Miami’s heavy hitters — Ed Reed and QB King among them — take center stage on signing day
Not only did National Signing Day on Wednesday climax with an uplifting surprise twist, but the University of Miami’s news conference to accompany it was filled with some new — and old — faces to make it a particularly memorable one.
After the Hurricanes surprised the nation by signing heralded safety Avantae Williams, who was expected to choose the Florida Gators, Miami brought to the lectern, among other key figures, legendary Hurricane and new chief of staff Ed Reed and gifted quarterback transfer D’Eriq King.
“I’m always orange and green. That’s in my heart, that’s in my blood,’’ said Reed, who spoke after coach Manny Diaz and noted the Canes (6-7 in 2019) must “cover’’ their “wounds” and “get back to work.”
Much of that work will fall on the shoulders of King, a big-name, prolific player who was with Houston the previous four seasons and last month chose Miami for his graduate transfer year.
“For me it’s straight forward,’’ King, from Manvel, Texas, said. “I want to win as many games as possible... Obviously I know the history behind this program. I know where it’s been. I know where Coach Diaz and everybody is trying to get it back to. I only have one year left. My ultimate goal is to go 12-0 this year... I’m going to do everything to help my teammates.”
New offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee, who was just hired out of SMU, also made his first public appearance at UM on Wednesday, lauding King as a difference maker.
“At the end of the day for D’Eriq, he played in similar-style systems at Houston and in high school,’’ Lashlee said. “I’ve worked with guys that have similar skill sets to him, so I knew he would fit from that standpoint, but there’s nothing better than witnessing him. I witnessed, when we would play Houston, what a pain in the rear end he was to defend, so I’m excited I get to have him on my side.”
King said he favors Lashlee’s up-tempo, no-huddle spread offense that is expected to transform the Hurricanes from a points-starved team (90th nationally with 25.7 points a game) to one which can run many more plays, and hopefully score abundantly.
“It allows guys to just go out there and play,’’ King said. “It allows a lot of freedom for last-minute plays. For me, that’s when I think I’m the best, when I’m out there just reacting...taking a lot of shots and also running the ball with my legs.’’
Listed as 5-11 and 195 pounds, King set the American Athletic Conference touchdowns-responsible-for-in-a-season record in 2018 with 50 — 36 passing and 14 rushing. And that was done despite missing his last two-and-a-half games with a right-knee injury.
In 2019, his fourth season at Houston, King cut his season short after four games so he could use it as a redshirt year and retain his eligibility. But before he stopped playing there, he set the FBS record for consecutive games (15) with a passing and rushing touchdown, breaking former Florida quarterback Tim Tebow’s mark.
His Houston career numbers: 4,925 yards passing with 50 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, and 1,421 yards rushing with 28 touchdowns.
Diaz acknowledged that King should be a step up in maturity for the quarterback position, which now has five signal callers on scholarship after 2019 redshirt freshman starter Jarren Williams recently transferred.
“I think that’s part of what you hope [for] in the recruiting cycle, right?” Diaz said. “You’re trying to find out everything you can about D’Eriq or any of the other players that you’re bringing into your program.
“...Our quarterback room over the last year has suffered because of not having a player-to-player mentorship. I want D’Eriq to not just make us better by the way he plays quarterback this year. I want him to make the quarterbacks on our roster better by training them on how to be in a meeting, how to practice, how to watch film on their own, how to get the guys to go throw routes when coaches aren’t allowed to go, so that he doesn’t just improve our football team in 2020, he improves it beyond.
“We finally have that older guy — an experienced guy — that can not just lead our offensive football team, but really change the culture and dynamic of that room.”
Diaz described King as “very impressive, even just getting to know him the short recruiting window that we had, the way he thinks and just being able to talk to him. His recall — he can almost list every quarterback to come out of high school in the state of Texas that were three years older than him and three [years] younger than him — he’s just a guy that’s aware of the game and aware of what’s around him, which means he’s a student of the game.
“We had our first offseason workout yesterday and it was impressive watching him go. There’s not a football present, but there’s a lot of effort present and you can see the athleticism, and watching him move and watching him strain, watching him compete, watching him win sprints was a sight to see.
“As we know and as we’ve said multiple times, you can have something special when your quarterback is your leader and your hardest worker on offense. Everyone can Google his highlights on YouTube and see what he can do with the spectacular plays, but the stuff that really gets the coach excited is what he does when no one’s cheering for him and no one’s watching.”
Highly touted Temple graduate transfer defensive end Quincy Roche, also introduced Wednesday, said King, who played in the same conference, was “one of the most dynamic players’’ he’s ever played against. “I’m really happy I don’t have to play against him.’’
This story was originally published February 5, 2020 at 5:49 PM.
