A major seismic shift in Coral Gables earlier today has produced three statements from Miami of Florida, one each coming from head coach Randy Shannon and now-former Hurricane quarterbacks Taylor Cook and Cannon Smith.
As first reported by the Miami Herald, Cook and Smith suddenly and unexpectedly decided to transfer from the program after battling all offseason for the right to be the backup to starter Jacory Harris.
Here’s the statements from the three parties involved...
Shannon: “University of Miami redshirt freshmen quarterbacks Taylor Cook and Cannon Smith have asked and been granted their releases from the football program. I have appreciated the efforts and attitude of both young men while here at the University of Miami. I respect their decisions and wish them success both as students and on the football field. "
Cook: “It was a hard decision for me to leave the program. I enjoyed my time at Miami, and I'm going to miss it. I feel bad leaving my teammates, but it's a move I had to make. I have the utmost respect for Coach Shannon and [offensive coordinator Mark] Whipple, and I wish them the best of luck. I've just decided to focus on football somewhere else.”
Smith: “I'm very thankful for the opportunity to have been a part of this program. I am so grateful to Coach Shannon for giving me the opportunity to have been part of this team. Everything here was handled with a lot of class. I got to compete and that's what I wanted. The hardest thing is going to be leaving my teammates. I love all those guys, and I'm going to miss them all. I'll definitely be rooting for them. After evaluating everything, I felt I had to do what was in my best interest.”
With the departures of Cook and Smith, the Hurricanes have just the true sophomore Harris and true freshman A.J. HIGHSMITH -- tip o’ the hat to rosco pico cane -- as scholarship quarterbacks on their roster. The ‘Canes also have senior walk-on Matt Perrelli at the position.
Just a random thought, but, given the utter lack of depth at the position after today’s events, do you think the ‘Canes are the least bit sorry things didn’t work out and Robert Marve ultimately bolted from the school?
Yeah, I didn’t think so either. It’s not that bad.