Duke Blue Devils

Durham, North Carolina

Est. 1838

Last Year’s Record: 4-8 (1-7)

2008 vs. Miami: L 49-31

2009 Prediction: 5th in Coastal Division

 

Their claim to fame is

Spurrier AP vote, I

Call shenanigans

The core of the incredible defensive teams from 2000-03 was not the name brand players in the back seven. On the contrary, it was the defensive lineman Randy kept fresh during his tenure as the DC. Vince Wilfork, Matt Walters, Orien Harris, John Square, William Joseph, Jerome McDougle, Baraka Atkins, Kareem Brown, Thomas Carroll, and on and on.

What do these guys have in common? They usually would be fresh late in games, or fresh during a long 10 play drive from the opponent’s 20. This would enable Miami to stop them for a field goal, sack them out of field goal range, or create a turnover and give the ball back to Dorsey and Co. This is what happens when you have depth. This is also what Randy is saying Miami is about to get back to (EEEEEEEEE!!!).

“He (Marcus Forston) reminds me of Cortez Kennedy, Warren Sapp when they were young,” Shannon said this spring. “They are up and down. Some days he will dominate, some days he will get into a little funk.”

Again, the equation for winning is:

2 TD lead = Opponent Passing = D-Line pins ears back = Back Seven creates turnovers = 3 TD lead; Repeat

This is exactly how Miami would create the 2-minute drives they were notorious for during the Dorsey years. Short fields and defensive touchdowns. Of course, the assumption in that equation is an offense capable of getting that two touchdown lead….

North Carolina Tar Heels

Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Est. 1789

Last Year’s Record: 8-5 (4-4)

2008 vs. Miami: W 28-24

2009 Prediction: 4th in Coastal Division

 

Your coach leaves within

Two years, “Jerry Jones I am

Available now”

ACC guru Heather Dinich over at ESPN spoke with starting QB JaScory Harris on the phone today.

OC Whipple improves throwing velocity via hip motion? Genius I tell you! Genius!

Harris apologized to the seniors after the Emerald Bowl for the fumble that was caused by a completely unblocked weak side blitz? Sounds to me like Miami finally has their long lost unquestioned leader on the offensive side of the ball!

Harris loves that he will be under center more this year, because it will prepare him better for the NFL? Finally, we are back to the true desire to play at UM, not the “show up for four years and default yourself to the league” variety of the past 5 years!

Harris indirectly rips on Robert Marve via simple logic? Perfection!

The hits keep rolling in. Countdown. September 7.

LSU wants a tougher schedule. Huzzah! I know the only memory any Cane fan has of LSU is not a great one. In fact, some might say it is a horrendous memory. Rightfully billed as the best non-BCS bowl game of the season, and probably the most hyped other than the Texas/USC tilt a week later, Miami was outright embarrassed. This game was the point I knew Coker was done. But hey! A nice fight broke out! And who wants to live in the past anyways?

I am always about name brand scheduling; does a program more good than bad. Of course, LSU wouldn’t be the lackluster middle tier Big 12 variety Miami has been prone to schedule. This be a real game, son. LSU can save on travel costs, get a huge draw opponent, and don’t have to play in any cold weather city should LSU’s return game happen to fall in November. Miami will continue to get back to their anybody anytime mantra. Wins across the board.

Three Miami Hurricanes players were made available to the media for the first time since the spring game. In Coral Gables this past week, upperclassmen Jason Fox, Graig Cooper, and Randy Phillips all answered questions from the media regarding UM’s 2009 prospects. Because I am not the media and because I am too lazy to drive down to Coral Gables, I decided to ask Max Cherry, my personal UM insider source, to give me the real scoop.

Cherry was Howard and Jimmy’s bail bondsman of choice during the notorious lawless years of the 80’s. Get pinched after midnight on South Beach? “I ain’t saying nothing. I’m calling Max Cherry.” Instigate a ruckus at Dadeland Mall? “Where’s that card Jimmy gave me with that cracker Max Cherry’s number?” Cherry was able to parlay this fame into a starring role as himself in the 1997 film Jackie Brown. I was able to stop by his office recently. Lets see what he thinks of the Hurricanes’ upcoming 2009 season.

Anton: What do you think of the talent level in Coral Gables this year?

 Max Cherry: They’re pretty good.

Anton: How do you feel the infusion of two new coordinators will benefit the team this year, especially in the first month of the season?

MC: They’re pretty good.

Anton: What do you think of Head Coach Randy Shannon’s ability to recruit?

 MC: That’s what Randy does. He finds people that don’t want to be found.

Anton: What do you say to your critics who came out of the woodwork after you used your fame in the 1980’s helping out “Thug U,” getting players get out of jail, to playing yourself in a movie?

MC: Is white guilt supposed to make me forget that I’m running a business?

Anton: Did you see the article about Randy Shannon being one of the most fit collegiate coaches?

MC: I’ll bet, besides maybe an afro, he looks exactly how he did at 29.

Anton: Well, I think his ass isn’t the same.

MC: Bigger?

Anton: Yeah, I would say so.

MC: Ain’t nothing wrong with that!

Anton: What would be a typical scenario when one of Jimmy’s players would get in trouble? 

MC: You’re not my client until you get busted and I bond you out.

Anton: So the program kept you on a retainer?

MC: Because they wanted me to know what a slick guys they were. They had stewardesses bringing me fifty grand.

Anton: So what would the players say once you took over the situation? Their excuses?

MC: Now you want me to speculate on what they do. My guess is they’re in the drug business, except the money’s moving the wrong way. Whatever they’re into, you seem to be getting away with it, so more power to you.

Anton: So you never felt like you were crossing a line between right and wrong?

MC: I’m 56 years old. I cant’ blame anybody for anything I do. 

Anton: This is as good a time as any to wrap thinks up. Agreed?

MC: Yeah.

Anton: There ain’t nothing you want to tell me before I leave, is there?

MC: No.

Anton: Last chance, motherfucker. You sure?

MC: Yep.

Anton: You still listening to the Delfonics?

MC: They’re pretty good.

Anton: By the way, you ever speak with Jackie Brown? How is she doing?

MC: Could I excuse myself? Come back in about a half an hour. You can let yourself out.

 

♫♫ I was the third brother of five

Doing whatever I had to do to survive

I’m not saying what I did was alright

Trying to break out of the ghetto was a day to day fight… ♫♫

A week old but still a great read. If you weren’t jacked about 2009 you will be after listening to Randy. 

”You will see this team taking the next step,” Shannon said in a chat in his office. “The Georgia Tech game last year [a 41-23 loss] made us grow a lot. That will make us a better team record-wise. We’re a lot more talented, have a lot more depth. You don’t have to worry about [defensive-line] depth any more. Two years ago, you had only five defensive linemen to play in a game. That alone should tell you how far we’ve come.”

Lets hope so re: the GaTech game. Playing them second, in prime time no less, they better be ready to fly on that beautiful triple option. And please Randy, no more telling them to strip the ball, at least until one guy has him wrapped up. 

New coordinator Mark Whipple has done ”great things” with the offense, and Shannon will not curtail his creativity. ”If we have to score 70, we’ll score 70,” Shannon said. Another clear sign of Whipple’s impact: “Kids want to be around coaches, want to watch more film on their own.”

Any more naysayers regarding Randy handcuffing spread guru Patrick Nix last year? More than anything about Randy, I love his candor. He goes on to speak about the need for a QB to step up in the backup role, because if JaScory gets hurt, we fucked. OK, so he didn’t say it quite like that, but he might as well. I have faith in Whipple to stick whoever he wants behind center and make them a manageable QB, but we don’t want to find that one out.

In 1956, life seemed so much easier. Not quite the epitome of the Mad Men early 60’s, with women still stuck in the kitchen, room temperature scotch in every office, and sexual harassment only a bedroom staple on “Daddy’s Drunk Thursdays.” A gallon of milk was $0.97, gallon of gas $0.23, and a Ford auto topped out at $3151. Of course, when your annual salary is only $4414, you didn’t have much to spare.

Even in these non-inflation 50’s the Hurricanes still tossed some Gator salad on fall Saturdays. Finishing 8-1-1, Miami would reach their highest season ending poll ranking until their 1983 national title, at #6 in all three wire services. The clip is silent, but still pretty decent quality, and shows Florida Field before it’s current insufferable home field advantage. Enjoy.