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The University of Miami was supposed to win a national title this year. Four years ago, then head coach Randy Shannon, signed the consensus number one ranked recruiting class in the country. This monster haul included an incredible 7 players from Miami Northwestern: Jacory Harris, Tommy Streeter, Sean Spence, Marcus Fortson, Brandon Washington, Marcus Robinson , Aldarius Johnson, Kendall Thompkins and Benjamin Jones. This class led Miami Northwestern to the 2007 high school national title. This class also included the number one ranked overall player that year LB Author Brown. Brown is now a starter at middle linebacker for the Kansas State Wildcats. This class also included Vaugh Telemaque, Laron Byrd, Travis Benjamin, Taylor Cook (Rice), Brandon Harris, Jordan Futch, and Raymon Buchanon.

I won’t even mention the issues with ex booster Nevin Shapiro in relation to this class. I feel like as much publicity as the case has gotten it really did not affect the players performance. The only real impact were the player suspensions at the start of this year. As much as the antics of Shapiro hurt the program and its image they had little to do with the Canes performance on the field.

Randy Shannon managed to sign five of the top seven outside linebackers overall in this class. This is a feat unheard of in college recruiting outside of what John Calapari does on the hardwood for Kentucky year in and year out. As talented and powerful as this number one class was, it may go down as the biggest flop in college football history. The struggles of Jacory Harris are well known and highly publicised. The biggest issue with Harris was he was coached by 3 offensive coordinators in his 4 years at Miami. Marcus Fortson’s career as a Cane was filled with injuries and he never really blossomed. Fortson recently declared for the NFL draft a year early. Tommy Streeter wasn’t heard from until this his redshirt junior year. However, he just declared for the draft so things are working out for him. Streeter it seems was in the doghouse with Shannon his staff because I dont see how he wasn’t playing earlier in his career. Touchdown Tommy has superior speed and he is a match up nightmare with his 6’5″ frame. Travis Benjamin and Sean Spence were the only two players in this class that really were steady contributors throughout all four years. Spence is a special linebacker who is not the biggest but flies to the ball. I think Spence will have a long successful career in the NFL.

Al Golden is now the head coach in Miami and it seems that a lot of the players in this class “grew up” under his tutelige. One could argue that the class just matured but Jacory had his best year and several players like Streeter really shined this year. This leads me to believe that a lot of the problem was Shannon and the former staff. Miami is in a draught as far as championships go but its funny that they are sending a lot of players to the NFL. Player development under Shannon was pathetic when you realize how much talent came through Miami that didnt reach its potential. If you have payed attention to Miami games the last few years being overmatched was never the problem. The issues in the Miami program under Shannon and This year under Golden were similar, lack of execution and mental mistakes. This years team was considerably better than in previous years but this still was an issue.

Miami is in its first decade-long draught since first winning it all in 1983. This was supposed to be the class that turned it around. This Class posted a career record of 27-21 something you would not expect out of a number one class. The redshirts from this class could return for a senior year but the bulk of this class did not redshirt, so for all intensive purposes it is over for this heralded and oft maligned bunch. There was plethora of issues that this group faced including multiple coaching staff changes, lack of team depth and most importantly lack of disipline. I wish all of these young men the best as they embark on the next leg of their journey in life. They were the number one class in the country nobody can take that away from them. Sadly, that is about all they accomplished as a group. Their legacy is one of mediocrity and the greatness they were supposed to reach. The only silver lining is with so many of them moving on the the NFL maybe they can do better as pros than they did on the collegiate level.

Broccoli

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