The expectations for Sam Shields were already sky-high before he even enrolled at Miami.
"Perhaps the best in the state,"
read the Hurricanes' press release on Feb. 1, 2006, the day Shields signed his letter of intent to join the Hurricanes. He hasn't lived up to that billing.
The junior wide receiver from Sarasota (Booker High) nearly has as many special-teams tackles this season (five) as he does catches (six), is a second-stringer on the depth chart, is getting extra work in practice as a scout-team defensive back, has just one touchdown catch in his last 11 games and committed a mindboggling penalty in the fourth quarter of Miami's 41-39 loss to Florida State two weeks ago.
But somehow, he says he hasn't lost faith, and the Hurricanes insist they still believe in Shields as well.
"We think Sam's got tremendous talent,"
Miami coach Randy Shannon said. "We think he's got a big upside. We still feel that way. But on the field, it's productivity. That's how we judge it. We know that Sam should be productive, but he's not right now. Does that mean we did a bad job evaluating or Sam is a bad football player? No. He just hasn't come around yet."
Shields acknowledges that his time at Miami has been filled with ups and downs. He's had some memorable moments, like a 117-yard game against Texas A&M last season and a two-touchdown effort two years ago at Duke, the place the Hurricanes (3-3, 0-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) visit on Saturday.
But lately, he's mostly experienced downs.
He caught two passes for 21 yards in the season-opening win over Charleston Southern and has barely made a ripple in the Hurricanes' offensive game plan since. And against Florida State, when Miami was beginning a drive on the Seminoles' 4 and were poised to take the lead, Shields ran onto the field because he thought he was in the game, even though the Hurricanes already had 11 players in position.
The flag came out, Miami was assessed five yards, settled for a field goal instead of a touchdown and eventually lost.
"I had a lack of focus out there,"
Shields said. "I didn't hear it right, but it's over with. I'll get another opportunity and whenever I get that opportunity, I'll be ready."
Shields' opportunity last week was on special teams. He was ready.
He took a penalty for hitting Central Florida returner Joe Burnett on a punt before Burnett caught the ball, a 15-yard mistake. Shields heard some booing, but didn't hear anything from Shannon, who wasn't the least bit upset.
"That was just an aggressive play,"
Shannon said.
Later in that game, with Shields barreling down the field toward him again, Burnett -- one of the nation's best returners -- inexplicably dropped a punt.
Shields recovered the fumble, Miami got a touchdown and went on to win 20-14.
"Mentally, that could be the play that gets him going,"
Shannon said.
Did Shields' earlier hit cause Burnett to drop the ball? No one knows for sure, but the Miami side figures that played a part.
"Making that big play was very exciting,"
Shields said. "I helped turn the team around, me and the whole punt team. ... All the coaches have been telling me, 'Don't give up.' So I won't. I'll keep doing as much as I can do, and things like that are going to help me get better, get stronger and make the team better."
Shields is traditionally one of the last players to leave the practice field. He'll stay out with quarterback Robert Marve for as long as he can, catching passes for an extra 10, 20, sometimes 30 minutes.
Someday, Shields thinks that work will pay off. Marve feels the same way.
"He's just got to put one and one together,"
Marve said. "It's very close to exploding, but you never know when that day is or when it's going to come. You always hear about players like that who have so much potential."
"He's a great player. He's going to have to keep working, and I have full confidence that he's going to show out. I just don't know when that time is."
