"Ultimately, Miami went the internal route for a second consecutive hire, promoting defensive coordinator Randy Shannon to head coach. Shannon related well to his players, having played at Miami in the 1980s. He had a no-nonsense policy and cleaned up the Hurricanes' image. Under his four-year watch, Miami only had one player arrested and boosted its academic profile, ranking among the top schools in the nation in APR.
He brought in some stellar recruiting classes, too. His first class in 2007 ranked No. 9 in the nation. In 2008, ESPN ranked the incoming Miami class No. 1. As recruiting rankings rose, folks came to expect another round of Miami dominance.
It never happened. Once those projected stars arrived on campus, few panned out. The 2008 class had 12 ESPN 150 members, five of the top seven outside linebackers and Jacory Harris, one of the top quarterbacks in the country.
But that group ended up going 39-23 overall, with zero bowl wins. Of the 32 players who signed in 2008, five were drafted, none in the first round. Miami, which set an NFL record in 2008 with first-round picks in 15 consecutive drafts, has not had a player taken in the opening round since.
Shannon did yeoman's work off the field. But seven-win seasons cannot be the norm at Miami. He was fired in 2010. When Golden was hired from Temple, he became Miami's third coach in six years."
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