Coaching comparison: How Shannon stacks up

Miami Hurricanes fans are tired of mediocrity. They're tired of losing big games. And some (I'd say a majority) are ready and hopeful Hurricanes coach Randy Shannon will be handed a pink slip after this season.

They've seen Shannon's record against ranked opponents (4-9), seen that he has yet to win a bowl game and are taking the 2010 season as a step backward instead of a step forward. The Hurricanes (7-4, 5-3 ACC) will wrap up their season Saturday against South Florida at Sun Life Stadium. Win, and the Hurricanes would likely end up at either the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando or the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas against a Pac-10 team or a rebuilding Notre Dame program.

Shannon could very easily win both of his final two games this season and finish 9-4 -- the same record as last season. Is that good enough to keep his job? Only UM President Donna Shalala really knows. But before you rush to judgement or an opinion, take a deeper look at some numbers I researched this morning.

For starters, 24 coaching changes were made at FBS schools before the 2007 season. Did you know that among the 16 coaches still at those schools Shannon ranks fifth overall in win percentage? Did you know among those 24 schools, UM is still in the top third of winning percentage (eighth overall)?

School                   Coach                 Total  (pct.)
Alabama                Nick Saban           37-10 (.787)
x-Cincinnati           Brian Kelly           37-13 (.740)
Tulsa                     Todd Graham       34-17 (.667)
x-Boston College     J. Jagodzinski     34-18 (.653)
Air Force                Troy Calhoun       33-18 (.647)
Michigan St.           Mark Dantonio      32-18 (.640)
x-Central Mich.      Butch Jones          31-21 (.596)
Miami                   Randy Shannon    28-21 (.571)
Stanford                Jim Harbaugh       27-21 (.563)
North Carolina       Butch Davis           26-23 (.531)
N.C. State             Tom O'Brien          24-24 (.500)
Arizona State         Dennis Erickson     23-24 (.489)
x-La. Tech            Derek Dooley         21-26 (.447)
x-Louisville            S. Kragthorpe       20-27 (.425)
Indiana                 Bill Lynch              18-30 (.375)
Rice                      David Bailiff         18-30 (.375)
x-Army                 Stan Brock             17-30 (.361)
x-Iowa State         Gene Chizik           17-32 (.346)
Idaho                    Robb Akey             16-32 (.333)
x-Minnesota           Tim Brewster        16-33 (.327)
UAB                      Neil Callaway         15-32 (.319)
FIU                       Mario Cristobal       14-32 (.304)
Tulane                  Bob Toledo             13-34 (.277)
North Texas          Todd Dodge             8-39 (.170)
NOTE: x-School made coaching change

> If you don't care where Shannon ranks among his current peers who took over at the same time, here are a few interesting facts...

- Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer went 17-26-1 n his first four years as a coach (1987-90). He didn't go to a bowl game or win one until his seventh year.

> Here is how Shannon compares to the other two ACC coaching hires made in 2007: 
- Randy Shannon at UM 28-21 overall, 4-9 vs. ranked opponents (4.75 strength of schedule)
- Butch Davis at UNC 26-23 overall, 5-7 vs. ranked opponents (4.16 strength of schedule)
- Tom O'Brien at N.C. State 24-24 overall, 5-4 vs. ranked opponents (3.39 strength of schedule)

> The most common measuring stick used by fans is comparing Shannon to previous UM coaches. For starters, did you know each of the three previous coaches -- Dennis Erickson, Butch Davis and Larry Coker -- each spent six seasons at UM?

> Most fans compare Shannon's situation to that of Davis, who basically came in under NCAA sanctions and had to rebuild. Here is a look at Davis' first four years at UM compared to Shannon's...

Butch Davis
1995 -- 8-3 overall, 6-1 vs. Big East (T-1st), 1-1 vs. ranked opponents  *Bowl ineligble
1996 -- 9-3 overall, 6-1 vs. Big East (T-1st), 2-2 vs. ranked opponents, *Bowl win
1997 -- 5-6 overall, 3-5 vs. Big East (5th), 0-4 vs. ranked opponents, *Didn't qualify for bowl
1998 -- 9-3 overall, 5-2 vs. Big East (2nd), 2-2 vs. ranked opponents, *Bowl win
> 31-15 overall, 20-9 vs. Big East, 5-9 vs. ranked opponents, 2 bowl wins, Faced 8 Big East ranked teams

Randy Shannon
2007 -- 5-7 overall, 2-6 vs. ACC (4th), 1-3 vs. ranked opponents, *Didn't qualify for bowl
2008 -- 7-6 overall, 4-4 vs. ACC (3rd), 0-1 vs. ranked opponents, *Bowl loss
2009 -- 9-4 overall, 5-3 vs. ACC (3rd), 3-2 vs. ranked opponents, *Bowl loss
2010 -- 7-4 overall, 5-3 vs. ACC (2nd), 0-3 vs. ranked opponents, *TBD
> 28-21 overall, 16-16 vs. ACC, 4-9 vs. ranked opponents, 0 bowl wins, Faced 7 ACC ranked teams

> Larry Coker and his 53-9 record at UM often get thrown into the mix when talking about Shannon. But what was Coker's record once Butch Davis' recruits were all nearly gone starting in 2004?

Larry Coker's last 3 seasons
2004 -- 9-3 overall, 5-3 in ACC (3rd), 4-1 vs. ranked opponents, *Bowl win
2005 -- 9-3 overall, 6-2 in ACC (2nd), 2-2 vs. ranked opponents, *Bowl loss
2006 -- 7-6 overall, 3-5 in ACC (4th), 0-6 vs. ranked opponents, *Bowl win
> 25-12 overall, 14-10 vs. ACC, 6-9 vs. ranked opponents