Miami Hurricanes turn up the volume, intensity on Day Eight of spring football practice
The Miami Hurricanes were back at it Thursday for session No. 8 of 2019 spring football practice.
We saw some new quarterback drills during our 30 minutes or so of media viewing, and some rather loud Hurricanes assistant coaches maxing out their lungs with some hefty screaming. And they weren’t screaming compliments.
The pass-catchers on this team had a bad case of the dropsies Thursday during drills in which there were no defensive players to get in the way of the route-running.
Junior slot receiver Mike Harley, one of UM’s dependable receivers, dropped at least three passes when we were watching.
“Come on, Mike! Catch the ball!” N’Kosi Perry loudly reprimanded Harley. It’s obvious quarterbacks coach/offensive coordinator Dan Enos is teaching these sometimes normally quiet QBs to be loud and proud and outspoken — to exert their leadership and get on their players if they’re doing something wrong.
Fellow wideout Jeff Thomas also dropped at least two passes.
Sophomore receiver Brian Hightower dropped at least one, Mark Pope dropped one and walk-on tight end Nick Ducheine erred as well.
At one point, tight ends coach Stephen Field went nuts screaming at his charges. He’s a natural at screaming.
So, here’s what looked good Thursday:
▪ The quarterbacks. Transfer Tate Martell, who came to UM in January from Ohio State, looks oh-so-much better now than he did two weeks ago when spring practice began on March 19. Jarren Williams has looked good from Day One, and N’Kosi looks sharp as well. This is, naturally, a very encouraging sign.
We saw QBs throwing over the red-rimmed square nets that are normally used as targets, with little boxes inside each at which the quarterbacks take aim. But today they worked on their footwork and passing over the nets, which were like imaginary big, bad defensive linemen. Rarely did a quarterback’s pass rebound off the metal rim.
▪ Injury-wise: Safety Amari Carter, who was seen in a walking boot on Tuesday and is “day-to-day’’ coach Manny Diaz told us Tuesday, did not practice at all and was not seen during media viewing. He is still being held out, defensive coordinator Blake Baker told us after practice. Also, starting tight end Brevin Jordan (knee) missed practice again. Offensive lineman John Campbell was back again today. And safety Robert Knowles, who injured himself the first week of practice, was also back. Running back Robert Burns was practicing in a green, no contact jersey.
▪ The Big Cane drill got a bit over the top today, when the two players going at each other spilled onto the ground with what looked like half the team joining in. Defensive tackle Jon Ford seemed to limp out of the center, but then he went on to practice. He told us after practice he was fine.
But he did like talking about Big Cane.
“Yeah, it got heated today,’’ Ford said. “The guys, they were going at it today. It was real hype because Big Cane is something that just get me going, even when I’m not going it get me going.’’
Was Ford one of the Big Cane participants today?
“Nah, nah, nah. I was good. I was just watching those guys. I was so hype. Somebody hit my leg but it was nothing.”
▪ We spoke to new defensive line coach Todd Stroud today after practice. Very nice man, and seemingly very positive and upbeat.
Here’s what Stroud said today when asked about his impressions of his defensive talent:
“Oh golly. You know what? there are two or three kids right now in the front. On the edge, Jon “Neo” Garvin is an exceptional talent. Scott Patchan is having a great spring as well...On the inside, Jon Ford, who you guys visited with earlier today, is having an exceptional spring. He obviously has a great body. He’s learning. And he’s kind of embracing what we’re doing. He’s been phenomenal this spring.
“The biggest challenge you have as you look at the talent is developing your two-deep,’’ Stroud continued. “We have some guys that need to get better and need to step up. And then we’ll have some new faces come in this fall and we’ll find out where our depth plugs in there… But you gotta be two-deep in this league. You gotta be two deep. They’re all going to get an opportunity. They’re all going to play quite a bit. Your two-deep is what’s really important. We can put one group out there that is probably as good as anybody.”
Stroud also praised rising sophomore defensive tackle Nesta Silvera.
“Nesta is having a great spring,’’ Stroud said. “He’s one of those 2s that I was talking about that is having an opportunity right now to push for a job. I’m sure that will carry into the fall. But so far I’ve been very pleased. His work ethic and what he’s been doing, his intensity. He’s been great and he’s been very coachable, too. That’s the whole deal.”
This story was originally published April 4, 2019 at 11:21 AM.
