Randy Shannon’s Revealing Interview With Michael Irvin

I’ll be honest, I’m not normally a fan of the idea of one friend interviewing another. Too often you get a bunch of softball questions and a bunch of “You’re great … No, you’re great!” exchanges.

But sometimes the format can work well, particularly when being interviewed by a friendly face gets a normally reserved subject to let his guard down and open up more.

Such was the case with an interview sent to me last Friday by the folks down at WQAM-AM in Miami. Michael Irvin recently started co-hosting a daily show with Kevin Kiley on the station and last Thursday he had his former college roommate and good friend Randy Shannon on.

Shannon has a reputation in the media for being a tough nut to crack, but that clearly wasn’t the case here. The conversation - which you can listen to here – lasted 27 minutes, but it kept my attention throughout, thanks to the way Irvin clearly put Shannon at ease.
Among the more interesting exchanges:

Irvin and Shannon reminisced about the times when they were playing for the Hurricanes and Miami coach Jimmy Johnson had repeatedly urged his players to think of where they’d be in life 10 years in the future. Shannon revealed that he used the exact same technique on the current ‘Canes.

“When you’re 32 years old it doesn’t matter if you get a chance to go to that next level, you’re done,” Shannon said he told his players. “Is your Facebook or your Twitter account going to prevent from where you need to be? They look at me and I say ‘Fellas that’s happening. What you put your stamp on today, that’s what you’re going to get when you’re 32 or 37.’ ”

It was also interesting to hear how much – despite his stern demeanor and reputation as a disciplinarian - Shannon still connects to the days when he was a player and the Miami team personality was loose, even wild.

He referenced it when talking about the Hurricanes’ tough opening slate of games this season. Shannon’s hope is that this team will embrace the spotlight the way Miami teams of old have.

“Everybody was saying, ‘Hey this is an opportunity for me to be seen on TV,’ ” Shannon recalled. “This is an opportunity for me to make a statement.

“That’s the kind of opportunity we’re having now.”

Shannon certainly didn’t hold anything back when talking about junior quarterback Jacory Harris. The Miami coach actually made the argument that missing spring practice – because of an injured them – was “the greatest thing that happened” to Harris. Shannon then offered this anecdote to illustrate his point.

He was standing on the sidelines with Harris during spring practice , watching a drill, when a backup quarterback made the wrong read – throwing down the middle against 3-deep coverage instead of checking down to a receiver in the flat.

Harris exclaimed, “What is he doing?”

Shannon turned to his quarterback and said, “Jacory, you did the same thing last year.”

When Harris expressed his skepticism, Shannon and offensive coordinator showed him the proof on film after practice.

“We pulled off the same exact play,” Shannon said. “He said, ‘I understand now.’ ”

The affection that Shannon has for Harris was clear in that story and in the additional praise he heaped on his quarterback. Shannon went so far as to say Harris is the most unflappable quarterback he’s ever been around. Given that Shannon played with guys like Steve Walsh at Miami and Troy Aikman in Dallas, that’s a pretty bold statement.

“He does not get frustrated by anything,” Shannon said. “It’s unbelievable. If the game is on the line, put him at quarterback.”

Again, as he did throughout the interview, Shannon told an interesting story to illustrate his point. He recalled Miami’s comeback win against Wake Forest and one play in particular that Harris made to help pull out the victory.

On fourth down, the Demon Deacons threw a corner blitz that caught Miami off guard.

“We had no way of picking it up,” Shannon said. “He threw to the X receiver on a fade route on 4th down and 11. He checked off to him.”
As Shannon told the story you can hear the tone of reverence – almost awe – in his voice. It was, like many other exchanges in the interview, revealing.

And apparently there’s more to come. Just moments after talking about how nice it was that he didn’t have to do many public speaking engagements, Shannon committed over the air to come back on Irvin’s show three or four times during the season.

It may just be a favor for a friend, but if it’s still good radio, who cares?

Click here to order Michael Irvin’s proCane Rookie Card.



(accsports.com)