Canes stacked with underclass talent debating NFL Draft. Here’s what coaches are doing
There’s no denying that the Miami Hurricanes have a suffocating defense with some stellar players who will enter the 2019 NFL Draft that runs April 25-27. This year, UM coaches have been extra vigilant in ensuring that the youngest draft-eligible players are educated on the process and what they could face.
Some of the draft-eligible players are seniors — defensive tackle Gerald Willis, cornerback Michael Jackson, safeties Jaquan Johnson and Sheldrick Redwine immediately come to mind.
But others are gifted underclassmen, such as the entire starting linebacker trio of juniors Shaq Quarterman, Michael Pinckney and Zach McCloud — and of course, defensive end Joe Jackson.
Offensively, starting tailback Travis Homer is another talented junior eligible for the draft.
On Tuesday, outgoing UM defensive coordinator Manny Diaz spoke to Joe Rose and Zach Krantz on WQAM in light of his being hired as the new head coach of Temple. Diaz is staying to coach the Canes against Wisconsin in the Pinstripe Bowl on Dec. 27 at Yankee Stadium. And though UM chose to act quickly and name Diaz proteges and current defensive assistants Ephraim Banda (safeties) and Jonathan Patke (outside linebackers) co-defensive coordinators to ensure that Diaz’s aggressive system and the other respected defensive coaches are staying, thoughts no doubt have crept into the juniors’ minds about the possibility of entering the draft.
“What do you say to the underclassmen?’’ Rose asked Diaz. “How do you handle that?”
Diaz’s response: “We’ve been very proactive all calendar year with our underclassmen in terms of we’ve sort of been mining for feedback from people in the NFL.
“We sat down with our guys midseason, we sat down with our guys immediately after the season and then we had another sit-down even with the events of the past week. I think our guys learned a lot from what happened last year with [defensive tackles] Kendrick [Norton] and RJ [McIntosh].”
If UM fans recall, Norton and McIntosh were UM stars, but chose to enter the draft early. Both were shocked by the result, as Norton went as the 24th pick of the seventh and final round to the Carolina Panthers, and McIntosh was the second pick of the fifth round by the New York Giants.
Norton is now listed by the Panthers as a practice squad player. McIntosh is listed as playing in four games with five tackles this season.
“Our guys thought that those guys were dudes,’’ Diaz told WQAM of Norton and McIntosh. “I mean, they were. But you realize when you go into that league you’re competing with a lot of dudes. There are players all over the place. So what you can do is you give them the most thorough information that you can. Because you don’t want to feel like you’re just doing it for your own selfish reasons.
“You always want them to stay. But at the same time you want to make sure that they’re not making the decision for the wrong reasons or because somebody told somebody who told somebody that they’d be drafted here, when that turns out not to be true.
“But at the same time this is their lives and they’ve got one shot at this. We get a chance to do this for our lifetime. These guys’ shelf lives as football players is very short in the scope of their entire lives. Regardless, you’ve got to be supportive because they get one crack at this.”
Underclassmen have until Jan. 14, 2019, to declare for the draft. UM underclassmen have not yet disclosed whether they plan to enter the draft. That often is announced some time after the bowl game.
This story was originally published December 18, 2018 at 10:20 AM.
