On a cold Thursday morning in Gainesville, new associate head coach and co-defensive coordinator Randy Shannon met with reporters wearing a windbreaker sporting a Gator head logo on it.
The sight of Shannon — a longtime Miami Hurricane — wearing Gator gear may take some getting used to.
Shannon, 48, played football for the Hurricanes where he started on the 1987 National Title-winning team, and he was on the coaching staff for the Canes’ fourth National Championship in 1991.
He returned to the UM staff following a three-year stint with the Miami Dolphins to become the defensive coordinator during the Hurricanes' 2001 national title season. He assumed the head coaching role from 2007-2010, where he acquired a 28-22 record.
But despite his extensive tenure with Miami, Shannon said the Miami fan base has not reacted negatively to his decision to join the UF coaching staff.
"No that’s been a long time because of the rivalry back in the days, but right now, no," Shannon said. "It’s been pretty good, been pretty fun, been excited. Across the United States, I have a lot I know, from California all up in New York. They’re excited about the opportunity for me to come here."
New UF head coach Jim McElwain has been impressed by Shannon, and while Shannon’s job title of associate head coach, co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach is a long one, McElwain said he does not dive too deep into them.
"You’re a ball coach," McElwain said. "Your title is you’re invested in young men. Your title is it’s about how we can help them be better for the rest of their lives. ... He’s obviously the whatever associate, assistant head coach or whatever the word is, would somebody help me on that? Chief bottle washer? I don’t know. In charge of tackling. There’s a reason for that."
Shannon followed his time at Miami as the linebackers coach at TCU in 2012 and spent the last two seasons at Arkansas.
One year following Shannon’s tenure of head coach, UM booster Nevin Shapiro informed the NCAA that he gave gifts and cash to UM players and coaches throughout his time connected with the program, dating all the way back to 2002 up until 2010, which included when Shannon was a head coach.
Although Shannon wasn’t directly connected, the investigations prompted a self-imposed bowl ban in 2011 and 2012, including suspensions for UM athletes for receiving impermissible benefits from Shapiro.
As head coach, there were multiple reports that surfaced saying Shannon told players and coaches to stay away from Shapiro. Shannon, when asked about Shapiro and his years as a head coach at Miami, said there is little point of looking back at the things that have already occurred.
"Don’t let something that happened 10 seconds ago screw up something you have ahead of you," Shannon said. "When you keep looking back in life, you’re going to miss out on a lot of opportunities."
Shannon had no problem making the jump to Florida when he was called for the job. Despite the program going 29-21 in the last four seasons, Shannon said Florida remains one of the top programs in the country at the end of the day and credits athletics director Jeremy Foley for having success in most of the sports outside of football.
"Being at Florida, fellas, there’s a lot of programs in the country, but there’s only a few programs in the country like Florida," Shannon said. "Just being honest with you."
Despite Shannon’s poor record as a head coach, his defensive resume personnel-wise is quite impressive. As a head coach and defensive coordinator, he’s coached 14 defensive players who were selected in the first round of the NFL Draft. He’s also coached current and future NFL Hall of Famers including Warren Sapp, Ray Lewis and Ed Reed. He coached the late legendary safety Sean Taylor.
Shannon says it is a luxury to come into Florida, which ranked no lower than 15th nationally in total defense during Will Muschamp’s four-year tenure.
"We’ve got to build on what we think is best for us as a coaching staff and what we’re trying to get done as a staff," Shannon said. "We don’t try to compete and compare, we just want to get better. Everything you do in life, you can never stay the same."
With Shannon’s connections to South Florida, many believe he will be an asset to recruit that talent-rich part of the state well.
But Shannon wants to remind people that he can recruit more than just South Florida.
"People keep forgetting that I recruited a lot of guys from California when I was at the University of Miami, a lot of guys from Louisiana, a lot of guys from New York," Shannon said. "So I’ve been more versatile than recruiting just South Florida."
Shannon may always be remembered as a University of Miami product, but for him, it’s time for a new chapter at Florida.
"This is University of Florida," Shannon said. "I’m happy and excited about the University of Florida. Whatever happened in my past, fellas, I can’t bring up the past. The past is past."
Follow Morgan Moriarty on Twitter @Morgan_Moriarty
Randy Shannon speaks during a mdia avilability on Thursday
