We spend so much time on recruiting, but we rarely take time to look back. This series examines every class for the past five coaches- Manny, Richt, Golden, Shannon, and Coker. As Mario’s first class enters Year 4, what are the trends he needs to avoid if he wants to break the cycle?
Of course, bad coaching and development played a massive role in our downfall. But for this exercise, I wanted to focus on pure talent acquisition. That’s why I use NFL numbers. The NFL has the most standardized and competitive talent-evaluation process in football. It’s also really hard to get there- only 2% of CFB players and only 22% of four-stars make the league. And far fewer are able to stick around. As expected, our NFL decline mirrored our decline on the field.
Now is time for one of the most famous (or infamous) classes in Miami history: 2008.
Four-year winning percentage: 57% (+2 from the prior class)
Total enrollees- 29
NFL players- 7
NFL games- 265
Day 1 Picks- 0
Day 2 picks- 3
Pro Bowls- 0
The class ranked #1 on the Composite. I’ve listed the players in order of recruiting ranking, with NFL players in BOLD:
FIVE STARS
LB Arthur Brown (Wichita, Kansas)
WR Aldarius Johnson (Miami-Dade, FL)
LB Ramon Buchanon (Melbourne, FL)
LB Jordan Futch (Broward County, FL)
LB Sean Spence (Miami-Dade, FL)
LB Marcus Robinson (Miami-Dade, FL)
S CJ Holton (Wakulla, FL) (near Tallahassee)
OL Ben Jones (Miami-Dade, FL)
WR Tommy Streeter (Miami-Dade, FL)
WR Travis Benjamin (Belle Glade, FL)
DT Jeremy Lewis (Palm Beach County, FL)
THREE STARS OR BELOW
QB Taylor Cook (Dallas-Forth Worth, TX)
WR Laron Byrd (New Orleans, LA)
WR Thearon Collier (Miami-Dade, FL)
DE Gavin Hardin (Memphis, TN)
S Joe Wylie (Broward County, FL)
LB Brandon Marti (Miami-Dade, FL)
WR Kendall Thompkins (Miami-Dade, FL)
QB Cannon Smith (Memphis, TN)
DE Andrew Smith (Broward County, FL)
FB John Calhoun (Indian River County, FL)
FB Pat Hill (Los Angeles, CA)
K Jake Wieclaw (Chicago, IL)
WHAT HAPPENED: This was the class that defined Randy Shannon. It was also his worst. The group had a whopping 29 enrollees and ranked #1 in America. But the hype exceeded the production. The entire class combined for only 265 NFL games. Shannon’s other three classes, which ranked lower, averaged 21 enrollees and 360 total NFL games. While it wasn’t as catastrophic as some of the Coker years, the 2008 Class was a crippling disappointment.
The story starts in South Florida. We signed 18 prospects from the Tri-County Area alone. Despite that volume, we missed all the best players. The prize in the region was Pompano Beach Ely CB Patrick Johnson (now known as Patrick Peterson). He was a no-doubt superstar with elite size, speed and IQ. After an early commitment to Miami, Peterson opened up his recruitment and signed with LSU. His decision started a trend of top-ranked South Florida prospects leaving the area. As we saw this past weekend, that trend continues to haunt the Canes.
It got worse from there. We signed five receivers from Dade County alone. The one we didn’t sign (TY Hilton from Miami Springs) became a 4-time Pro Bowler. We signed eight players from the same high school, Miami Northwestern. The ninth player (Lavonte David) is a Hall of Fame candidate. We signed two players from the Muck, a rural area with a population of about 20K. The player we didn’t sign (Janoris Jenkins) became a Pro Bowler. We signed a five-star DT from Dade County in Marcus Forston, but the DT we didn’t sign (Hialeah’s Corey Liuget) went to Illinois and developed into a first rounder. Finally, we signed two offensive linemen from South Florida, but the guy we didn’t recruit (Lake Worth’s Joe Looney) started 42 games in the NFL.
Wichita’s Arthur Brown was the prize of the national crop. Like Willie Williams and Daryl Sharpton before him, Brown was a run-and-hit linebacker who struggled to get early playing time in Randy Shannon’s rigid system. He transferred back home to Kansas State and went in the second round to the Baltimore Ravens.
BEST PLAYER: From his first snaps, Sean Spence was slithering into the backfield to make plays. Dubbed “The Sixth Sense” by the great @k9cane, Spence was all about instincts. He made 317 tackles, 47 TFLs and 10.5 sacks over his Miami career. Even more impressively, he played 53 NFL games despite a catastrophic knee injury that caused nerve damage.
BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT: Everybody was excited about Northwestern’s Marcus Forston. He put up huge numbers and was unblockable one-on-one at the Army All-American game. His HS film showed him shooting into the backfield, reading screens, and taking picks to the house. But what it didn’t show was a ton of knockback power. Like Kareem Brown a few years before, the finesse nature of Forston's game limited his ceiling and prevented him from making a major NFL impact.
BEST EVALUATION: I remember watching Glades Central play Miami Northwestern in a spring game before the 2007 season. The most explosive player on the field was a 145-pounder from the Muck named Travis Benjamin. Florida didn’t want him, but Miami took advantage. Benjamin ended up flying past many of the higher-rated players in his class. Ultimately, he played 111 NFL games and scored 23 TDs (including four kick returns). My avatar for this website is Benjamin's face on a $100 bill.
LESSON LEARNED: There are too many to count, but one lesson is to always prioritize exceptional speed. Benjamin was a risky offer that paid off because his speed was different. Lavonte David was one of the fastest linebackers in America coming out of JUCO. Tommy Streeter v. Aldarius Johnson was a big debate at the time, but Streeter’s pure speed advantage made the difference. TY Hilton should have been a no-doubt offer over Kendall Thompkins. Ultimately, it pays to bet on traits.
CONCLUSION: Shannon never recovered from this class. He hitched his wagon to Jacory Harris, who showed flashes but didn’t develop like Geno Smith (who went to WVU the next year because of the quarterback logjam). The volume of misses weighed down the roster. And South Florida would only get more closed off for the elite kids. This was the beginning of the end.
Of course, bad coaching and development played a massive role in our downfall. But for this exercise, I wanted to focus on pure talent acquisition. That’s why I use NFL numbers. The NFL has the most standardized and competitive talent-evaluation process in football. It’s also really hard to get there- only 2% of CFB players and only 22% of four-stars make the league. And far fewer are able to stick around. As expected, our NFL decline mirrored our decline on the field.
Now is time for one of the most famous (or infamous) classes in Miami history: 2008.
Four-year winning percentage: 57% (+2 from the prior class)
Total enrollees- 29
NFL players- 7
NFL games- 265
Day 1 Picks- 0
Day 2 picks- 3
Pro Bowls- 0
The class ranked #1 on the Composite. I’ve listed the players in order of recruiting ranking, with NFL players in BOLD:
FIVE STARS
LB Arthur Brown (Wichita, Kansas)
- 48 NFL games
- 2nd Round
- 4 NFL games
- 42 games
- Second round
WR Aldarius Johnson (Miami-Dade, FL)
LB Ramon Buchanon (Melbourne, FL)
LB Jordan Futch (Broward County, FL)
LB Sean Spence (Miami-Dade, FL)
- 53 NFL games
- Third Round
LB Marcus Robinson (Miami-Dade, FL)
S CJ Holton (Wakulla, FL) (near Tallahassee)
OL Ben Jones (Miami-Dade, FL)
WR Tommy Streeter (Miami-Dade, FL)
- 2 NFL games
- Sixth Round
WR Travis Benjamin (Belle Glade, FL)
- 111 NFL games
- 4th Round
DT Jeremy Lewis (Palm Beach County, FL)
THREE STARS OR BELOW
QB Taylor Cook (Dallas-Forth Worth, TX)
WR Laron Byrd (New Orleans, LA)
- 5 NFL games
WR Thearon Collier (Miami-Dade, FL)
DE Gavin Hardin (Memphis, TN)
S Joe Wylie (Broward County, FL)
LB Brandon Marti (Miami-Dade, FL)
WR Kendall Thompkins (Miami-Dade, FL)
QB Cannon Smith (Memphis, TN)
DE Andrew Smith (Broward County, FL)
FB John Calhoun (Indian River County, FL)
FB Pat Hill (Los Angeles, CA)
K Jake Wieclaw (Chicago, IL)
WHAT HAPPENED: This was the class that defined Randy Shannon. It was also his worst. The group had a whopping 29 enrollees and ranked #1 in America. But the hype exceeded the production. The entire class combined for only 265 NFL games. Shannon’s other three classes, which ranked lower, averaged 21 enrollees and 360 total NFL games. While it wasn’t as catastrophic as some of the Coker years, the 2008 Class was a crippling disappointment.
The story starts in South Florida. We signed 18 prospects from the Tri-County Area alone. Despite that volume, we missed all the best players. The prize in the region was Pompano Beach Ely CB Patrick Johnson (now known as Patrick Peterson). He was a no-doubt superstar with elite size, speed and IQ. After an early commitment to Miami, Peterson opened up his recruitment and signed with LSU. His decision started a trend of top-ranked South Florida prospects leaving the area. As we saw this past weekend, that trend continues to haunt the Canes.
It got worse from there. We signed five receivers from Dade County alone. The one we didn’t sign (TY Hilton from Miami Springs) became a 4-time Pro Bowler. We signed eight players from the same high school, Miami Northwestern. The ninth player (Lavonte David) is a Hall of Fame candidate. We signed two players from the Muck, a rural area with a population of about 20K. The player we didn’t sign (Janoris Jenkins) became a Pro Bowler. We signed a five-star DT from Dade County in Marcus Forston, but the DT we didn’t sign (Hialeah’s Corey Liuget) went to Illinois and developed into a first rounder. Finally, we signed two offensive linemen from South Florida, but the guy we didn’t recruit (Lake Worth’s Joe Looney) started 42 games in the NFL.
Wichita’s Arthur Brown was the prize of the national crop. Like Willie Williams and Daryl Sharpton before him, Brown was a run-and-hit linebacker who struggled to get early playing time in Randy Shannon’s rigid system. He transferred back home to Kansas State and went in the second round to the Baltimore Ravens.
BEST PLAYER: From his first snaps, Sean Spence was slithering into the backfield to make plays. Dubbed “The Sixth Sense” by the great @k9cane, Spence was all about instincts. He made 317 tackles, 47 TFLs and 10.5 sacks over his Miami career. Even more impressively, he played 53 NFL games despite a catastrophic knee injury that caused nerve damage.
BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT: Everybody was excited about Northwestern’s Marcus Forston. He put up huge numbers and was unblockable one-on-one at the Army All-American game. His HS film showed him shooting into the backfield, reading screens, and taking picks to the house. But what it didn’t show was a ton of knockback power. Like Kareem Brown a few years before, the finesse nature of Forston's game limited his ceiling and prevented him from making a major NFL impact.
BEST EVALUATION: I remember watching Glades Central play Miami Northwestern in a spring game before the 2007 season. The most explosive player on the field was a 145-pounder from the Muck named Travis Benjamin. Florida didn’t want him, but Miami took advantage. Benjamin ended up flying past many of the higher-rated players in his class. Ultimately, he played 111 NFL games and scored 23 TDs (including four kick returns). My avatar for this website is Benjamin's face on a $100 bill.
LESSON LEARNED: There are too many to count, but one lesson is to always prioritize exceptional speed. Benjamin was a risky offer that paid off because his speed was different. Lavonte David was one of the fastest linebackers in America coming out of JUCO. Tommy Streeter v. Aldarius Johnson was a big debate at the time, but Streeter’s pure speed advantage made the difference. TY Hilton should have been a no-doubt offer over Kendall Thompkins. Ultimately, it pays to bet on traits.
CONCLUSION: Shannon never recovered from this class. He hitched his wagon to Jacory Harris, who showed flashes but didn’t develop like Geno Smith (who went to WVU the next year because of the quarterback logjam). The volume of misses weighed down the roster. And South Florida would only get more closed off for the elite kids. This was the beginning of the end.
