Canes 1st Media Day

Big news out of ‘Canes practice today, Kirby Freeman named starting Quarter Back for the Marshall game. After that game things get a little hazy, one minute Coach Randy Shannon is saying that Freeman will not be graded game to game. Two minutes later, when asked if Freeman would start at Oklahoma, Shannon scoffed at the question and said its a few weeks away.


A few other stories from the day, Sam Shields is suspended for violating team rules and Javarris James will share time with Greg Cooper at running back. In fact the depth chart says “or”, so it seems that the true freshman Cooper has a chance to start.

Three major themes from the day, Shannon is about discipline, competition and playing through pain. The later, was defined as the difference between being hurt or nicked and being injured. Shannon explained that “it’s nothing personal, but if you’re hurt, you don’t have value to the team.” That makes me wonder if that was a veiled shot at Kyle Wright, who missed time with a “sore” knee, maybe Shannon wants to send a message about not letting a little pain keep you out of practice.

The other two themes, competition and discipline, are evident in the suspension of Shields and the multiple position battles this team is having. We all know about QB and RB, but there is also a competition at Safety and in the O-Line.

My impressions of the team and Shannon hasn’t really changed after their Tuesday practice, they are a seven to eight win team, with no shot a ACC title much less NCAA. That doesn’t mean I don’t think Shannon will turn things around, on the contrary, I think Shannon is why this team wins seven not five games.

Make sure to check out theedgeosports.com if you want to hear audio of the confrence and make sure to read on Saturday when I will have blogs about the 'Canes and FAU.