Egos were just afraid of a little competition

I sometimes wonder how certain football players acquire such large egos after accomplishing absolutely nothing.

There’s no other way to describe the reasoning behind the decision of redshirt freshmen Taylor Cook and Cannon Smith to transfer 11 days away from the season opener against No. 18 Florida State.

Head coach Randy Shannon has said all through preseason camp that the No. 2 position on the depth chart is up for grabs behind sophomore starter Jacory Harris.

And although every player aspires to start, Harris is not only the most experienced of the group, but he was high school teammates at Miami Northwestern with three of the wide receivers on the Hurricanes’ roster.

Even with the 6-4 QB “beefing” up to 190 pounds (which is a feat for him if you remember his first days on campus), Harris still looks like a piece of fresh meat for defensive linemen and linebackers coming from the blind side.

Injuries can happen anytime, anywhere. Look at the depleting defensive end position as an example, with four players missing time battling injuries.

Surely second fiddle can’t be so bad when you know your time will come eventually.

Take redshirt sophomore John Brantley of the Florida Gators. A heralded quarterback out of high school, he hasn’t seen much action with Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow (yes, it pains me to mention him in this column) busy winning national championships.

What these transfer moves don’t do is provide a deep scout team or positive image. As far as I can tell, three quarterbacks transferring in less than two years doesn’t look too well on a track record.

Make no mistake about it. Cook and Smith knew coming to campus that competition is what makes the program one of the best of all time.

In the prophetic words of senior running back Javarris James:

“If you come here, you come here to play. If I was worried about some competition, I would’ve went to any other school. That’s why you come here. That makes me step my game up, that makes Coop [Graig Cooper] step his game up, that makes us all great together.”

For the Canes, greatness will have to come riding the throwing arms of just two scholarship quarterbacks.

For more information on Cook and Smith log on to themiamihurricane.com.

Christina De Nicola may be contacted at cdenicola@themiamihurricane.com.