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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 6, 2010

Randy Shannon

COACH SHANNON: Thank you, Mike, this week's opponent is Florida State, which is always a big time game for the University of Miami and Florida State. It's a state rivalry game. Where both teams respect each other even though it's a rivalry. Most of the players on the team know each other from playing each other in high school and probably teammates throughout the last three or four years for both teams.
It's going to be a tough game. Another opportunity for University of Miami to play on national TV three weeks in a row. But also a game that's going to be very tough and physical. Florida State as we know was picked to win their division, and Miami's just a chance for us to go out and compete against a team that's picked to win the division, and some people picked them to win the league.
So it's going to be a tough game, big challenge for us for us as a team to keep working to get better each week. Make sure that we come back and continue to work, and the self-inflicted wounds and turnovers that we have in penalties, we've got to go out there and correct those things and play hard, and do the things that we need throughout the week in practice. And we need to go out there and get things done.

Q. Coach, wanted to ask you a couple things about your 2007 recruiting class here quick. Do you remember much about the class as far as the recruiting process to get some of those guys?
COACH SHANNON: Oh, it was tough. It was a tough recruiting class. We have to make sure -- we were fortunate enough to have a lot of guys in the state that year that we targeted that could help us get going as a football program starting off. Because I was here, and the years we were on probation with Butch, and make sure we concentrated on South Florida and the state.
That class was a bunch of guys that were from winning team that's won championships in the state and kind of from winning programs who have a lot of passion for their team. We targeted those guys and went after them.

Q. I wanted to ask you how you measure success with a class? Because this class seems pretty good. You had eight starters it looks like three or four contributors out of the guys. How do you measure success, and did you think that was a good class?
COACH SHANNON: I thought it was a class that started us off where we needed to go and needed to be at this point in time. I think you measure success by wins and losses. You could say starters this and contributors here. Everybody could contribute. But it's what you're doing with your win-losses and how your team has changed on and off the field, academics, wins and losses.
I think all of those things have a chance to be a part of the success on how you rate a football team and the athletes that you're recruiting at that time.

Q. Could you talk about the benefits of having a quarterback that can take off and run like Jacory can as opposed to having a straight drop back passer?
COACH SHANNON: You know what it is, any time you have a quarterback that has a chance to get in the open field and make plays, and coverage will be called coverages. Defense does a great job of coverage. Nobody's open, and the guy can go off and get five or six yards. I think those things are valuable to you when you're not able to turn the football over, and athletic colleges and athletes are doing more of that.

Q. Why do you think you see more of that in college than quarterbacks scrambling around in the NFL?
COACH SHANNON: It goes in cycles. I remember when Elway was scrambling, and I was younger growing up. You have some guys that scramble right now. Vick is scrambling in the NFL there are a lot of pocket passers in the NFL. And in college is goes in cycles.

Q. You've been through a tough stretch of games, and here's another one. Are they in good enough shape mentally to take on this challenge after what they've been through the past few weeks?
COACH SHANNON: You know what, we keep stressing to them staying on top of the little things in practice. Sometimes when you have success as a coaching staff and team, your players let up a little bit. Our major focus is to stay on the guys about the simple things to get us better for our technique and fundamentals. And we will not let that slide.
I think that we've learned our lesson from letting little things go from the past, from last season. We've got to continue to stress those things to get better each week and have that mindset of this is a game that gives you an opportunity to be better each week.

Q. Florida State's defense seems to be playing on a whole different level than it was a year ago when you all played them. I'm just wondering from what you've seen on film, what is the biggest difference you've noticed that kind of sets this defense apart and made it so much better than it was a year ago?
COACH SHANNON: Stoops has done a nice job with their defense. He's got his two fronts that he's implicated as coverages that he's implicated, and those guys are playing it. I think sometimes when you do too much on defense, it gets you in trouble.
And I think they can adjust to any kind of formations and things because they're not a complex defense. But they're complex because they're sound, and I think that can give you more trouble than anything.

Q. Back in '07, your first year, you had a big win against Florida State. I'm wondering when you're just starting out, a win like that against an in-state rival, what's that do for a coach? What did that do for even the program that's trying to reestablish itself?
COACH SHANNON: It's huge. Any time that you can beat an in-state rivalry is always great. We always have much respect for Florida State and what they're doing for their program. It's one of those games that everybody in the country wants to see Florida and Miami play. When you have a chance to play that type of game and that happens is always something special.

Q. Did you find any impact from that recruiting-wise as you go into '08?
COACH SHANNON: You know what, it's always one thing about being in the state of Florida, everybody's going to get a piece of the pie. That is one thing I've noticed in being a player, being a coach, and an assistant coach and now the head coach.
Everybody's got an area that they hit that they're probably going to get their kids from. And Florida State or Florida comes down here picks one or two. We'll go up north in those areas and pick one or two. But for the most part, everybody pretty much has these area that's we all go into and recruit.
The game, really, in my opinion doesn't make much of a difference. Maybe one kid here and there. But for the most part it just gives you a lead for that game, but it makes the losing team recruit even harder to make you work even harder.

Q. What impressed you about your defense last week, and how much are you looking to do the same kind of thing this Saturday on defense?
COACH SHANNON: Well, I was impressed with them because they tackled the football and they played hard in the last -- they played hard in the second half. We had five punt opportunities that we punted the ball in the third quarter, which is unusual. But those guys really responded to it.
The things we're looking for is our team to get better. We're still giving up big plays in the running game. When you have mistakes like I said earlier, those things can really, really continue to haunt you. We have to do a better job. We have to keep swarming the football, tackling the football, and getting all the guys to the football.
I think we need to improve each week if we keep doing those type of things.

Q. Do you see signs of hope that your team's interception problem is coming to an end or is that still a concern for you this week?
COACH SHANNON: We work all the time on it. I don't look at it till game time. When interceptions come, they come. You don't want those things to happen. Those things like anything, you work on it all the time. But those are things that you have to continue to stress and try to work through it.

Q. You were part of this rivalry as a player and an assistant in the '80s, and '90s when it was arguably the game of the year in college football. The national champion would often emerge from it. As you continue to build this program back up, will you see that as another milestone when the game returns to that nationally?
COACH SHANNON: Yes. I think any time you get Florida State and Miami to play in a game and everybody in the country wants to be a part of it and watch it, it's something that's special. I think both coaches, myself and Jimbo feel that way.
I have a lot of respect for Jimbo and what he's doing at Florida State and the coaching staff. I'm just excited that every time you have an opportunity to play against an opponent like Florida State, a good program, you always want to be in that kind of atmosphere.

Q. Obviously Leonard Hankerson has become a primary weapon now. What are the things that have gone into him playing so well to this point?
COACH SHANNON: Well, Leonard's been working hard. He came in as a freshman, true freshman. Played a little. Like anything, freshmen have a tendency to either prosper early or prosper late, and he's prospered late. He's doing a great job last year, doing a phenomenal job this year.
Sometimes when he has big games like he did last week or sometimes he's in single coverage. And I'm just really pleased to see him step up when he gets that opportunity.
Also like I tell Hank, your success is coming from when your other receivers are getting doubled. And I tell the other receivers, your turn will come if it average are Hankerson gets doubled. So those guys have continued to work hard each and every day.

Q. He's obviously a big target at 6'3' and 210 or whatever. But he also seems to have the speed to go with that and get open deep because he's averaging almost 17 yards a catch. Do you get many guys with that combination and speed?
COACH SHANNON: Any time you get a big receiver that can run in recruiting, you always will take him. That's something that you always try to look for in guys. Guys with play-making ability, big guys that can run. We'll take them any time.
It's just hard to find guys like him.

End of FastScripts

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