By GREG COTE
gcote@MiamiHerald.com
Major-college football programs generally don't wait until the last year to extend the contract of head coaches they have faith in, and so the University of Miami not working a new deal with Randy Shannon is easy to interpret as a slight.
Easy, but wrong.
The notion floating out there is that UM and athletic director Kirby Hocutt want to wait out the start of this season to see how the Hurricanes -- and Shannon -- survive the beyond-tough opening four-game stretch.
Wrong again.
The anti-Shannon wing of the fandom is on Internet message boards working to death the phrase ``Oh and four, out the door,'' as if the coach's job could be in peril one-third of the way into his third season.
Also wrong.
The truth is Shannon's contract would have been extended already, reflecting a modest raise, if the university had its way.
IT'S ON SHANNON
The delay is the coach's idea. Actually, closer to his strategy.
``Shannon's Last Stand?'' Nah. That's a bit too dramatic.
``Shannon's Big Gamble?'' OK, now we're getting warmer.
The coach is betting a table full of chips on his faith in sophomore quarterback Jacory Harris and these Hurricanes.
He believes privately that Miami can go 9-3 or even 10-2, get into a major bowl and set up his young team for a realistic run at a national championship in 2010.
That means he believes UM can hold its own in the opening stretch of 19th-ranked Florida State, 15th-ranked Georgia Tech, No. 7 Virginia Tech and No. 3 Oklahoma -- the toughest first month in college football.
He banks on this season being much improved overall and offering the tantalizing hint of championship potential to turn that modest raise UM has in mind into a major payday. Shannon, 43, just saw Florida coach Urban Meyer enriched to $4 million a year. Boss Cane won't make that leap without a national title, but believes he can get a lot closer if his team justifies his faith over the coming months than he would right now, coming off last year's 7-6 record.
It is a gamble because the Canes are young, and because potential means you haven't done it yet.
``It's time for us to win the ACC,'' declared Harris following Saturday's opening of fall practice.
``I don't see why we can't go 12-0,'' wide receiver LaRon Byrd said.
You like to hear such confidence. Then again, swagger is sort of built into the Hurricane DNA, but the last few years have taught us that saying it is easy. It's the backing-it-up part that can be a problem.
I love that the cocky Harris says, ``I'm trying to be a different-type quarterback. Bring more swagger to the position.''
As proof he said on 790 The Ticket recently that he planned to wear a pink suit to the Heisman Trophy ceremony, leaving one to ponder which took more gumption: declaring himself a Heisman candidate or the sartorial choice.
I asked Shannon about that Saturday and he smiled, sort of rolled his eyes, but did not scold his young quarterback.
``He does some quirky things. It's fun. That's Jacory,'' he said.
The coach believes the young gun out of Miami Northwestern High has the developing game to equal the swagger.
``He can be very, very special,'' said Shannon, with the perspective of being a Hurricane, as player or coach, all but four of the past 25 years. ``He can be there with the Bernie Kosars or Ken Dorseys.''
Harris came out of Northwestern a rail-thin 162 pounds. On Saturday, he weighed 191. His experience has grown likewise after appearing in 13 games with two starts (and throwing 194 passes) as a freshman.
``Jacory is more confident in himself, being more vocal,'' Byrd said. ``He is 10 times more serious, watching extra film and things like that.''
OVERALL PROMISE
I see Harris and UM's offense flourishing under new coordinator Mark Whipple, and on the other side of the ball, UM's defensive line is judged among the best in the nation. There are depth concerns at offensive line and linebacker, but overall promise is there, and not even an opening four games that looks like a figment of Marquis de Sade's imagination can snuff that potential.
The possibility is why, for example, ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. named Miami a sleeper team that he said should win the Atlantic Coast Conference Coastal Division.
The possibility is why, on Bodog.com, of national championship odds for 54 colleges, only 10 have better odds than UM.
Miami is unranked in the first major preseason Top 25, the USA Today/coaches' poll, but checks in 33rd. The brutal first four games commencing Sept. 7 in prime time at FSU give rise to that ``Oh and four, out the door'' pessimism, but also provide a huge opportunity for the Canes to command national attention, get ranked, fast, and grab this season by the neck.
Two months from now, we should have a better idea which direction the season, and Shannon's contract, are headed.
Meantime, the kid from Northwestern with the most to say about that seems ready -- ready to turn the sleeping giant that is UM football into a Bull market.
``I gotta be `the man' now,'' Harris said.
Somewhere between faith and a feeling, I think he will be.
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