of recruiting talent. His players are believed to be very loyal to him and would probably cause an uproar if he was let go. Secondly Miami doesn't have deep pockets like other public universities, so they're less likely to just swallow the rest of Shannon's contract while also paying for another premium coach.

The best solution would be to let go of O-Coordinator Mark Whipple who has done a solid job during his two years at Miami and bring in former Texas Tech coach Mike Leach.

After that, strip Shannon of any responsibility regarding the offense. In other words if Leach wants to go for it on 4th-and-3 from his own 40, he can do it. By doing so you wouldn't being paying Shannon for nothing, while also improving your chances to win. Additionally you could keep some consistency with your current recruiting efforts.

Shannon would be in charge of the defense and recruiting. He'd be the head coach but would have been stripped of half of his game-day duties.

Leach would bring in a game plan unlike the pro-style offense the Canes currently run. He would find a way to best utilize the plethora of talent that Miami has at the skill positions. After all this is a guy that made miracles at Texas Tech despite playing with inferior talent. Just imagine what he could do with the guys that Miami has and can get.

The Red Raiders consistently gave Texas and other higher rated opponents fits with their style. Leach has the capability to maximize talent, and the Canes didn't lose to Florida State due to a lack of talent. They lost because they had inferior schemes. They lost because their current coaches are unable to get the best from the talent they have.

Hiring Leach would bring a high-powered, fast-paced strategy that will appease fans and entice recruits. Most of all he'd keep Shannon from having to focus on both sides of the ball and that could only further assist the 'Canes' efforts of playing up to their potential.

This may seem drastic to some Hurricane fans that support Coach Shannon but Miami can't allow themselves to be dominated by a rival at home the way they did.

Shannon has been out-coached too often. Butch Davis has done it, Jimbo Fisher just did. Last year Wake Forest completely out-schemed the Hurricanes but the talent discrepancy was just enough to compensate for the lack of game-planning.

Miami must act now otherwise they're going to allow Shannon to handcuff and prevent the talent he has amassed from performing as well as they can. He will continue to make awful mistakes such as chasing away a talented player like Robert Marve in order to hand the reins to an unproven sophomore.

If Miami doesn't get to the ACC title game they must fire Shannon. The time has come to demand more because the team that played on Saturday night had no passion or fire. 

If Miami had beaten Ohio State and Florida State they would be ranked as one of the top two teams in the land. Instead they did the same thing that happened last year at Blacksburg versus Virginia Tech. They came in believing the hype and ended up getting thumped.

Miami isn't the kind of team that goes into a big game and leaves it running for cover with their tail tucked between their legs. True Hurricanes relish the fight and the spotlight. They rise to the occasion and punch people in the mouth.

That's the problem. This team has been stripped of their bravado, their swagger, and as a result, their ability to thrive. Players come to Miami because they loved the "old school" Hurricane teams. They want to talk, they want to strut, they want to prove to the world how good they can be. 

Leach is the kind of renegade and brash-talker capable of sparking a fire inside of this team. He will tell them exactly what they need to hear and will allow them to do just what they need to in order to reach a fever pitch.

'Canes fans are tired of hearing that line, "Better times are coming." They're tired of saying, "Wait 'til next year." This team must bounce back now and make the necessary changes to avoid a home blowout like this past weekend's. For this to happen, Kirby Hocutt must take the initiative and bring in someone capable of helping Shannon and helping to steer this storm back on the right track.