We don't play UiF so who cares about Shannon as a DC? It's irrelevant. His immediate impact on Miami is on the recruiting trail through the major hot spots in South FL-- MNW, BTW, Central, etc.
His effectiveness depends on how he is used/assigned to recruiting. If you utilize him the way Butch Davis did, which is, "here are your targets, here's your schedule, land 4 out of 5 or it's you ***," he will be very effective.
If you leave him to his own devices in terms of evaluations, strategies, etc. he will be a disaster and probably benefit UM because he will vacate certain relationships that require too much work or give him any pushback. He is a great soldier, but he is a lazy general.
There is a lot of revisionist history regarding recruiting under Shannon and a lot of the nauseating excuses are resurfacing. He is not loved in South Florida, not by any stretch; he will have a lot of fences to mend.
When he got the HC job, he acted like South Florida owed him something, not the other way around. He was stubborn and arrogant. For example, when Central was in the midst of state title run, he didn't bother to show his face at one of their games, even for the sake of solidarity or support.
People talk about the "wall" around South Florida and he was perhaps the best at wrecking it. Even beyond the arrogant nature and attitude, he broke the number 1 rule he should have learned from Butch which is, an elite South Florida prospect always has a place at UM. Bottom line. Even if you're stacked at that position, you fight your tail off to make him a Hurricane.
He did neither of those 2 things and it cost him personally and us as a program. So again, his success here will be a function of how he is put to work. I suspect a coach from Utah, or wherever this UiF guy is from will leave him with a lot of responsibility which will burn the Lizards in the end.
Now, as far as Shannon's HC prowess, it wasn't very good. That said, I am pretty sure he would have done better than 6-7 this year all else equal.
