(NewsUSA) - Saying it's been a positive run for The U would be an understatement. A balder, more brolic Dwayne Johnson recently hoisted the WWE Championship over his shoulders for the first time in a decade. Then, Warren Sapp was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame, Reggie Johnson's tip-in kept Miami undefeated in ACC hoops and five Hurricane alums on the Ravens became world champions while Frank Gore rushed for 110 yards in a losing effort.

Berry Gordy wouldn't offer a music deal to Miami's Seventh Floor Crew, but at its peak, The U was akin to college football's Motown Records. Beginning in the '60s Motown's Detroit's blend of blues, funk and pop-soul ruled the airwaves.

Lewis' pregame squirrel dance, dubious past, pompous sermons and 13 Pro Bowls are emblematic of the "old Miami Hurricane" swagger. The bravado Saints defensive captain Jonathan Vilma exhibited throughout his legal appeal of Roger Goodell's Bountygate suspensions was just a glimpse into The U's influence.

For 14 consecutive years, the Hurricanes signed, sealed and delivered at least one first round pick to the NFL. Even the most boisterous and notorious NFL super-agent of the last two decades, Drew Rosenhaus, was a product of The U.

The late Cardinal of College Football, Beano Cook, once called The U, 'the greatest dynasty since Caesar.' The U thrived through sideline instability due to the constant coaching turnover caused by Howard Schnellenberger, Jimmy Johnson, Dennis Erickson and Butch Davis using Coral Gables as pit stops to blazing their own paths to the NFL or USFL.

Sunday's U-per Bowl illuminated a troubling trend. Like a tide sweeping away sand castles on South Beach, negative publicity, recruiting blunders and rotten luck has swept away three decades of The U dynasty. Since 2004, The U has won nine games just thrice, but most disconcerting is that their influx of impact players into the NFL has slowed to an ephemeral drip.

Lewis, Vilma, Gore, Ed Reed, Bryant McKinnie, Andre Johnson, Reggie Wayne, Vince Wilfork, Willis McGahee, Devin Hester, Santana Moss, Chris Myers, Jon Beason and Jimmy Graham make an impressive list of active Canes with Pro Bowls on their resume. But Graham and Beason are the only ones under 30 in 2013.

Furthermore, cornerback Brandon McGee will be lucky if he's the only Cane drafted in April. Aside from Reggie Bush's impending release, the Cane's talent well has evaporated.

So how did they get here? For starters, former coach Randy Shannon began recruiting student-athletes who could reach rising academic standards as University President Donna Shalala shaped Suntan U into the Stanford of the South. For football, the result was as calamitous as Motown Records migrating to Los Angeles.

The implosion of Shannon's top ranked 2008 recruiting class dug the Hurricanes deeper into a rut. Marcus Forston, Tommy Streeter, Travis Benjamin, Sean Spence, Arthur Brown, Brandon and Jacory Harris headlined the '08 class but none panned out or made an impact in the NFL.

Brown, 2008's No. 1 recruit at linebacker, drew Ray Lewis comparisons and is projected as a possible first round pick but transferred to Kansas State. In 2009, Arthur's younger brother Bryce dropped his soft verbal to Miami after Shannon pressured him to quickly make a decision.

Just as Larry Coker's ouster cost Shannon Lesean McCoy's commitment, Shannon's dismissal caused Miami Northwestern prep receiver Eli Rogers and All-American quarterback Teddy Bridgewater to switch to Louisville.

Recruiting under Shannon veered well off of the map over the last two years. Of 21 four or five-star prospects in the greater Miami area in the 2011 class, Miami signed zero. In the same span, Florida signed nine four or five-star guys from the Canes backyard, and Florida State inked eight.

Motown Records is dead and The U is on life support. Ray Lewis may strut into the sunset as an NFL champion, but barring a radical turnaround he may be dragging his alma mater's gridiron glory days with him.

This story is courtesy of "The Shadow League." For more sports stories, go to www.theshadowleague.com.