The University of Miami Football Team is kicking off their 2010 campaign by taking on the Rattlers of Florida A&M.  The Hurricanes released their depth chart and starting lineup for the game, and it contained what some might consider several surprises.

With several players returning from injury like Marcus Forston and Adewale Ojomo, the Hurricanes have developed depth at much needed positions.  This depth chart in a lot of areas had players listed with or next to their name, which means the competition was fierce at that particular position.  It also means there are a lot of players who are backups that will be seeing significant playing time during the season.

Enjoy looking at the depth chart for the 2010 Hurricanes as they get ready to take on Florida A&M, and a prediction of the outcome of the game as well.

Quarterback

This was the position least in doubt coming into the season, and the race was for the backup position.  Jacory Harris seems to be fully recovered from the thumb injury he suffered last season, and his work in the off season should be evident this year.  The only question for Harris is if he is going to be able to limit the amount of interceptions this year since he led the nation in that category last year.

Alonzo Highsmith and Spencer Whipple just need to be ready in case something catastrophic happens.  Harris has a few areas he is expected to improve in outside of the interceptions, for example taking what the defense gives him rather than going deep every play.  Also, many fans are hoping to see Harris scramble for yardage more when he has the opportunity, but it is unclear if the coaching staff shares the same sentiment.

Depth Chart:

Jacory Harris

Alonzo Highsmith

Spencer Whipple

Running Backs

This is probably the deepest position on the Hurricanes Football team, and many speculated that Lamar Miller or Storm Johnson would break into the top two on the depth chart.  Well despite both players having a strong showing in spring, it seems that the depth chart is keeping the status quo as the incumbents kept their spots.

That does not mean we will not see players like Lamar Miller and Graig Cooper (provided he is healthy), but early in the season Berry and Mike James will have to carry the load because of the murderers  row of games the Hurricanes have to play early in the season.  With all the explosive playmakers at this position the Hurricanes should be able to keep players fresh, and allow them to be able to keep pressure on the defense.

Depth Chart:

Half Back

Damien Berry

Mike James

Full Back

Patrick Hill

Maurice Hagens

Wide Receivers

This is another deep and talented group on this team; the Hurricanes can make an argument for having the fastest receiving group in the nation.  On the depth chart all of these players are listed as starters because a lot of them are interchangeable.  The main focus for these players is to get open and read the blitz’s from the defense so Harris will have a hot route to throw the football to.  The Hurricanes really cannot go wrong with any combination of this group, although Leonard Hankerson is considered the go to receiver for Jacory Harris.

The tight end position is filled with talent as well although a lot of the players do not have much game experience; Richard Gordon is the elder statesmen of the group.  Chase Ford is a transfer, and the other two players are true freshmen.  Gordon is talented, but a comfort level will have to develop with him and Jacory Harris.  It is widely accepted that Gordon will be better than Jimmy Graham, which means this is an upgrade at the position.

Depth Chart:

Leonard Hankerson

Aldarius Johnson

Travis Benjamin

LaRon Byrd

Tight Ends

Richard Gordon

Chase Ford

Asante Cleveland

Billy Sanders

Offensive Line

This has been the most scrutinized and criticized group on the team, many people are talking about how suspect the offensive line is.  Most people are focusing on one game, and they forget that this team averaged over 30 points a game last season.  You don’t score that many points if your offensive line is suspect, they had some injuries in the bowl game and performed badly.  In the offseason the offensive line took it personal that they were considered the weak link on the team, and I expect them to come out and make a statement this season.

Depth Chart:

Left Tackle

Orlando Franklin

Ben Jones

Left Guard

Harland Gunn

Jared Wheeler

Center

Tyler Horn

Brandon Linder

Right Guard

Brandon Washington

Malcolm Bunche

Right Tackle

Joel Figueroa

Jermaine Johnson

Defensive Line

This should also be a position of strength for the Hurricanes with Marcus Forston returning from a season long injury.  Forston is not listed as the starter; it says that he or Josh Holmes could get the start at Left Defensive Tackle.  Either way Forston will see significant playing time, or if he can be a force in the middle this defense will be hard to score on.  Adewale Ojomo is also in the same situation, list as one of three possible starters at defensive end after missing last season with a broken jaw.  With all the players back and playmaker Allen Bailey back to playing defensive end, the front four should be solid this season.  Definitely more than enough to handle Florida A&M.

Left Defensive End

Allen Bailey

Marcus Robinson

Dyron Dye

Left Defensive Tackle

Josh Holmes

Marcus Forston

Right Defensive Tackle

Micanor Regis

Luther Robinson

Right Defensive End

Olivier Vemon

Adewale Ojomo

Andrew Smith

Linebackers

The linebacker position has not been particularly strong over the past few seasons for the Hurricanes, and the middle linebacker position was the biggest question coming into the year.  Sean Spence is back and healthy again, but still undersized at 220 lbs. playing the weak side linebacker position.  They decided to move Colin McCarthy to the middle linebacker spot, and Kylan Robinson seems to have beaten out Ramon Buchanan for the starting Strong side linebacker position.  Overall this group has to play better; McCarthy was good but not overwhelmingly impressive last year.  This group had better use Florida A&M as a game to get the kinks worked out because Ohio State will be much less forgiving.

Strong Linebacker

Kylan Robinson

Ramon Buchanan

Middle Linebacker

Colin McCarthy

Kelvin Cain

Weak Linebacker

Sean Spence

James Gaines

Jordan Futch

Defensive Secondary

The defensive backfield is very strong and could be one of the best in the country if this group plays up to their potential.  It all starts with Brandon Harris who is one of the best cornerbacks in the country, but will have a challenge against bigger receivers because of his size.  DeMarcus Van Dyke has gotten better every season, and seems poised to have a breakout season across from Harris.  He must be ready as teams throw away from Harris and challenge him to see if he holds up, if he can then the DVD moniker will be a feared this season.

Prized Miami recruit Ray Ray Armstrong will finally be a starter and have to live up to the hype he received during his recruitment.  In the spring he was not the starter and this fall he worked his way back into the position and has the physical attributes to be one of the best safeties in the country.  That group rounds out with Vaughn Telemaque who was a surprise contributor last season, and the same can be expected from him this year.  If this group plays to their talent level then Miami will boast one of the top passing defenses in the nation.

Left Cornerback

DeMarcus Van Dyke

Ryan Hill

Right Cornerback

Brandon Harris

Brandon McGee

Strong Safety

Ray Ray Armstrong

JoJo Nicolas

Free Safety

Vaughn Telemaque

Kacy Rodgers

Jared Campbell

The Game

The Miami Hurricanes come into this game with the challenge of staying focused and executing the game plan despite playing an inferior opponent.  There is no way FAMU wins this game, of course some will say on any given day any team can win.  This will not be one of those days, the Hurricanes have to avoid injury and not let the Rattlers hang around.

In last season’s meeting the Hurricanes defeated Florida A&M 48 – 16, and the Rattlers hung around for a little bit in the first half.  Miami can ill afford to let that happen this year, they need to make a statement and crush this opponent from the start.  What many may now know is FAMU beat Miami in their first meeting in 1979, but Miami has reeled off 7 straight wins against the Rattlers.  Miami leads the all-time series 7–1; expect it to go to 8–1 after this game.

With that being said, this is an important game for the Hurricanes, as it is a tune up for their game the next week against Ohio State.  The Hurricanes struggled last year with play consistently at a high level for the entire season, and will need to display they can play mistake free football.

Florida A&M barely missed the playoffs last season, and are a very capable FCS subdivision football team.  The Rattlers averaged 28 points per game last season and combined for over 2200 yards rushing as a team.  The Rattlers offensive production will be hurting with the graduation of Dual threat quarterback Curtis Pulley, and his replacement Eddie Battle has big shoes to fill.  We all know that Florida A&M will win one battle, at halftime their band “The Marching 100” is second to none.

Miami wins this game in convincing fashion 45 – 13.

The 25 most hated teams in sports list was recently released.  Many I agreed with and some I did not understand why they were even on the list, then I came to the team ranked at #11 which was the 1990 University of Miami Football team. I obviously was not surprised that Miami was on the list because that is all you ever hear from people who THINK they know about college football.

Here is an excerpt of what was written about the 11th most hated team of all time in reference to their Cotton Bowl appearance.

“Seldom has a team been so undisciplined … and unstoppable. Miami had a Cotton Bowl record 132 yards in penalties. At halftime the ‘Canes finished with 202 yards in penalties, a bowl record that still stands. They also won 46-3. “If they aren’t the best,” ‘Horns coach David McWilliams said: “I don’t want to play the best.” — Austin Murphy (www.cnnsi.com )

I thought that was interesting that it seemed their entire basis for being ranked the 11th most hated team of all time was based on one game, a woodshed beating of the Texas Longhorns.

So I noted that and continued to scroll up the list wondering what teams were in the top ten. I look through the teams and I am passing the 2007 New England Patriots at the sixths spot (can’t argue with that one), the 1988-89 Detroit Pistons at the number two spot.

Then I get a look at who is picked as the MOST hated team of all time, and it is the 1986 Miami Hurricanes football team. Here is the entire passage that was written, so you can see their reasoning for ranking the Hurricanes in the top spot.

“His players were visionaries, early practitioners of an in-your-face brand of football that went out of its way to belittle and intimidate opponents. It was, in a lot of ways, the opposite of sportsmanship. It was a ‘Cane thing. To say that Jimmy Johnson (pictured, left, with Michael Irvin) gave his players free reign was an understatement.

The ’86 Hurricanes were caught up in “fights and fraud and alleged shoplifting and other unsavory shenanigans involving more than 40 players,” wrote SI ‘s Rick Reilly. “Miami may be the only squad in America that has its team picture taken from the front and from the side.”

It was also flat-out loaded, an NFL developmental squad, and not inclined toward modesty. The top-ranked ‘Canes showed up in Tempe, Ariz., for the national title game rocking military fatigues, in stark contrast to the coats and ties sported by the charges of “St. Joe ” Paterno, as Johnson dubbed his counterpart. In that famed Fiesta Bowl game, Heisman Trophy winner

Vinny Testaverde threw five picks and Miami turned the ball over seven times in a 14-10 Penn State upset that made a lot of people across the republic very, very happy.” — Austin Murphy (www.cnnsi.com)

First let’s point out the obvious Miami was the ONLY team to make this list twice, the Pistons, Yankees, and Chicago Black Sox were all on there even the 2005 USC Trojans.  None of them made this list more than once. The other constant with that list is that most of the teams on that list were very successful, or champions in their respective sports. What this says is that people don’t hate the Hurricanes just because of their Bravado; they hate the Hurricanes because they win championships with a chip on their shoulder.

If you look at the majority of the teams on that list the Pistons were known as the Bad Boys, even the Jimmy Johnson led 1992 Dallas Cowboys were on there. If you look at it all of these teams were highly successful, and people hated them because they won without being nice guys.

They went on the field and looked at the team across from them as an opponent not a group of friends who they were going to hang out with after the game.  Those Miami Hurricanes teams played football the way it should be played, with heart, emotion, and a general dislike of the team they are playing.

People always bring up all the “off the field” stories about those Miami teams, but what they do not talk about is hardly any of those players ever missed a game on Saturday because of an off field issue.  If Miami players were committing as many crimes blatantly as all the rumors say they would have surely been caught multiple times over a four year period.

The players at Miami just feed that stigma and over exaggerate all of it because they are proud that people were against them, and the succeeded despite people objections. Thinks of the genius in all of this, teams from 1986 and 1990 were so polarizing that they shaped the perception of an entire football program.

The perception remains today even though Miami has hardly had any players arrested over the past five seasons, which just proves all of the media hate is based off of personal bias more than fact.  Were those Miami teams in your face, cocky, and intense? You bet they were.

But Michael Jordan was just as bad, and if you believe the stories he was even worse and not one Chicago Bulls team made this list. Jordan is loved by millions, and he played the game of basketball much the same way as the Miami Hurricanes played football, but he gets nowhere near the same level of hate.

There was also a section talking about teams that barely missed the cut for making the top 25 most hated list, and the 2002 Ohio State Buckeyes were listed.  There were appropriately named “The Luckeyes” for that good fortune filled season they experienced which can only be described as something of a dream.  Well at least in South Florida the Gators and Buckeyes are fighting for the top spot of most hated team by Miami Hurricanes fans, maybe it will be a tie for first!

I just whipped his team, shouldn't I make more money than him?

There is an 800 pound Ibis in the room no matter what subject comes up regarding Miami Hurricanes Football.  That would be the contract extension of head coach Randy Shannon, who right now is the 11^th highest paid coach in the ACC.  Not to mention that he is not really the 11^th highest paid he is tied with the guy in 12^th place Frank Spaziani of Boston College.

In one of my other articles I talked about how “cheap” Miami can be when it comes to paying their coaches, and the fact that Coker was making near $3 million a year when he left shows they are willing to pull out the cash when needed.  I can understand starting Randy off at the lower end of the scale he is a first time head coach, but a decision needs to be made.

Any time coaches sign a new contract goals are set forth, and either he has met the goals you want or not.  At that point you need to make a decision and either fire the man, or give him an extension based off of his current body of work.  I know that Kirby Hocutt was not the person that hired Shannon, but he has had time to lay out what his vision is for where the football program should be and go from this point.

The cruxes of the matter currently are a discussion over the new base salary per year, and buy out amount if he gets fired before the end of the contract.  It seems that the administration is offering Shannon about $1.4 million in base salary and Shannon wants about $2 million a year which is a little bit over the ACC average of $1.75 million per year.  Here is the table of coach’s pay in the ACC:

1. Paul Johnson, Georgia Tech. – $2.3 million ($3.33 million possible with bonuses)

2. Jim Grobe, Wake Forest – $2.17 million ($2.5 million)

3. Butch Davis, North Carolina – $2.15 million ($2.26 million)

4. Ralph Friedgen, Maryland – $2.03 million ($2.56 million)

5. Frank Beamer, Virginia Tech – $2 million ($2.42 million)

6. Jimbo Fisher, Florida State – $1.8 million ($2.6 million)

7. Dabo Swinney, Clemson – $1.75 million ($2.63 million)

8. Mike London, Virginia – $1.7 million ($2.27 million)

9. Tom O’Brien, North Carolina State – $1.52 million ($2.63 million)

10. David Cutliffe, Duke – $1.5 milliion ($1.5 million)

11. Randy Shannon – $900,000 ($900,000)*

12. Frank Spaziani – $900,000 ($900,000)

(Data provided by http://www.sun-sentinel.com)

What the administration at the University of Miami are saying to the fans publicly is Randy Shannon is our guy, and he is going to be our coach for a long time!  Well the administration’s actions are saying we want to pay this guy the least amount we can, but put gigantic expectations on him to win and make sure the buyout is small enough so we can easily get rid of him.

$1.4 million is a slap in the face; they are saying that Randy has not done enough to be paid the median salary in the ACC?  I have heard all these Shannon detractors talk about top flight coaches getting it done; well they get paid the salary and are given the resources to get it done.

In Shannon’s case he has not even cracked $1 million dollars per year yet, but Mike London who has not coached a game for UVA is almost at $2 million per.  The new contract they are offering is still less than Jimbo Fisher, Mike London, Dabo Swinney, Tom O’Brien, and David Cutliffe all coaches that have been hired after Shannon.

That is why it will be difficult for Miami to land a big time coach that all the naysayers are clamoring for; they do not want to pay for it.  They pinch pennies where they can, and even though the football program has brought so much into the school they continue to choke it off whenever they get the opportunity.

This is hurting the team on the recruiting trail, and if you notice this year’s recruiting class was the lowest ranked in the Shannon era.  Much of that had to do with the fact that every living room Shannon went into he had to field the questions, are you going to be there when my son graduates?  How do you answer that question confidently without looking like a liar if things change later, uncertainty breeds mediocrity.

I won’t play the racial angle here, but it would be easy for someone to make that case.  The bottom line is the administration at Miami needs to pay Randy Shannon or give him his walking papers, this waffling in the middle looks like the program has no direction and that is as good as blood in the water to the competition.

I will leave you with this tidbit, when Miami played South Florida this past season Jim Leavitt was being paid about $1.3 million dollars per year.  While Randy Shannon at a “better” program, in a tougher conference, and a better record than Leavitt’s team was making a paltry $900,000.  Miami beat USF soundly 31 – 10, and not only that Shannon has out recruited Leavitt every year as well, but still makes less money?

Lastly, if you are going to comment talking about how bad the economy is, and he should be happy to get $1.4 million you just have no understanding of a free market economy.  This is not an economics article, so I won’t get into it here.  If Saban and Meyer can get over $4 million why can’t Shannon get his $2 million?