Jarren Williams, Manny Diaz encourage RB Lorenzo Lingard: ‘It’s all in God’s timing’
The situation likely gets more frustrating by the week for former five-star talent Lorenzo Lingard, a University of Miami sophomore running back who was one of the most coveted tailbacks in the nation when he came out of Orange City University High.
Lingard, 6-0 and 202 pounds, sustained a knee injury last year after six games and had season-ending surgery. He has been cleared by Miami (2-2, 0-1) to play for the past few weeks, but is still awaiting action in 2019.
Miami coach Manny Diaz was asked Wednesday after practice if he expects Lingard to play Saturday against Virginia Tech (2-2, 0-2). Last season Lingard rushed 17 times for 136 yards with two touchdowns, averaging 8 yards a carry.
“We’re hoping so,’’ Diaz said. “Part of that is him understanding what to do. You can’t account for the lack of missed reps, right? Because this is not like just run right, run left, in terms of whether it’s pass protection, where to get aligned and how to do those type of things.
“And when you miss scrimmages — and unfortunately had to miss the Bethune-[Cookman] game... He’s not doing anything wrong. He’s just developing as a player, and sometimes you have to separate, again, what we feel about a player in recruiting as opposed to their natural development when they get on this campus. So, to me, Lo is a guy that we think has a great future. He knows he’s getting better and better. He knows he’s getting more comfortable with his knee and a guy that we’ll get more of a role for.”
Does Diaz talk to Lingard about the pressure of social media and ignoring folks who post negative comments on Twitter?
“We talk to our players about that all the time,’’ Diaz said, “because everybody knows what’s best. Everybody knows what’s best, not just for Lo, but for all of our guys. We talk about being in the now, controlling what you can control, which is right now, right here.
“There’s nowhere you can go right now. You can’t transfer in September, October. You have to be here right now, so be where you are and, we tell all of our guys be the best you. There’s something you can do to improve, in terms of who you are, whatever role you have on the football team, so focus on what is real, what is actually in your control and just control that.”
Lingard also was hurt in practice Sept. 11 ahead of the B-CU game, Diaz previously told reporters, adding after the BC-U game that Lingard was “fine.” When asked last month if Lingard went through concussion protocol, Diaz said, “We can’t talk about specifics of injuries like that. But like I said, it’s good to see him back running around.“
Miami quarterback Jarren Williams was asked Wednesday if he tries to encourage Lingard, as Williams went through his own frustration about barely playing last season.
“Lorenzo, he’s very talented,’’ Williams said. “I’ve seen him, from when he first got injured to now. He’s worked his butt off to get to this point. I just told him, ‘Hey man, don’t stop working.’
“I try to encourage him as much as I can because I see a bright future in him, and I just want him to stay positive and keep working, because he can really be special.
“I feel like it’s all in God’s timing. I told him he can’t rush it.”
Lingard rushed for more than 2,500 yards in high school, gaining 1,701 yards on 207 carries and scoring 26 touchdowns his senior season en route to becoming Florida’s Gatorade Player of the Year.
“That’s me and Cam’s [Cam’Ron Harris] boy,’’ No. 1 Miami tailback DeeJay Dallas said of Lingard earlier this season. “We just always tell Lo, ‘Lo, it’s going to come.’ I tell him all the time, ‘It’s going to pop. When your number is called, Bro, you’re going to go ballistic.’ I tell him all the time, ‘Just stay faithful, bro. Just stay faithful.’”
This story was originally published October 2, 2019 at 1:11 PM.