Randy Shannon Wins Broyles Award
Dec. 13, 2001
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Randy Shannon became the third defensive coordinator in less than a year for the Miami Hurricanes when he took the job prior to this season, and at 35, he had no experience at the position.
How did Shannon respond? The results answer that.
Shannon directed one of the nation’s most feared defenses, helping send the top-ranked and undefeated Hurricanes to the Rose Bowl, where they will play Nebraska for the national championship.
The Major Sports Association, through perhaps the most prestigious selection panel in college football, recognized the efforts of Shannon on Wednesday when it named him winner of the sixth annual Broyles Award, presented to the nation’s top assistant college football coach. The award was presented during a banquet at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock, Ark.
The other finalists were: Florida receivers coach Dwayne Dixon, LSU offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Jimbo Fisher, Virginia Tech defensive coordinator/inside linebackers coach Robert “Bud” Foster, Fresno State offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Andy Ludwig, and Texas defensive coordinator Carl Reese.
Former LSU Coach Charlie McClendon, who died Dec. 6 at 78 after a battle with cancer, was awarded posthumously with the Broyles Lifetime Achievement Award at the banquet.
Shannon’s path to becoming Miami’s defensive coordinator wasn’t traditional. Greg Schiano was the coordinator in 2000, but he took the vacant head-coaching job at Rutgers before the Sugar Bowl last season. Defensive backs coach Chuck Pagano then was promoted to coordinator for the bowl game, but he followed Coach Butch Davis to the Cleveland Browns after the season. Enter Shannon, a linebacker on Miami’s 1987 national championship team and a former Hurricanes assistant who had been an assistant with the Miami Dolphins since 1998.
As a part of Larry Coker’s staff, Shannon went on to coordinate a tenacious defense, helping four-time national champion Miami (11-0) become ranked No. 1 in both The Associated Press Top 25 and the ESPN/USA Today Top 25 polls, riding the nation’s longest winning streak at 21 games.
The Hurricanes had the top-ranked scoring defense at 10.3 points a game and the fourth-ranked passing defense, giving up 132.6 yards a game. Miami was 11th in the country in total defense, giving up just 259.5 yards a game. The Big East champion Hurricanes posted three shutouts and gave up seven points or less in eight of their 11 games.
Shannon has coached numerous star players at Miami. This season, safety Ed Reed is a first-team Associated Press All-American, one of three repeat All-Americans in 2001. Reed led Miami’s defense with nine interceptions. Defensive back Philip Buchanon was a second-team All-American and defensive linemen William Joseph and Jerome McDougle were third-team All-Americans.
Shannon, a Miami native and former 11th round draft choice of the Dallas Cowboys in 1989, was linebackers coach for the Hurricanes from 1993-97 when he coached Ray Lewis, Jessie Armstead, Michael Barrow, Twan Russell and Darrin Smith.
The Broyles Award is named in honor of longtime University of Arkansas Athletic Director Frank Broyles, who developed a reputation during a stellar coaching career of producing top-notch assistant coaches. Former Broyles assistants have combined to win almost 20 percent of all Super Bowl titles, five national collegiate championships, more than 40 conference titles and more than 2,000 games. More than 25 Broyles assistant coaches went on to become head coaches at the college or professional level, including Joe Gibbs, Hayden Frye, Johnny Majors, Barry Switzer, Jackie Sherrill, Doug Dickey and Jimmy Johnson.
The Broyles Award is one of the most lucrative awards for college football coaches. The winner receives $5,000 and a 100-pound cast bronze statue worth $5,000. Each finalist receives $1,000 plus a set of Wilson golf clubs and a personalized bag. Finalists and their spouses are flown to Little Rock for the banquet, receiving premium lodging and limousine transportation.
Previous Broyles Award winners are: Florida State defensive coordinator MickeyAndrews (1996), Michigan defensive coordinator Jim Herrmann (1997), former Tennessee offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe (1998), who was named coach at Ole Miss shortly beforereceiving his award, former Georgia Tech offensive coordinator Ralph Friedgen (1999), now thehead coach at Maryland, and Oklahoma offensive coordinator Mark Mangino (2000), who recently was named coach at Kansas.
Previous Broyles Lifetime Achievement Award winners are: Texas A&M assistant Ray Dorr (1999), San Diego State assistant Claude Gilbert (1999), and Penn State assistant Jerry Sandusky (2000).
Broyles Award nominations are submitted by the 115 NCAA Division I-A head coaches. Every assistant that is nominated, but not selected as a finalist, receives a personalized wall plaque recognizing his efforts.
The finalists are chosen by an eight-man panel that may be the most prestigious of any awards panel, one that represents nine national championships, more than 1,500 victories, 76 conference titles, 129 bowl appearances and 13 national head coach of the year honors. The panelists are:
? Former Texas Coach Darrell Royal? Former Michigan Coach Bo Schembechler? Former Nebraska Coach Tom Osborne? Former Georgia Coach Vince Dooley? Former Washington Coach Don James? Former Syracuse Coach Dick MacPherson? Former Baylor Coach Grant Teaff? Former Brigham Young Coach LaVell Edwards
