MKRob Sports

Following their 28 point loss to Florida State by 28 points on Oct. 9, several former Hurricanes came out and criticized the lack of effort and passion they saw from their former team. Coach Randy Shannon said he didn’t see enough internal leadership from his players.

New York Giants cornerback Antrel Rolle went back to his alma mater, the University of Miami, to give them exactly what they needed, a nice stern talking to.

“Just to play for each other, have each other’s back, have coach Shannon’s back and our coaching staff’s back most of all,” cornerback Brandon Harris said Tuesday. “The main thing we talked about was how we’ve been taking a back seat and letting our coaches take the heat when as a team we have to get some things together and get some things going. You sort of hear a lot about what old guys used to do. But just to hear it come out of his mouth, it was impressive…

“He spoke his honest opinion on some issues. It was true, it was undeniable. As a team, finally hearing that from an outside influence, but also somebody still close to the family, it kind of hit close to home. Usually when you hear things you’re able to wash it off. But hearing it from a guy of his caliber, who has been here, who has been a part of the program, it really stuck with us. In the back of our minds we were kind of like ‘Man, we can’t let these guys down.’ They’ve established this program to where it is and we have to keep it going. He said a lot of good things to us. A lot of guys took it and ran with it the rest of the week.”

Rolle, a first-round pick of the Arizona Cardinals in 2005, knows exactly what it takes to be a Miami Hurricane.

He was an All-American cornerback, won a National Championship in 2001  and most noted for shutting down prominent college and NFL wide receivers Larry Fitzgerald and Calvin Johnson.

So the players know when a guy like Rolle talks to them, they listen.