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New-Look Canes Debut Tonight

The Associated Press

Miami head coach Randy Shannon looks at players exercising during football practice in Coral Gables earlier this month.

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A Tribune staff, wire report

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 28, 2008

CORAL GABLES - The University of Miami football team breaks with tradition tonight at 7:30 when the Hurricanes begin the new season against Charleston Southern. The Canes have abandoned the crumbling Orange Bowl for the more modern confines of Dolphin Stadium, a move that could double as a statement about the shape of this once-dominant program.

There's a new look all around.

Yes, these Canes are far from the fearsome force that bullied its way to five national championships. Miami is extremely young; 13 players of the 48 listed on UM's depth chart have never played college football before. Two of those freshmen are expected to start, which suggests that the overhaul at UM started last year by Coach Randy Shannon is far from complete.

"If we didn't have all these freshmen on this football team, we'd probably have a one-deep," Shannon said. "It's called recruiting."

It's also called rebuilding.

The Canes were 5-7 in Shannon's first season as the head man in Coral Gables, losing their last four games and six of their final seven. It was Miami's first losing season since 1997, but it didn't stop Shannon from attracting a recruiting class ranked first in February by ESPN.

Shannon also is serious about shaping up a program that has traditionally been troubled by a lack of discipline. Shannon is big on rules, and one of his most basic says this: Get in trouble after midnight, you sit out the next game you're slated to play.

"When I took the job at the University of Miami, I was going to hold everybody to higher standards than most teams in the country," Shannon told The Palm Beach Post. "We have our rules and regulations as far as academics, curfew, study hall, and doing the right things in the classroom. We move forward."

Starting quarterback Robert Marve of Plant High found that out the hard way. He was involved in a late-night incident last fall, and even though charges were dismissed, he - along with six other players - is suspended for tonight's game. Freshman Jacory Harris will start in Marve's place.

"I am at an organization where your actions are accountable," Marve said. "I made a mistake. I am sorry for what I did. It was an accident. Of course I would take it back if I could."

The suspension comes 10 months after the incident because Marve suffered a season-ending hand injury before last season and redshirted. Shannon decided to wait until the end of fall camp to announce the suspension because he wanted Marve to compete for the job.

"I am proud to be here," Marve said. "I messed up. Shannon didn't mess up."

The two former Florida Mr. Football winners battled in the spring and throughout fall practices before Shannon made a decision.

"Jacory Harris will play in every game this season, but Robert Marve will be our starter," Shannon said. "We will not have a quarterback controversy ... if Jacory has a tremendous game, Marve will still be the starter."

That means Marve's first collegiate start will take place Sept. 6 on national television in Gainesville when the Hurricanes play Florida. With a schedule that includes the Gators, Texas A&M, UCF and a full slate of ACC games, Miami's road back to national prominence figures to be a rough ride for a while.

Even Charleston Southern might not be the free ride opening games between powers and smaller schools usually turn out to be. The Buccaneers return 19 starters from last season's 5-6 team.

"Everyone that we play, for some reason, always has a countdown clock to when they'll play the University of Miami," Shannon said. "You have a target on you. But you know what? These guys understand on this football team that we went through a lot last year. We understand what losing is, and we understand not to take opponents lightly."

Losing is not part of the tradition at UM, and patience has never been in abundant supply in Coral Gables. Shannon has the job because Larry Coker's 53-9 record that included a national championship wasn't good enough to satisfy the ravenous appetite for winning at Miami.

Even with such a touted recruiting class and the promise of a bright new era at Dolphin Stadium, Shannon realizes that any honeymoon period he might have had is long gone. Winning often enough to keep fans happy while rebuilding the program would be a challenge for anyone. Being at Miami just magnifies the stakes.

"It's not fair to expect anybody - at Miami or anywhere else - to ask first-year players to contribute so much that everything changes immediately," Shannon said. "The goal is to establish depth that will allow us to do things that are necessary to be great for the long run."

Information from correspondent Christopher Stock, The Associated Press and The Palm Beach Post was used in this report.

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