Miami makes a monumental mistake

And I don't mean the Dolphins.

The Hurricanes gave Randy Shannon a 4-year extension today, locking him up for the forseeable future. Did we learn nothing from the Charlie Weis experience? You don't pay a coach until he's honestly, truly won something. I think Shannon has done a nice job bringing Miami back from the depths that Larry Coker sank them to, but let's be honest; the best bowl game he's been to is the Champ Sports Bowl, which Miami lost to Wisconsin last season. Has he won the ACC yet? No. Has he even played in the ACC Championship Game yet? Oh no. Miami is essentially giving him this contract on faith, which is a big mistake.

This upcoming season is going to be pivotal for Shannon. Miami has a brutal non-conference schedule; after a warmup against Florida A&M, Miami goes to Ohio State, to Pittsburgh and to Clemson in what has to be the toughest stretch of games in the country. The next step for Shannon is to win the ACC, which Miami can do. Georgia Tech is the best team in the conference, and Miami trounced them a season ago. The nonconference schedule is brutal, but that shouldn't stop them from winning their conference games.

So why did Miami give him an extension before he had truly proven himself? I have no idea. At least with Weis, Notre Dame had the (possibly legitimate) fear of him going back to the NFL. Randy Shannon has nowhere else to go; there was nothing to stop Miami from having him coach the season, and then revisit his contract. In fact, that would have been the prudent thing to do. After this season, Shannon will have had 4 seasons to coach Miami, and I think that's enough time to fairly judge him. If he hasn't won the ACC in four years, he probably never will. Miami absolutely jumped the gun on this one, and I would not at all be shocked if they end up eating a lot of this contract. This feels like a mistake from the word go.