Miami’s Non-Stop Revolving Door
By Paul Myerberg // Nov 3, 2010
This story begins in the spring of 2003, when a much-ballyhooed freshman, Kyle Wright, enrolled at Miami (Fla.) a semester early in order to begin his ascension into the program’s pantheon of great quarterbacks. You know the names: Kelly, Kosar, Testaverde, Walsh, Torretta and Dorsey, among others. Wright had all the hype, he had the arm, he had all the goods — he just didn’t have the touch to be a good college quarterback. Or was coaching to blame? Whatever the reason — and each has his own hypothesis — Wright’s inability to live up to his potential was the first miss in a nearly-decade long series of missteps under center for Miami, which even in 2010 finds itself unable to locate the next sure thing at quarterback. This used to be a Miami birthright.
A simple look at each Miami roster since 2005 reveals the program’s inability to find a serviceable starter, let alone a competent set of reserves.
2005 season
Kyle Wright, sophomore
Kirby Freeman, redshirt freshman
Jorge Fernandez, freshman
Trey Burklin, redshirt freshman
Matt Perrelli, freshman
Perrelli and Fernandez were not scholarship quarterbacks; the quarterback competition that fall came down to Wright and Freeman, with Wright coming out on top.
2006 season
Kyle Wright, junior
Kirby Freeman, sophomore
According to the roster on the university’s Web site, we’re already seeing rampant attrition. The two true freshmen from 2005, Fernandez and Perrelli, were no longer listed on the roster. No more Burklin, who transferred to Coastal Carolina.
2007 season
Kyle Wright, senior
Kirby Freeman, junior
Robert Marve, freshman
In a year when at least two quarterbacks needed to be added, the Hurricanes inked only one: Robert Marve. We know how that turned out. In Miami’s defense the 2007 in-state recruiting cycle was largely bereft of quarterbacks minus the top quartet, of which Marve was one.
2008 season
Taylor Cook, freshman
Jacory Harris, freshman
Robert Marve, redshirt freshman
Cannon Smith, freshman
As part of his first full recruiting class, Randy Shannon signed three well-regarded quarterbacks. Harris was the star, as well as the point man behind Miami’s haul of prospects from Northwestern H.S., a local power. Harris and Marve would split time in 2008; Marve would transfer in 2009, citing a position battle that seemed heavily slanted in Harris’s favor.
2009 season
Jacory Harris, sophomore
A.J. Highsmith, freshman
Matt Perrelli, senior
Perrelli’s back on the roster, though only for his duties as a holder. Highsmith is not a quarterback; he’s an athlete, one best suited for an offensive skill position or a spot in the defensive backfield. Taylor Cook is gone — he transferred to Rice. Smith moved to Memphis.
2010 season
Jacory Harris, junior
A.J. Highsmith, sophomore
Stephen Morris, freshman
Spencer Whipple, junior
Even if we ignore how poorly Harris has played as a junior — it’s hard to ignore, but let’s try — it’s clear, once again, that Miami has badly botched its recruiting at quarterback. Highsmith is a non-factor. Whipple, a walk-on, threw as many interceptions — two — as completions to his own teammates in six attempts on Saturday.
Morris fared well in difficult circumstances against Virginia, but still completed only 9 of his 22 attempts; tossed a pair of interceptions; and was the beneficiary of some luck on his biggest play, a 60-yard touchdown pass to Travis Benjamin.
The quarterback situation at Miami is a disaster. It has been for the last six years. It seems that Shannon, despite his four years on the job — not to mention his decade of service as an assistant — has yet to discover that yes, there’s a reason quarterback is the most important position on the field.
Perhaps he can be excused for having three of his quarterback transfer in the span of only a few months. One can also say that if his quarterback recruits were better spaced out, preventing such a logjam on the depth chart, there’d be far less attrition. One can also say that Miami’s recent downturn — as evidenced by Saturday’s loss — can be attributed to continual failures at identifying, recruiting, signing and developing Miami-like players under center.
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Tags: Jacory Harris, Kirby Freeman, Kyle Wright, Miami (Fla.), Randy Shannon, Robert Marve
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You can make the same analysis for LSU beginning in 2007.
2007
Matt Flynn, senior
Ryan Perriloux sophomore
Jarrett Lee freshman
2008
Jarrett Lee RS freshman
Andrew Hatch soph transfer
Jordan Jefferson freshman
2009
Jarrett Lee RS soph
Jordan Jefferson soph
Chris Garrett freshman
2010
Jarrett Lee RS junior
Jordan Jefferson junior
I’m not counting walk-ons TC McCartney and Barrett Bailey or 2010 signee Zach Lee who signed a MLB contract before his freshman season. If JC QB Zack Mettenburg doesn’t sign with LSU in January, we’ll be starting a RS freshman or true sophomore in 2012.
Paul: Good stuff, thanks. It’s amazing how the Perriloux transfer killed L.S.U. at the position.
I was just going to recommend doing the same analysis for L.S.U., but The Bengal beat me to it.
These are the two most prominent examples of a broader problem in college football, and that is keeping a sufficient number of talented quarterbacks on the roster.
Look back to that great list of Miami quarterbacks, or the quarterbacks that F.S.U. had during its great run in the 80s and 90s. Generally speaking, once a quarterback graduated, there was a seasoned backup – maybe a redshirt junior – ready to step in. Behind that guy, there were two or three younger ones learning the system.
Now, no top high school quarterback wants to wait 2-3 years to be the starter. They all want to step in and play as a freshman. And if you do get a top guy on campus, he will transfer the moment he fails to hit #2 on the depth chart.
What this means is that schools have to place their bets on a single guy, which means if he doesn’t pan out, or if he gets hurt, it can turn into a very bad situation.
Ten years ago, a team like Texas wouldn’t have had to put a true freshman on the field in the national championship game to replace an injured starter. But today, that’s what most teams would have to do.
Another point. L.S.U. and Miami have both had atrocious quarterback play, but L.S.U. hasn’t fallen as low as the Hurricanes.
Honestly Paul your right about the atrocious play of Miami qbs over the last decade or once Ken Dorsey left (I do not care what anyone says Berlin was not a good quarterback). However I believe its more on the head coach than the quarterback. Coker, who rode of the recruits from the Butch Davis era, could not develop talent and failed to recruit heavily in the one place that made Miami, well Miami (South Florida). Then comes in Randy Shannon. I thought this was going to be a great hire, mostly due to his defensive background. However good of a guy he is, he’s not a good coach. He did a great job of being a disciplinarian and turning the program around. Maybe I am just speaking from a spoiled fan standpoint. In every season so far the program has increased its win total. It just seems that the players are not really developing.