New co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Randy Shannon knew Florida did not have its best practice on Monday.
"We had a lot of penalties, things guys weren’t sharp or crisp like we want them to be," Shannon said. "Coming off a scrimmage you always want things to keep going and keep step ahead. We’ve got to rebound from it (and) come back Wednesday."
While Shannon does oversee the defense as a whole, he will work hands-on with a linebacker corps that is lacking quality depth this Spring.
Mike Taylor and Neiron Ball, two of last season’s starters, are no longer with the team as they pursue the NFL. The other starter, Antonio Morrison, is still rehabbing from a knee injury.
However, Shannon isn’t going to use that as an excuse to not produce on the field.
With any coaching transition in college football, coaches have to work with the hand they’re dealt — in this case, the roster former coach Will Muschamp left behind.
"Being in the NFL makes you understand, in college you can’t trade for nobody," Shannon said. "You can’t place nobody on the waiver wire so whoever you got you got to coach ‘em up and you’ve got to have fun with them, so right now that’s all you can do."
The lack of depth gives less experienced guys a chance to get a lot of reps throughout spring. Two that have stepped up are juniors Alex Anzalone and Daniel McMillian. Shannon adds that the similarities in defensive schemes from last year to this one helps the younger guys pick things up more easily.
"It gets (you) a lot of reps in practice, all players or anybody in society itself, the more you can keep doing something over and over eventually you will get better," Shannon said. "A lot of those guys didn’t play last year so this is an opportunity to get a lot of reps."
Shannon’s coaching resume is nothing short of exceptional, having coached in the glory days of the 1990s and early 2000s at the University of Miami, winning two National Championships along the way, as well as spending three seasons with the Miami Dolphins.
He has coached future and current NFL Hall of Famers including Ray Lewis, Jonathan Vilma, Ed Reed, Warren Sapp and countless others. Anzalone mentioned how valuable having a seasoned coach like Shannon is, and added that watching film of some of the all time greats is a pretty humbling experience.
"The other day we pulled out film from 2000, watching Jonathan Vilma from Miami," Anzalone said Wednesday. "I think it’s pretty cool. There’s a lot to learn from him. … You get to see how they were in college and specifically, schematically what they were doing and how they played."
Shannon said putting on cut-ups from some of his former players is more to help them realize that what you do on the practice field directly translates to what you’re able to do on game days.
"When you bring out old tape, it brings out somebody that they may know and makes the drill, more than anything that I’m teaching," Shannon said. "And they can see a guy who’s actually performing the drill. Now take it to the field and then they’re like, ‘Wow, this drill really does work’. " Shannon said.
Shannon also mentioned Lewis in discussing whether or not he identifies linebackers at specific linebacker spots when he’s coaching them.
Instead of matching a player’s skillset with a certain defensive scheme, Shannon teaches kids concepts so that they have the ability to play any position. He recalls making a mistake with Lewis while he was still a young coach.
"When (Lewis) arrived at the University of Miami and we put him at outside linebacker, he wasn’t any good," Shannon said. "And about three days later somebody got nicked up at middle linebacker position, and we had a lot of guys at outside. Just put him inside, all of a sudden, he was a big time middle linebacker."
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Randy Shannon coaches during practice on Monday at Donald R. Dizney Stadium.
