MESSAGE BOARD MANIA: Miami Hurricanes Fans Still Split On Shannon Dawson Despite Top-Ranked Offense

As the Miami Hurricanes progress into the second portal window and summer program with fall drills still seeming oh-so-far away, it’s interesting that Cane fans seem to remain split when it comes to being “sold” on Shannon Dawson as a top offensive coordinator.

This is a guy who headed the nation’s No.1 offensive attack last year, with Miami leading every other program in the country in yards and points, the two stats that matter most. While naysayers can point to his first year at Miami in 2023 as not standing out, even with an error-prone Tyler Van Dyke that team ranked No. 31 in the nation in offense and was No. 38 in points per game.

Prior to that, at Houston, his 2022 team ranked No. 25 in total offense and No. 8 in passing offense, and in 2021 (his first coordinator job since 2018 at Southern Miss) the Cougars were 23^rd in passing offense and No. 15 in scoring offense (but No. 60 in total offense).

So what gives with fans not being sold on him?

We address that in today’s Message Board Mania feature.

As HJ Cane sumsup, “Well we had a top offense last year but we continue to question some of his play calling for sure.”

The caveats are obvious, to some extent.

At Houston the Cougars didn’t need a top coordinator, per se, considering even at that lower level the team was led by an NFL-level QB in Clayton Tune and a top NFL-level WR in Tank Dell. Dell outclassed every other receiver on the team, for example, by almost 800 yards in 2022 and by over 700 yards in 2021. No opponent had personnel to match up with and stop him when Tune was targeting him.

So you can, perhaps, argue that those two years at Houston weren’t a case of Dawson necessarily being a great coordinator but the team just having a massive advantage in personnel vs. opponents named Tulsa, East Carolina, USF, Temple, Memphis, etc. And in 2021 the final two games against Cincinnati and Auburn, two teams with “real” defenses, saw Houston held to 18.5 points per game (in 2022 Houston didn’t face any ranked teams).

Then, at Miami Year 1, the offense was just okay with mistake-ridden TVD helming things. Dawson did get some blame there as things bogged down and there were too many turnovers. But all was forgiven last year, of course. With that said, though, was it Dawson’s scheme / game prep or the Cam Ward show with numerous NFL-level players surrounding him (Damien Martinez, Xavier Restrepo, Elijah Arroyo and Jalen Rivers leading the way)?

You can see above why some like Sheldog posted “Dawson elite? IMO… Lashlee did more with less than Dawson.”

We’ll give the final word here to TPatterson21, who posts “This is a big year for Dawson. We have seen him with TVD and Cam. Time to see what he has with another player that has shown high level ability, and at times be of the best programs in the country.”

This reporter’s take?

I agree with the wait-and-see thing. Because as we sit here right now I think the strength of this team is the defense, which is the opposite of what I thought a year ago. We knew the offense would be really good to great in 2024. It’s less a certainty this year with only four returning starters, all on the line. Even Georgia star QB transfer Carson Beck had some in Athens celebrating his departure after he threw an SEC-high 12 INTs last year. Miami continues to pursue talent in this second portal window of course, with WR a priority.

I’ll say this: If Dawson has the offense in the top 15 nationally in scoring this year then I will give him his due.

And if the team’s outside the top 30 in scoring offense, well that will mean he’s going to have a lot of future questions to answer about his coaching and system.