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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 1, 2010

Randy Shannon

THE MODERATOR: We now welcome Miami head football Coach Randy Shannon. We'll bring on coach and ask for a brief opening statement and then go to questions. Coach.
COACH SHANNON: Thank you, Mike.
This week's opponent is Florida A&M. We're excited to play another team within the state. Every year I've been at the University of Miami, we continue to play different teams throughout the state of Florida.
Kind of excited to see this football team coming up this season. We have a lot of veteran student-athletes at certain positions that we're really thrilled to see and participate in this game tomorrow night. I think it's going to be one of the challenges that you have to have when you're playing a team like Florida A&M, making sure your guys understand, the preparation we've done in August and throughout camp, has to go through the process of playing this team and staying focused.
THE MODERATOR: We'll take questions for Coach Shannon.

Q. Randy, it was said this morning he entered into a dialogue with Yankee Stadium in 2013. What do you think that would mean as you continue to look for more national-type games, getting that Miami brand out there in more places?
COACH SHANNON: I think it's great for college football and for the University of Miami. Sometimes you play teams outside the conference a lot. I think being at Miami, we've played a lot of teams outside the conference, being in the ACC, just playing great competition. It's an opportunity for us to be in the northeast, which is a big University of Miami alumni base area, for the fans to come out and enjoy the game if we have those things accomplished.

Q. You have a home slot unfilled for 13 and a road slot unfilled for 13. Is it safe to assume that your preference is you don't lose a home game for this?
COACH SHANNON: No, not at all. We have things slotted, teams we're looking at at the present time that we're going through negotiations with now. We'll see what happens when that time comes of how we fill those positions. Hopefully it's a home and away. Like any coach, you would like both of them to be home and home. It's a process we go through and things we look at all the time.

Q. Do you sense this team this year is mature enough to treat every game, every opponent the same and not do that with such a big one coming up in the second week?
COACH SHANNON: I think so, I really do. From a lot of things we learned last season, I always refer back to last season. Our first three games I think we was very, very focused as a football team last season. Going and playing Virginia Tech, we kind of got away from where we needed to be at. I reminded the guys of that situation happening, that the more you are staying focused on what's ahead of you, don't look down the future, then you'll be okay.
We've had an unbelievable practice this August. We put them in situations where it was tough to adjust, adverse situations in practice to make sure they focus on what we was trying to get done that day, not looking ahead for scrimmage time or time off or things like that.

Q. How healthy at this point is Cooper? Do you expect to see him getting significant playing time or are you playing it by ear?
COACH SHANNON: Just play it by ear to see how he goes, see how he feels. Like anything, our last scrimmage, we wanted to get him some work in. It came down like it was raining real bad, we want to put him in those situations, have great conditions for him, get out there and participate. He wasn't going to do it. We kept scrimmaging, but it wasn't the right time for Cooper. Hopefully we'll get him some plays tomorrow, see how he feels and go from there.

Q. In your various roles at Miami you have seen a lot of great defensive linemen. How good can Allen Bailey be by the time he finishes up?
COACH SHANNON: You know what, we're going to find that out. I think he's doing a tremendous job of adapting to a lot of situations that was unique for him. He came in as a linebacker his first year, next year playing defensive end. Last year, taking two roles last year, defensive end and defensive tackle.
This year he's basically concentrating at this point on playing defensive end. I think he's had a tremendous camp, a lot of excitement, done a lot of great things in camp for us.
Like anything, all coaches can't wait to see when you play another opponent. Anytime in practice, you're going against a opponent for the month of August, you kind of get used to the moves, how guys set up blocks, how they're going to block you.
It will be something special to see tomorrow on how he responds and everybody else do.

Q. What are the things about him as you like as an end maybe more than a tackle?
COACH SHANNON: He's a big, physical guy. He's a big guy that has great athletic ability that can do a lot of things for you on defense. He's big enough to play a seven technique. He's able to go against offensive tackles. Quick enough to get around offensive tackles and overpower them.
Like I always tell him, he has to stay focused and keep doing the things you're doing. He's a humble kid. All he does is work. I've never seen him one time in practice get upset over a conditioning aspect or lifting weights or anything like that. He's as been a guy that's very positive. He's always seen it as a point in time to make sure you get better as a football player and that the team is getting better.
THE MODERATOR: Randy, thanks for being with us today. Good luck this weekend. We look forward to talking to you next week.
COACH SHANNON: Thank you, Mike.

End of FastScripts

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