Antrel Rolle, Darrin Smith and Eric Winston Visit Current Canes Last Week

In addition to UM CB Antrel Rolle speaking to the team Tuesday, Shannon said two more former ‘Canes — OL Eric Winston and LB Darrin Smith – talked to the team Friday. Shannon said he didn’t ask Rolle and Winston to come by. They did so on their own to provide motivation. 

“I don’t know what happened in the team meeting, but I think Antrel might have told them, ‘Coach wants to have fun. He’s always been a coach that’s had fun with his players,’” Shannon said, adding that Rolle wasn’t a part of the actual players-only meeting. “‘The things he has demanded of you is nothing different than what he demanded of the defense when he was defensive coordinator.’”

Shannon said he thinks it was only the first or second players-only meeting since his first season as coach in 2007.

“I don’t know what happened in that team meeting,” he said. “Whatever they said, they didn’t tell me.”

Rolle’s discussion was separate, Shannon said, from a Tuesday team meeting called by cornerback Brandon Harris, linebacker Sean Spence and safety Vaughn Telemaque to bond and fire up their teammates.

``Sometimes you get in that spot and you get wrapped up in trying to do everything and you forget how much fun it is,'' former UM tackle Eric Winston said Sunday, a day after attending the UM game during his off week with the Houston Texans.

Winston visited Shannon in Coral Gables during the Hurricanes' walk-through Friday.

``Randy and I were talking and I told him to smile,'' Winston said. ``He kind of laughed. I think he probably realizes it, too. This thing is fun. There aren't that many people who get to coach their alma mater, and I know it means the world to him.''

Shannon said Sunday that, indeed, his ``guys played with a lot of emotion, a lot of enthusiasm. They had fun. This is a team that is creating its own identity.''

Click here to order Antrel Rolle’s, Darrin Smith’s or Eric Winston’s proCane Rookie Card.



(miamiherald.com & sun-sentinel.com)