Shannon still big in South Florida
When UCF announced it hired South Florida coaching legend
as its new defensive coordinator in December, the same day it had hired as the new head coach, many people were quick to poo-poo Shannon’s ability to become a recruiting force for the Knights in the Miami area.
UCF’s most recent committed player,
however, says not so fast with the notion Shannon no longer has vast recruiting influence in Dade County and Broward County.
Shannon, the former Miami head coach and, most recently, Florida defensive coordinator, may not seem as if he had been making a big splash among recruits in the fertile grounds of South Florida of late, but the respect shown to him throughout the region can go a long way.
“I picked UCF because of Coach Shannon. I’ve built a relationship with him and when nobody else was recruiting me, he was,” Bethune said. “I felt comfortable with him and my parents felt comfortable with him.”
For a long time, the University of Miami had a stranglehold on the big-time recruits out of the Miami area, but toward the late 1990s, the U seemed to be losing that traction. The Hurricanes missed out on recruits who would end up going out of state, or even worse in the eyes of UM fans, to rivals Florida or FSU.
Shannon, however, who was hired as the UM defensive coordinator in 2001 when Miami won the national title under head coach Larry Coker, was helping to change that culture.
Shannon’s presence became a big part of the resurrection and he eventually became Miami head coach in 2007. But as the top guy, Shannon’s teams severely underachieved on the field and never had a better record than 9-4, which was in 2009. Once known for being a reckless program, Shannon’s players behaved themselves off the field and the graduation rate was among the best in program history during his tenure. Shannon, COMMENTARY however, was fired in 2010.
He’s made several stops since UM, but his presence now looks to be paving the way for UCF to becoming a player in South Florida recruiting. That, along with the Knights’ achievements last season, could help UCF enjoy the South Florida recruiting success the team had back when was head coach and recruiting coordinator
was making strong waves in Dade County. Kelly landed players like Miami Central quarterback
and Miami Southridge offensive linemen and
and Miami Northwestern offensive lineman
UCF’s 2010 recruiting class boasted nine players from the Miami area.
Shannon could bring back the Miami-area knowledge that will help land guys like Bethune in the future.
“He started recruiting me as a ninth-grader back when he was at Florida,” Bethune said. “He can relate to a lot of stuff that goes on around here and I feel like if I’m ever going to need help with anything, I can just go to him and he can help me out.” Speaking of UCF recruiting, one of the Knights’ 2019 commitments will be throwing the football for a new team this fall and it won’t be the team most figured it would be. Quarterback
who played at Tampa Catholic the past two seasons, had transferred to Tampa Plant in February, but he lost the starting job at Plant to fellow transfer
a junior. So Dean, who was Heupel’s first UCF recruit and committed quietly to the Knights in January, has now transferred to Hillsborough.
Dean threw for 1,743 yards and 14 touchdowns at Tampa Catholic last year.
Meanwhile, as UCF’s new coaching staff tries to get acclimated, USF’s coaching staff under head coach has made a huge push into Central Florida lately, landing three commitments to the Bulls’ 2018 recruiting class during the past two weeks.
The latest Orlandoarea player to pick the Tampa school was Daytona Beach Mainland safety
who committed to USF on Sunday during the Bulls’ annual Sling & Shoot 7-on-7 Tournament.
Plummer, who had previously committed and then decommitted from USF last year, says he’s back on board and “110-percent” sure of himself this time around.
Joining Plummer at USF will be former Mainland teammate
a linebacker who is now at DeLand, and offensive lineman
of Oviedo Hagerty.