Shannon Leads BCS in Coaches' APR Rankings

Aug. 5, 2010

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – University of Miami head football coach Randy Shannon ranks third among all active Division I football coaches with a career Academic Progress Rate of 977, The Center for Research on Sport In Society announced this week.

“This is credit to our student-athletes and the support staff in our academic area,” said Shannon. “Academic success is important to the players on this team and they are receiving the credit they have worked so hard for.”

Shannon’s 977 lifetime APR average leads all head coaches in Bowl Championship Series conferences and trails only Troy Calhoun of Air Force (983) and Ken Niumatalolo of Navy (978) on the national stage.

“We are defining what it means to be a student-athlete at the University of Miami,” said sophomore wide receiver LaRon Byrd. “I believe that we have some of the best athletes in America and I know we also have some of the smartest students. Our job is to be successful in the classroom and on the field and I’m proud of our program and my teammates for achieving at such a high standard.”

The APR was established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association to measure the success or failure of collegiate athletic teams in moving student-athletes towards graduation.

The football team’s 2008-09 APR score of 978 will be factored into Shannon’s lifetime average in next year’s rankings, meaning that the UM head coach should be among the nation’s leaders again.

Academically, the NCAA is moving towards its harshest APR penalty phase and there is increasing interest in coaches’ lifetime rates. In March, the NCAA began computing Division I coaches’ APR rates. Coaches’ APR rates will not be used as a tool to assess or punish coaches, but rather in hope that universities will consider coaches’ APR’s in hiring decisions.

The data was compiled using the NCAA Division I Academic Performance Program data for academic years 2003/2004 through 2007/2008.

In May, Miami was recognized as being the only Bowl Championship Subdivision (BCS) team among 26 schools nationally that posted a multi-year APR score in the Top 10 percent in addition to finishing the 2009 season ranked in both the USA Today Coaches poll and Associated Press poll.

If there were an 8-team college playoff, which factored in APR’s & BCS standings, it would include TCU, Florida, Boise State, Georgia Tech, Penn State, Miami, Utah and Wisconsin.