Manny Diaz talks QB situation, names Canes and relays still-concerning issue from past
Hurricanes fans, football coach Manny Diaz is still keeping you in suspense.
Fans following the quarterback race will just have to keep waiting until they finally get a glimpse for themselves this weekend at the first open spring scrimmage — the second scrimmage overall — at noon Saturday at Traz Powell Stadium.
Diaz spoke publicly for the first time Monday with Joe Rose and Zach Krantz on WQAM about the University of Miami’s first spring scrimmage, which was closed, this past Saturday at Columbus High School.
Rose got right to the point.
“How did N’Kosi Perry, Tate Martell and Jarren Williams do overall?”
Keep in mind that after the scrimmage, UM reported incomplete stats, saying, for example, that redshirt sophomore Perry completed 5 of 7 passes for 126 yards and two touchdowns, redshirt sophomre Tate Martell finished 6 of 11 for one touchdown and redshirt freshman Jarren Williams “ended the day with 53 passing yards.’’
“Overall, all three of them are still playing slow,’’ Diaz said on WQAM. “What I mean by playing slow, not to be unexpected. You get out there and all of a sudden you could just see us, the way we came to the line of scrimmage was slower than at practice. Why? Because we’re thinking about where to go with the ball instead of just naturally knowing. And then you drop back and what’s happening [is] your drops are slower. And when your drops are slower your mind is slower.”
What Diaz wants is the quarterbacks “to speed up the train of thought.”
“To be honest, all the guys physically can do it. All the guys can make throws and do the things we want them to do to win the game. But ultimately at that position, what’s great about Coach [Dan] Enos’ offense, is you gotta be able to think it through and you gotta be able to get the ball out.”
Rose asked Diaz if there’s a chance the Canes will go into summer camp “with that job wide open.’’
“It would be interesting to see if somebody made such a move,’’ Diaz replied. “We have six practice opportunities left. ... Day after day, one guy may poke his nose in front then the other guy pokes his nose... It’s all just mental right now. And so, yeah, would somebody jump out there and run away with it in the next two weeks? That’s possible. But there’s a real good chance it could go into the summer.”
Diaz said he knows the playbook will eventually be executed well as players continue learning and adapting to the newness and the intricacies, but what he’s more concerned about now is something that has plagued UM — and probably most teams that don’t play up to what they believe is their potential — is its mental toughness.
“When things don’t start going well, do we just start getting sad?,’’ Diaz said. “You watched us at times in the past and all of a sudden guys just lose their passion and their spirit. Like I’ve been mentioning before: New plays don’t fix culture. There’s still some mental rewiring that is going to have to happen, not just on the offensive side of the team but really the whole team to get some resilience about us.
“You’ve got to be able to persevere and stick it through. We still don’t have that to be honest.’’
Call it the flinching factor.
“My issue is, what is our mentality when things go well and what is our mentality when things don’t go well – and do we flinch?” Diaz told Rose. “And right now, we’re still a little too flinchy for me.
“For us to really be a big-time operation… When someone comes, can we take a punch? That’s not a question you want to have on your team And right now, we have it. We tell our guys all the time, ‘If your toughness is in question, you better be scratching and clawing” to end that question. “Because if they question your toughness, what else do you have? That’s really what we’re working on now.”
Diaz did mention some players that have impressed him in the first scrimmage, or overall this spring:
▪ Sophomore receiver Mark Pope, a vaunted Miami Southridge High prospect who only had one catch last year: Diaz said he “popped up with a real big play that was positive’’ in the scrimmage. “He had a long touchdown catch in a one-minute situation.’’
▪ Will Mallory, a 6-5, 230-pound sophomore who had five catches for 37 yards and a touchdown last season: “A matchup problem... If he gets the ball in the open field he’s a super athletic kid. He’s got those long strides and can really run away from a defense.’’
▪ Greg Rousseau, a 6-6, 250-pound redshirt freshman defensive end who had four sacks Saturday: “Keep in mind it’s spring. The quarterbacks are not live. We’re trying to keep everybody healthy. When you’ve got those Inspector Gadget arms, when you’re playing tag on the quarterback, having those long, long arms that he has kind of helps...Remember when you were a kid and your big brother... would put his hand on your forehead and you were trying to swing at him and you couldn’t reach him? That’s about what it’s like trying to pass-block Greg Rousseau. Because he can just stick a long arm in there. His reach is just insane.”
▪ Nesta Jade Silvera, a 6-2, 305-pound sophomore defensive tackle out of Plantation American Heritage: “He’s made a big jump from where he was in the fall. Nobody wants to remember that [Pinstripe Bowl] Wisconsin game. That was pretty miserable. But one of the things, without having [star tackle Gerald] Willis there that day is that he got to get in the mix and really see where he was at. It kind of gave him a good little, I’m not going to say ‘wakeup,’ but a little reminder of where he had to be.
“He’s a guy that just when you come back in a three-month span really, really improved himself and is starting to do the things you saw on his high school team — being a disruptive guy and using his quickness to be a problem to block.”
And finally, some names that turned coaching heads from where the players were a year ago:
▪ Gilbert Frierson, a 6-1, 192-pound redshirt freshman who was converted from cornerback to striker this spring and is the cousin of Canes and NFL legend Frank Gore: “His demeanor, his mentality. He comes to work every day. Really, really turned himself into a guy.”
▪ DJ Ivey, a 6-1, 194-pound sophomore cornerback out of Homestead South Dade: “He really had a great week last week that finished off with a good scrimmage.
▪ Zion Nelson, a 6-5, 240-pound early enrollee freshman offensive tackle: “I keep mentioning his name, but what Zion Nelson is doing at tackle for just being an early enrollee is really quite remarkable.’’
▪ Realus George, a 6-2, 255-pound redshirt freshman fullback: “Realus George has made a massive improvement...’’
