CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Randy Shannon is one season into his job as football boss at the University of Miami, and, yes, he knows the question already is out there:
He can recruit, but can he coach?
It's a Zookian inquiry. That's a reference to Ron Zook, who coached the University of Florida for a game short of three seasons, succeeding Steve Spurrier and preceding Urban Meyer in an altogether strange lineage.
Zook was drummed out of Florida for his own shortcomings (see: a 23-14 record), but the national championship the Gators won in Meyer's second season was due in large part to the players Zook attracted.
Zook subsequently has done quite well for himself in taking over the Illinois program. But he knows it doesn't take long for doubt within any fan base to sprout quickly into raw discontent.
Shannon does, too.
"There isn't any such thing as a honeymoon," he said this week. "There's a job to do on the field and off the field every year, and you're going to be judged. You're the CEO of an organization a lot of people are interested in. Everything that happens is a reflection on you."
How long did it take for Shannon to realize that particular dynamic?
"The day I took the job," he said.
Good thing, that, because at least it means Shannon will be prepared for whatever criticism comes his way should Miami stumble to something along the lines of the 5-7 record it compiled last season. It was the Hurricanes' first losing record since 1997, when they were saddled with penalties resulting from NCAA violations.
There's also the hardly small matter that Miami went 7-6 with a bowl victory in Larry Coker's final season with virtually the same team Shannon directed in his first season.
Coker, you might recall, went 53-9 and led Miami to a national title (albeit it using a well-stocked cupboard left behind by Butch Davis), which wasn't good enough for him to retain employment.
Coker, on the other hand, left behind a rather barren roster, but Shannon has a group of freshmen regarded as among the best, if not the very best, in the country by experts who study such things. Shannon also is considered to be off to an excellent start on assembling the next incoming class.
So, sure, he can recruit.
But does his success in that area underscore the pressure for him to produce comparable success as a coach?
"No, no, it doesn't," Shannon protested. "It shouldn't right away. It's not fair to expect anybody — at Miami or anywhere else — to ask first-year players to contribute so much that everything changes immediately.
"The goal is to establish depth that will allow us to do the things that are necessary to be great for the long run."
There's no telling how far removed the 'Canes stand from their former excellence when challenging for a national championship was routine. Now, however, life is tough just within the Atlantic Coast Conference. Miami lost its closing four games last season to finish 2-6 in the ACC, and prospects for notable improvement aren't particularly good given the Hurricanes' dearth of experienced talent.
Miami senior safety Lovon Ponder did offer a promise about how Shannon's "very high energy" approach will rub off on this year's team and produce a better won-lost record than last season's misery, but that's probably nothing more than August wishful thinking.
If he's right about the no-honeymoon notion — and he almost certainly is — Shannon surely also knows what the upcoming season could portend for his future. It's too early to measure his X's-and-O's worth as a coach, but Shannon will be halfway through his four-year contract at the end of the season.
"I make an assessment of where we are every day," he said.
Hurricane Nation will make that assessment a dozen times this autumn.
Greg Stoda writes for The Palm Beach Post. E-mail: gstoda AT pbpost.com.