Jacory Harris is the man for Miami, good or bad. No qualms about it, he is the guy who will make or break the Canes getting back to the top within the next 2+ years. Still, that doesn’t mean someone shouldn’t slap his shit around a bit, straighten his thinking out.

“I know I take way more chances now,” he said. “Last year, if I took any chances I knew, `That’s it for me, I don’t get any playing time.’ ”

Who knew Robert Marve actually brought out some positive qualities?

Clock management continues to be a problem at times for UM, which ran out of time in a late first-half drive against North Carolina, but never used its last timeout and didn’t line up quickly enough after a first down. “It was probably a mistake — everybody had something to do with it,” Jacory Harris said. Offensive coordinator Mark Whipple “gives me freedom to use timeouts, but I look to him first.” UM has no problem with Harris burning timeouts early in halves to get the right personnel in. Harris said “something bad is going to happen” if he doesn’t.

(Emphasis mine). I find this counterintuitive. Whipple gives Harris freedom, yet he looks to him first before calling a timeout? Again, this is me slamming my head against the wall.

“At the beginning of the year, teams didn’t know what we had,” he said. “Safeties don’t play the same now. I’ve got to learn to take what the defense is giving me and stop taking all the deep shots.”

RAWR! This is the quote that angers me the most. How can Harris still be saying this, let alone thinking this way?! The safeties have been playing different since the Virginia Tech game! Am I the only fucker noticing this? Does Whipple and Randy like playing from behind, to build character and what not?

This post is not meant to be a Debbie Downer. I still think Harris will turn this around next season after another spring in Whipple’s offense. I am simply annoyed with his laissez-faire attitude towards interceptions and wanted to say something about it.

This guy looooves to name drop. Rex Ryan, Jim Johnson, Dick Lebeau, all in one sentence. Whipple is awesome. Gives you the confidence as a fan that if Miami keeps winning, they can beat anyone once the offense is humming.

Looks like Miami is thinking ahead a little bit after this month long offensive explosion. If you ask me, this is definitely the way to go. You want someone in there learning everything Whipple has to offer. You never know how long he will stick around, scout team progeny or not.

Here is the link:

http://miami.craigslist.org/mdc/edu/1406590345.html

Below is the ad copied from Craigslist:

Looking for energetic candidate to assist/become clone of current OC.

Duties:

- Learn philosophy and playbook of current OC
- Work 80 hrs/week with little pay
- Travel extensively during recruiting season

Requirements:

- College degree
- Willing to relocate to Coral Gables
- Free of family obligations (unmarried and childless is preferred)

- Willing to learn workings of current OC’s system, including but not limited to:
a) Moxie
b) Tendency to throw on 1st down
c) Ability to not let a holding penalty kill a drive and “get it back” within two plays
d) Willingness to throw on 3rd and 6 to ice the game instead of running into a stacked box

- Former Maxwell Award-winning QB with NFL experience and California recruiting ties = BIG plus

Benefits:

- Prospects of promotion
- Entry to ladder toward HC gig at top-flight program

Serious inquiries only please.

Did I pick Miami to lose? Why yes, yes I did. Was it some kind of reverse psych out? Nope. I was simply wrong. Before the kickoff, I truly thought Oklahoma would take a big early lead, then hold on. Yet, one quarter into the game, down 10 points to one of the top 3 programs of the decade, I knew Miami was on its way to victory. Oklahoma had numerous chances to blow this game wide open, make Miami play from behind with the crowd asleep, and couldn’t cash in. Jacory stopped throwing the ball wild downfield, receivers starting making catches, the defense stepped up, and Baby J played the game of his life. All to victory.

Way to stick to the gameplan Whipple. Miami will need to start shopping around for a backup OC to learn all the details under this genius. Miami moved the ball on this #1 defense from the first drive. Even when OU got to Jacory, delivered big hits, caused fumbles, Whipple did not divert. If not for Jacory locking on this deep ball early, to the tune of two first quarter picks, Miami would have blown this one out. Contrast that with Oklahoma. They got their early two score cushion, and sat on it. Stopped letting their new star freshman QB throw the ball downfield. All runs, all short passes to the flat. Watching the game with OU faithful, they were disgusted, and rightfully so. Stoops star, arguably, is fading. They lost a WR and their backup QB couldn’t complete a pass downfield to save his life. More importantly, his OC refused to call a pass play past 10 yards downfield. Showing no confidence in his QB. Stoops will still win you conference titles, get you 10 wins a year, and there is definitely something to be said about that. You don’t win or even compete for the national title every year. Fans who demand it are ridiculous. However, Stoops needs to interject some new assistant blood in there. The OoC coaches have caught up to his gameplans.

Ray Ray! Talk about a star in the making. Armstrong played incredible, no missed tackles, big hits, The Big Hit, and really is our next All-American safety. Lets incorporate the old rule of “You get hurt you never see field again.” Players would refuse to come out in practice for even the tiniest of injuries, for fear their backup would win their job and never relinquish it. Armstrong and Telemaque should be starting pronto. It’s not like Phillips came out of the woodwork like senior year Brandon Meriweather. Let these two talent fiends learn on the job, play these next 3-5 weeks against easy win opponents, make their mistakes, and start making plays late in the year in Tampa.

Watching at home, the crowd, even at 60K, double upper deck tarps and all, showed up and made a difference. Can we brainwash all the fans that Miami is 9-0 and playing either FSU, OU, or UF every week?

This recap can’t go without a shout out to Baby James. Javarris played the best game of his career, the one we have all been waiting 4 years for. He keeps this up, gets himself a 1K rushing season, and there might be some whispers of a late first round pick based on his surname.

After the game finished, I was elated. For the obvious reasons of course, but also because Miami didn’t squander this opportunity. This team is too young, as they should have blown OU out. On the flip side, Miami did still almost lose it, and could have. So it’s great that such a young team didn’t waste a victory with a late letdown. The past four seasons, could I make that same claim?

The best part of this game is it truly is “Miami is back.” Sure, Miami can still throw an ACC hiccup this season, or even lose to an up and coming South Florida team on the road. So why are they still “back?” Because Okahoma is one of the three 1980s Miami opponents of stature (FSU and ND the others). Miami came back from the Va Tech embarrassment and played this way, no tricks, no mirrors, came back from 10 down, two picks early picks ruining 14 points for sure, against a “rival” from the heyday of Miami football? Fucking priceless.

I knew I should have done Angelo Pappas quotes

“The U might be back, but we never left,” said Virginia Tech cornerback Rashad Carmichael.

True indeed. Miami was embarrassed throughout the game, and also embarrassing. Dropped passes, missed tackles, zero pass protection.

To be honest, I was worried the second Mark “Fucking Douchebag” May picked Miami on Friday night. You know when he is picking Miami, a team he so utterly despises, that any opponent with a pulse will be pulling out the motivation card full tilt. Lo and behold, Miami is still not talented enough to overcome a higher motivated opponent.

After the first quarter Harris fumble, and ensuing touchdown giveaway, my mind raced immediately back to 2003. Va Tech jumps to an early lead at home against a “media’s darling” Miami team, grabs some more well deserved bounces, and the rout is on. Once Jimmy Graham dropped two straight passes that would have turned the entire outcome of the game on its head, the Kevin Everett flashbacks wouldn’t stop until 6am. Did Graham lose the game? Of course not. The inability to protect Harris was the reason Miami lost this game. Everyone knew Miami could get down even two scores and come back on Beamer’s teams. They just don’t score enough, and fast enough, to truly blow out any team.

The halftime adjustments by Whipple proved successful, if for only a little while. Harris went to three step drops, instead of the 5-7 he usually does, and Miami strode down the field for a patented two minute drive to open the third quarter. Every Miami fan is now thinking “OK, OK, one stop, another score, we got them on their heels, tie the game, win it late!” The difference? Bud Foster, my friends.

Bud Foster proved once again he has the football mind to be a head coach, oh, ten years ago. Who knows his reasoning for never stepping up to the throne. Regardless, his defenses are always top notch, and yesterday afternoon was no different. Harris had never been pressured this season, and when your offense is predicated on deep throws, you need time to see the field. I knew the Whipple had been schooled on this afternoon when Harris threw his game clinching pick. ABC showed us the replay: Miami ran one of their double routes that has worked so brilliantly for two games. What did Va Tech CB Rashad Carmichael do? He stared right at Harris, did not bite on any WR fake, as he was no doubt coached to do by Foster, and stepped right into the throw. Game over.

This coming week against Oklahoma will tell us a lot about Mark Whipple’s playcalling. Bud Foster is a great defensive mind. Stoops has that same mind, but he also has NFL talent across the board. Whipple needs to rig the game in Miami’s favor, stack the line if need be, throw in some wrinkles to let Harris throw. Whipple’s offense works, and it works well. The receivers were open yesterday, Harris just couldn’t get them the ball.

We will never know how much the rain affected this team, but hello people, both teams were poured on like Noah. For all the Miami passes one could say were incomplete due to the rain, I will counter that every single Va Tech running back cut was like he was on ice. They would come to a near complete stop, then turn directions. Yet Miami still couldn’t tackle them! If it was a clear Virginia night, Miami would have had Ga Tech Running Horror II on their hands for all we know.

I am the biggest Randy supporter. I want him to succeed sooooo badly, it makes me sick when anyone rails on him to be fired. He is the only coach who will stay at Miami and not use it for an NFL job. Plain and simple. Miami doesn’t need him to succeed. The program has already proven it can take any coach, literally, and with great recruiting win a national title or five. However, with that coaching turnover comes program turnover. With Randy, Miami can be top 10 material for 15 years running. With that said, I still have one ongoing gripe. For two years now, when the shit hits the fan, Randy stands on the sideline like a father who is pissed off like all hell at his son, but refuses to help them out because he wants them to learn something. I love Randy, but I am sick of him standing there with a combination scowl/bewilderment stare on his face. Do something. Yell at someone. Fire up the players. Get in the faces of the assistants. Literally, just do SOMETHING.

When all is said and done, a 2-2 start is still a great start to the season. The ACC is still open for the taking, and I still see Miami running the rest of the conference slate undefeated. Oklahoma next week, 8pm start, definitely the Gameday crew. Perhaps more than 40K show up? Nah.

Miami 2-0 (2-0) @ Virginia Tech 2-1 (0-0)

Lane Stadium

Blacksburg, VA

(ed. note: We came upon this transcript in Mark Whipple’s office, no doubt his speech notes should he have been allowed to speak to the press this week.)

Three plays, 80 yards, my offense. 100% pure adrenaline!

It’s basic mid-tier ACC psychology. If you scare them and get them peeing down their leg, they submit. But if you project weakness, call HB draws before establishing the passing game, that promotes violence, and that’s how Jacory gets hurt.

Fear causes hesitation, and hesitation will cause your worst fears to come true. Ask any Larry Coker apologist.

If you want the ultimate, you’ve got to be willing to pay the ultimate price. It’s not tragic to die doing what you love. And I love throwing on first down.

I know you Bud Foster. I know you want me so bad it’s like acid in your mouth. But, not this time. Have fun stopping my horses on the outside.

Look at it! It’s a once in a lifetime offensive scheme, Randy! Let me go out there and let me get one wave, just one wave of play calls before you reign me in. I mean, come on Randy, what am I gonna call that’s crazy? Sidelines on both sides! I’m not gonna wide receiver screen Patrick Nix my way to New Zealand! Come on, compadre. Come on!

ACC, this is your fucking wake up call! I was an EN EFF EL Assistant! I know Ben Roethlisberger! I coached Donovan McNabb! Ain’t it wild? That’s what makes it so interesting. You can do what you want, and make up your own rules. Why be a servant to the law, when you can be it’s master?

Official Prediction: Miami 28, Virginia Tech 17

2-0.

Not only the overall record, but also the conference record. Against two of the top three teams in the ACC. One could not envision a better start to the 2009 season. Randy Shannon just inked his extension, and let me tell you, it will be expensive. Kirby should have signed him when he had the (7-6) chance. Nonetheless, in the end, we all win.

One could have been worried with Georgia Tech’s opening drive. All runs, and Miami couldn’t stop them. Bend but don’t break is this season’s defensive mantra, and the Canes D held true to form. One field goal later, in all actuality this game was over. Thanks for coming down Yellow Jackets. It was nice of you to show up. Why? Because the first drive led by Jacory Harris was 2000-02 Dorsey-esque. Two minutes or less, right down the field, unstoppable in every form. You knew right away Miami was going to score at will the entire game, and all the D needed was a few stops. Jacory Harris + Mark Whipple = Junior year Ken Dorsey. Drops back, is never touched, takes as long as he wants to find open ass fast as fudge receivers.

Harris was 20 of 25 for 270 yards and 3 TDs. Two incompletions were drops. Another was TE Jimmy Graham deflecting a pass intended for Leonard Hankerson. The bastards. The guy is just on a tear. I cannot wait until Miami hits the “easy” part of their schedule. This is the season Miami starts bringing back the fear of their opponents. The ACC middle tiers will start to circle Miami on their calendar as an automatic loss. As it should have been since 2004.

Miami is now 14-2 all time in Thursday nighters, 10-0 at home. Got damn, Jimmy. That is some serious gourmet shit. We woulda been satisfied with some freeze-dried, taster’s choice! Last year’s debacle in Atlanta, and a narrow loss to Pittsburgh in 1997 are the only blemishes on the Thursday night record.

This game makes me happy not only for this season, but for the future against Paul Johnson-led teams. He will eventually get much better players running his triple option, but Miami showed tonight it won’t matter. This defense has zero depth outside of the D-line, and still stopped them cold save the first drive. Now that’s some good shit, mein.

One negative, if we’re nitpicking? 45,329 in attendance. Green tarps in the upper deck covering all the empty seats. Pathetic, but what’s new with Miami football? Atlanta fans aren’t coming down to Miami Gardens for a Thursday nighter, and we all know Canes fans don’t show up unless it’s Florida State. But what happened to the Thursday night sold out rule? Even Texas A&M a couple years back filled up the old OB. Good thing Miami doesn’t need a home crowd to play well.

After last week I wanted an ACC title game appearance. This week, save for playing FSU again in Tampa, I want an ACC title. I still do not expect it, and that is not some reverse psychology. Contrary to popular opinion, if we cross our legs incorrectly at home we do not affect the outcome of any games. I just still feel like the youth and/or defense will cause a conference loss or two. Watching this offense for two weeks, I realistically believe an ACC Championship is the new ceiling for this squad. Before the season started, a 2-2 start, regardless of whom the wins came against, I said I would be very happy. Well, we already have our 2-2 start. Lets just say I am very happy. Muwahahaha.

♫♫ Jacory Jacory, so good to me,
Whipple Whipple, it was all I hoped it would be
Oh Thursday night game, Thursday  night game could guarantee
That Thursday night win, you would still be here with me. ♫♫

Again, 0-4 can go fuck itself. Along with all you Randy haters.

“You know something JaScory, I think this just might be my masterpiece.”

0-4 can go fuck itself.

Great read as usual over at Heather Dinich’s ACC blog. She has a two parter on Mark Whipple, here and here.

Whipple doesn’t hit as hard this interview with the great quotes, maybe he was keeping it clean for the ladies. One excerpt:

Heather Dinich: Well, I guess that’s my way of asking how complicated is it? How much are you asking these guys to learn right away?

Mark Whipple: Well, I’m asking them to learn a lot. To me it’s not like if you walk into class and Albert Einstein was your teacher and he has the theory of relativity and you can’t understand it. Then it’s not a very good class. People going into class coming out say I understand that, I get that. That’s what’s more important. I can write a 15-page paper, and while that might be impressive, the five-page paper was a lot better. The systems have worked. They worked at Pittsburgh, they worked in Philadelphia, they worked at the University of Massachusetts, at Brown University. There’s things out of all of them. What I told our guys is, this is the Miami offense. You try things and continue to try different things and hope they work. You plan for them and try to explain why, and we want feedback from the players on certain things. That’s always been beneficial because then they have ownership of what they’re doing.

I gave up my season tickets this year, fantastic seats by the way, Alumni section is no joke. However, a special practice is being held today for season ticket holders only. Alas. It’s hot as balls out there today anyway. Lets throw out some linkage!!

Herald piece on Whipple. Seems I will always have the upper hand with my interview about Whipple, instead of with him. You can always get more info from a friend than the direct party.

Manny Navarro on Camp Shannon opening. Says he doesn’t like the nickname Jascory, but doesn’t offer up a new one. Dems da rules Manny! Step it up.

Shandel Richardson on the first four grueling games. They suck, ACC schedulers should be shot, if Miami goes 3-1 they have shot at national title. The end. Oh wait, that’s my summary.

A few half dozen pics over at The 7th Floor already, and it’s only 1pm. Now those are some hard working die-hards! They stole them. My favorite is Matt Bosher saying “Hi Mom! Yeah, I don’t have to run, sweat, or really do anything until Labor Day. Olive Garden for dinner?”

To finish it off, the Bleacher Report has a few great recent articles, from asking the inevitable “Is it Randy’s Do or Die Season?” (um, no sorry), to the inevitable talk about the schedule. My favorite though is a nice mini-tribute The Swagger Report did for the unheralded Canes of the past ten years. It even has a slideshow!

Now be honest and tell me how many of those you actually clicked, and I can confirm why I’m never a fan of posts with a shit load of links.

I love this guy. First he tells the defense, in the middle of a game, on the last drive, to “Give us a fucking look!” Now, he puts it straight to the potentially lazy offensive players who don’t want to learn the playbook.

“If you want something easy, you should’ve gone Division III,” Whipple said. “You would’ve been a star, but no one would’ve cared.”

If Whipple produces results, as his bravado and resume suggest, he will forever become a folk hero in Hurricane fans’ eyes. Of course he does get the benefit of the reverse Spurrier scenario, what with him coming after Patrick “Spread Em Out” Nix.

“What I said to the guys is that if you’re here at the University of Miami, then your expectations are to play in the National Football League,” Whipple said. “And here’s what we do in the National Football League. And here’s what’s been successful. We’ve played in three (league) championship games and won a Super Bowl. If you can’t do it here now, don’t think you’re going to learn it five years from now.”

Now that is the type of NFLU I believe in. Prepare the players for the League, get them to come to Miami for this same reason, instead of just being lazy for 3  years then bolting on the reputation of the program.

This guy even has a sense of situational humor.

“It’s more of a language barrier,” Whipple said. “It’s like no habla Ingles with them. What’s “Two Jet Zebra Drive?” They never heard that, but here’s what it means.”

And my favorite quote of them all? His take on the WR rotation:

“We’ll rotate when they drop the ball.”

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.

When one comes, they all start rolling in-

Our second interview with a former Coach Whipple player today is with his D-1AA national title winning QB, Todd Bankhead.

Bankhead came to UMass the same year as Coach Whipple (1998), from Palomar Junior College in San Marcos, CA. And just like our previous interviewee Jason Peebler, Bankhead set all kinds of passing records while at UMass. Lets do this!

Todd, being a Miami Hurricane fan, and having to endure two years of Patrick Nix led offensive play calling, I’m sure you can imagine our excitement level right now with this Mark Whipple hire.

You both came in to UMass in 1998. How did he help change the team offensive dynamic? I realize you were coming from a JUCO, but how did other players on the team react to his style?

(Note: All bold emphasis in Todd’s answers is mine.)

Hey Tony,
I’m happy to answer your questions about Coach Whipple, I still keep in touch with him and just recently saw him at our 1998 National Championship reunion back in October. I think you guys will like what he brings to the table.

Before Whip and I got to UMass they were 2-9 the previous year. They were running the option which is night and day compared to what Whip likes to do. I don’t think it was quite the same situation with the Canes because of the winning tradition and expectations there, but at UMass the players immediately bought into what Whip was trying to do because we were hungry. I think it is quite remarkable what he was able to accomplish offensively because he was bringing in a whole new system with players who were accustomed to something totally different. One of the cool things that I think personifies his style and system was that he was ultra confident more towards being brash about establishing what he wanted to do and how he was going to do it (what I mean by that is he told us from the start we were going to be potent and hard to stop and kind of instilled that into us).

The stats for your Junior and Senior seasons speak for themselves. You broke all kinds of school records in passing. What kind of scheme does Whipple run? We Miami fans really have nothing to look at in terms of his style of play calling.

I can only imagine that since coaching in the NFL he has become all the more innovative, but in terms of what he was doing at UMass, he was wide open.  That isn’t to say he just wanted to air it out every game, because we had a great running back who played in the NFL for 7 years (Marcel Shipp), but he was innovative in that he knew how to expose other teams and how to utilize mismatches.  As far as a scheme goes, we ran everything from off-set I formations to 5 wide empty sets (Yes!).  It was definitely more of a pro scheme and not all this spread option Vince Young stuff you see. (However, if he had a Vince Young he would definitely utilize those talents and work that stuff in).  I think what you guys will like is that he is not predictable, and he is kind of fearless when it comes to play calling.  The only difference is he is not the head coach and he might be reigned in a little bit, but we went for it on 4th a lot and he was willing to take chances like throwing out of the end zone when most coaches would try to pound it and give themselves some space.  One thing is for sure, you wouldn’t classify Whipple as being conservative.  Definitely fun to play for and fun to watch.  The thing I liked most about his offense, it wasn’t overly complicated for the players to pick up (his plays weren’t a paragraph long with hundreds of variables for each player to read on the fly), but it was very tough for defenses to defend against.

What kind of coach is Whipple? Players coach? Disciplinarian? Does he demand a lot?

That is a tough question to answer because at UMass he was as fiery as they come.  I’m sure coaching in the NFL is a lot different because you can’t really get into guys like he did, because that probably wouldn’t work. As the Head Coach/OC, he would light into me like nobody’s business, but would also coach me and congratulate me for doing something good.  I’d say we had a great relationship but he was not hesitant to unleash his wrath when I or someone else screwed up. He also knew who he could do that with and who wouldn’t respond to that type of coaching. I’m very interested to see how he is at Miami because they are college kids but are also high profile recruits who have egos. He will know how to manage whatever situation he is in because he knows how to deal with people. You need to get a microphone on that guy because he says some funny stuff when he goes off. I don’t think you get that impression from interviews and stuff like that, but as a coach, he is as fiery as they come.

I see you had some experience in the professional ranks after UMass. Can you give us a brief rundown? And also, how did Whipple prepare you for the next level, especially being a QB?

After college I ended up in the CFL and Arena League for 4 years.  I would say Whip helped me tremendously with being able to recognize things and take advantage of mismatches.  He definitely instills toughness in his players and expects a lot from them, which gets you prepared for just about anything.

For all my UMass readers, what are you up to right now? How is life treating you? Was it hard giving up the game?

Right now I’m a Police Officer in San Diego. I work for an agency that is different from most because we do a lot of different stuff from traditional agencies. For instance, I’m a scuba-diver and do a lot of work on the water with boats as well as marine firefighting, along with traditional police work in a patrol car. After playing football, I thought I would get into coaching but I was sick of the job instability thing and tried some of the 9 to 5 jobs, but didn’t care much for that.  I never thought I would be a cop but I love it and have a blast.  Life is great, I’m married and have a 10 month old boy who hopefully takes after his mother (she was a college volleyball player who is much more athletic than me).
 

Last question. Here is the situation: 4th and 3, on the opponent’s 40 yard line, up by 2 points, 2:00 minutes to go, opponent has 1 time out left. Conference title on the line. What would you guys do?

Honestly, we were in that type of situation plenty of times. I would have to say Coach Whip would want to put it away and go for it kinda like Pete Carroll does it at SC.  In 1998, we were huge underdogs early in the year to the #5 D1-AA team that year.  It was the 4th quarter and we were down by 1 or 2 points.  We drove inside their 20 with about 8 seconds left and called timeout. All we had to do was play it conservative and we would have a good shot at winning on a field goal. On the previous play I completed a ball for a 6 or 7 yard gain and Whip saw something that I didn’t and wanted me to throw it in the end zone to a different receiver. When I came to the sideline he Mother F’d me like you’ve never heard….just going off. When he settled down, he called a play and told me if we got a certain look the backside receiver would be open on a post route. We go out after the timeout and line up to run the play and the defense calls a timeout.  During the timeout, Whip walks out on the field and starts screaming at their defense, “Give us a fucking look” as if they were a scout team defense or something.  I was like, this dude is crazy. I’ll tell you what, it got our guys jacked up and probably dumbfounded their team’s defense.  On the next play, sure enough, we got the look we wanted and we hit the backside receiver for a touchdown to win the game.  It was awesome and really I think it propelled us that year to go on and win the National Championship.

I think you guys will really love Coach Whipple. He is as good of a coach as there is out there.

Todd

Ok Canes fans. That officially does it. I have to go buy some extra kleenex because I just made an excitement pee in my pants. And I believe we can also officially start a new calling card, a new catch phrase….. “GIVE US A FUCKING LOOK!”

We have landed our first exclusive mini-interview with a former Whipple player! A recent commenter on this site, Jason Peebler was kind enough to indulge me in my questioning, when really all I wanted was assurance the Canes are going to push some teams’ shit in next year. Peebler was an All-American WR with UMass, setting all kinds of team receiving records, and played under Whipple from 2001-2003. Lets do this!

How did Whipple help change the team’s offensive dynamic?

I was recruited out of high school by Coach Whipple, and one of the main reasons choosing UMass was because of his spread attack. He puts a lot of pressure on opposing team’s pass defenses by spreading defenses thin and throwing the ball on first down.

Whipple is going to line up and look for the mismatch on defense and abuse it. With the speed of the skilled positions at the U, he should have no problem putting up nationally recognizable numbers.

You mentioned in a comment on a previous post that Coach Whipple’s offensive schemes are “nightmares for opposing defenses.” Can you elaborate on this?

I think the best attributes that Whipple brings to any team is his ability to put together a good game plan and motivating his players to play at their highest abilities. I know his offensive mind has grown even more after spending a few years around the NFL. He helped me by his commitment to motivate his players in all aspects of the game, on and off the field.

What kind of coach is Whipple? Players’ coach? Disciplinarian?

The most interesting part of this signing is what approach Whipple will take in the locker room and on the field. Being a head coach you have a lot more pull and how the ship was run. He is a very disciplinary coach and always would hold us accountable for our actions. I am glad to see him back in the college ranks because he can make such a strong impact on 18-22 year old males trying to find their way in life.

For all my loyal UMass readers, what are you up to right now? I see you were signed as a free agent with Philadelphia after college. Was it hard giving up the game?

As far as life after football, it’s definitely something that I miss, day in, day out. I have a son on the way in two months, and am just working and doing the family thing. My little brother Jake Laudenslayer just signed to play QB at Marshall University, so I look forward to watching his games and being supportive as he battles for the starting job.

Ok, last question. Here is the situation: 4^th and 3, on the opponent’s 40 yard line, up by 2 points. 2:00 minutes to go, opponent has one time out left, what would you guys do?

On 4th and 3 on the opponents 40, up by two, we definitely would line up in 4 wide and run slants on the front side with a smash concept on the back side. Outside receiver runs a 5 yard hitch and inside receiver runs a corner. Hopefully they were in man and we hit it over the top.

Wow. That play sounds so awesome I almost can’t comprehend its awesomeness. Jason added that one of Coach Whipple’s best assets was the ability to recruit Florida. Convincing players to come from Florida to Massachusetts? Natch. Getting them to stay in the State of Miami will be nothing.

I want to thank Jason for his time in answering my questions. He really gave us Cane fans that were in the dark with Coach Whipple’s tendencies and schemes something to latch onto. Lets all start creating unhealthy expectations for the Spring Game!

Miami will announce today that Mark Whipple will be taking over the reigns of the offense for “Mr. Spreads No Huddle McGee” Patrick Nix. Hopefully we will all survive the transition.

Since my original assessment of Whipple, I am definitely in his corner, and even more so now. I have received feedback from people up in the Northeast, obviously more well-versed in his offensive style. In fact, we received info from a direct source, one who has played for Whipple.

From commenter JP:

“…I played WR for Whipple at Umass from 2001-2003 and his offensive schemes are nightmares for opposing defenses.”

Now that is the type of details I want to hear, even if it is a vague assessment. I don’t believe Miami has ever had an OC that has created nightmares for opposing DCs. In fact, they have spent the past 5 years sending out prancing unicorns carrying burlap’s of gold and honey into their dreams.

Whipple took a 2-9 UMass team in 1997, one he did not coach, came in and revamped the entire team, and they won the D1-AA national championship in 1998 with a 12-3 record. Also of note, for those who read into these things too much, was his win in the title game against a Paul Johnson led Georgia Southern team. This guy knows what he is doing with an entire program, let alone just the offense. If Whipple was holding out for an Assistant Head Coach title, who really cares? All titles after the HC are arbitrary anyways. All that matters are who gets the wins, and who calls the plays. I could be the Assistant HC for jebus sake.

Marcel Shipp, a long-time Arizona Cardinal and UMass alum, had this to say about Whipple:

“When we hired Whip, he said in his press conference that we were going to win a national championship,” Marcel Shipp, the all-time leading rusher at UMass, said. “I was like, has he seen the team?

“But somehow he made us believe,” Shipp said of coach Mark Whipple. “They made it happen for us because we had the talent here, but we didn’t know how to use it. They brought us to another level and I take my hat off to the whole staff.”

Yes sir. I need to go find my dancing shoes.

Mark Whipple was spotted at Hecht Athletic Center on Friday (no doubt to be fitted for his future national championship ring) and was reportedly offered the OC spot by Miami.

Whipple reportedly has stated he will make his decision by the end of the weekend. All setting up for a great Monday press conference for the U. We’ll have to wait and see.

With all this Bill Young to Oklahoma State talk garnering steam, I still want to squeeze out some more names being thrown around for the OC job. 

Mark Whipple, currently an Offensive Assistant with the Philadelphia Eagles, is a candidate many on the Hurricanes message boards and blogs want badly. To be honest, I had never heard of Whipple before a few weeks ago. His most notable position is definitely his stint with the Pittsburgh Steelers as a QB coach, from 2004-06. He was around for Big Ben’s rise to NFL stardom, and was given the appropriate credit. But, it doesn’t seem like Big Ben has had any drop off since Whipple’s dismissal, so add that into the mental equation as a candidate.

Whipple does have extensive college coaching experience, however, all of it was in D-1AA. Stints at New Haven, Brown, and UMass, he won the AFCA coach of the year award in 1998, so he has that going for him. Only 51 years old, Whipple would have a lot more years to give to Miami, and probably still harbors thoughts on leading his own D1 program. 

Personally I don’t have him in my top 3. He seems to me just an NFL guy, who hasn’t even been a coordinator, with a (very short) rep as a good QB coach. Maybe Andy Reid is repping him hard (uh oh), but I’m just not sold on the guy. I’d much rather have a young gun, ready and willing to take chances, to lift Jascory into the next stratosphere.