MIami Legend Gives His Take on The Hurricanes Making the College Football Playoff

Former Miami Hurricanes tight end Jeremy Shockey loves that his alma mater has made the College Football Playoff.

Feb 7, 2010; Miami, FL, USA; New Orleans Saints tight end Jeremy Shockey (88) before Super Bowl XLIV against the Indianapolis Colts at Sun Life Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-Imagn Images | John David Mercer-Imagn Images

No. 10 Miami is less than 24 hours away from its first College Football Playoff game against No. 7 Texas A&M. Not only is this the biggest game in recent program history, but it also calls for legends of the program to speak loud and proud about the Canes.

The Hurricanes have a legendary tight end, Jeremy Shockey, to come through the program.

The Canes alumnus had a chance to sit down and talk about his alma mater and how he felt about the team making the CFP and how they could fare against the Aggies.

Miami was one of the last teams in the College Football Playoff field. How do you see the game against Texas A&M going?

I believe when the Canes are hitting on all cylinders, they’re a very dangerous team for anyone to face.

They played Texas A&M a couple of years ago, so they’ll know what they’re going up against. A&M is a great program. They’ve been great this year and have been well-coached on both sides of the ball.

I would imagine the Canes are going to come out and try to control the ball before taking shots. Similar to how they played Notre Dame earlier in the season. The Canes offense should have the goal of scoring 30+ points in this game, and they’ll want to start fast to make the Aggies play from behind.

We know what Texas A&M is about. They’re an amazing defense, and they’re great on offense too. So, it will definitely be a challenge.

I think the Canes will be up for it because they match up really well on paper. They’ll take their shots on offense, but they’ll put it in their defense’s hands because they have some great edge rushers who match up really well against the Texas A&M tackles.

I’m a little biased, but I imagine the Canes win this one. Either way, it’s going to be an exciting game.

I feel for Notre Dame after they missed out on a playoff spot. They had a great year with a great team, and hopefully college football figures something out where this doesn’t happen again. It sucks that they got left out, but it’s good to see the committee finally do something in our favor.

What do you expect of the Canes heading into the playoffs?

These playoffs are all about who gets on a roll.

Last year, Ohio State lost early in the year and learned from that loss before winning the National Championship.

When you lose, you’re not going to do a lot of things that you did in that game. So, I would imagine the Canes will avoid mistakes which they made in the two losses this year. Those two losses were not us.

I imagine the Canes will play fast and with physicality like they did earlier in the year. I would imagine Mario Cristobal has them ready to go.

You played on a team that was left out of the championship game, but rallied to crush Florida in the 2001 Sugar Bowl. Do you think the current bowl system will exist in five years as the playoff field looks to expand?

I’m not sure. When it happened to us, it was heartbreaking. We went head-to-head against Florida State, we won, and we still got left out by a couple of decimal points, while they got to play in the National Championship game.

But it is what it is. Unfortunately, someone gets left out every once in a while, and it sucks that it happened to Notre Dame this year because they were playing so well and had a really good team.

I think you could make it a little more interesting. You could add another tier of teams or maybe even make it more like the NFL, where you have wild cards.

I’m sure they’ll figure it out because more football is good for everyone. It’s good for revenue, and it’s good for the sport as a whole.

Based on their output, who would you say is Tight End U?

The University of Miami is the original Tight End U.

I didn’t really watch a lot of the Canes growing up because I’m from Oklahoma, so in high school, all I watched were OU games. Then, when I came to Miami, I watched and learned about their old-school tight ends.

Even the year before me, Bubba Franks was playing for Miami, and he went on to become a three-time Pro Bowler in the NFL. Bubba was the man.

Then there was me, Greg Olsen, Kellen Winslow II, and Kevin Everett, just to name a few.

Even look at some of the younger ones. I think Elijah Arroyo, who was picked by the Seattle Seahawks this year, is a great talent who could be really good.

David Njoku is another great talent. He came to Miami as a skinny kid from New Jersey and turned into a mismatch nightmare for defenses. He ended up being picked in the first-round and is now a Pro Bowler in Cleveland.

There are some others who produce great talent too. Iowa always argues and makes a case as well because they’ve had some awesome guys like George Kittle, T.J. Hockenson, Sam LaPorta and Noah Fant.

Notre Dame is also in the picture because they’ve produced tight ends like Michael Mayer, Cole Kmet, Tommy Tremble and Tyler Eifert.

Those would be my top three schools at Tight End U.

A lot of people try to pit us tight ends against each other, but in my opinion, it’s a fraternity, which is really cool to be a part of. Whichever school you go to, it’s just a pleasure to meet another tight end. These new guys are doing their thing as well. The position and play-calling of the position have evolved so much. It’s fun to watch these guys play in today’s game.

But, Miami is still Tight End U, in my opinion.

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