Are there enough great offensive linemen in South Florida? Miami’s new OL coach weighs in
It’s a question Garin Justice said he has heard repeatedly since he joined the Miami Hurricanes as their new offensive line coach in January. He even heard it from Manny Diaz when he was interviewing for the job.
“What do you feel about South Florida offensive linemen?” Justice recalled Diaz asking.
It’s the question he can’t seem to escape in his new position. Everyone knows the Miami metropolitan area produces excellent running backs, wide receivers and defensive backs. Nobody questions the quality of defensive linemen and linebackers coaches can find in the region. The common refrain, however, says Florida doesn’t produce the same sort of offensive linemen as other parts of the United States.
Justice doesn’t agree and he can point to his time with the FAU Owls as evidence. In 2017, FAU set the Conference USA single-season rushing record, starting two offensive linemen from Palm Beach County, two from Miami-Dade County and one from the Tampa Bay area. He believes the reputation the Miami metro area has for struggling to produce offensive linemen boils down to a simple reason: There isn’t a bounty of great offensive linemen anywhere.
“God doesn’t make many big, long, physical, athletic people. They’re just a rare breed as far as what you’re really looking for,” Justice said on a video conference Friday. “The thing I will say is that South Florida doesn’t have any less offensive linemen than anywhere else in the country. The thing that gets distorted is the fact that they have so many skill players that just overwhelms you that it feels that way. There are good linemen here. There are good linemen in South Florida.”
The Hurricanes won’t be in a rush to look elsewhere for offensive line talent, Justice said. Recruiting efforts — like they do at every position — will begin locally for the new position coach.
“We’re going to try and do everything from the inside out,” Justice said. “We’re going to try and take care of our home base first, and do everything we can to sign the guys who are local, who we think can be players at Miami and then start to expand and work out, but just like any relationship they’ve got to also be interested in us and we’re going to do everything in our power to make them be interested in us and do that.”
So far, all 10 orally committed members of the Hurricanes’ Class of 2021 are from the Miami area, including four-star Miami Central guard Laurence Seymore and four-star Parkland Stoneman Douglas tackle Michael McLaughlin.
Seymore actually committed in 2018 when Stacy Searels was the offensive line coach, but McLaughlin only committed last month — the first pledge Justice secured since arriving in Coral Gables.
The two have wildly different profiles as prospects: Seymore is a seasoned and technically sound, yet undersized at 6-2, while McLaughlin and raw and unpolished with a 6-7 frame. It could be a hint at what Justice looks for with his offensive linemen. He doesn’t have a specific type he wants to load up with for an entire recruiting class.
“There’s a lot of different body types, a lot of different guys that make a good offensive linemen, so you’ve got to find that blend as far as what’s going on,”Justice said. “You can’t recruit all 6-1 centers who are quote-unquote ‘dogs,’ but you can have one or two of them that make you a lot better, so you’ve got to find that blend as far as personalities.”
Coronavirus challenges
Without naming any specific names, Justice posited the extended dead period because of the COVID-19 pandemic could benefit players like Seymore, who might not wow coaches with their physiques, but are proven to be dominant on the field.
His first recruiting cycle with the Hurricanes is going to be a bizarre one. It’s not stopping him from putting his imprint on the trail, though. Miami has spent the last few weeks firing off scholarship offers based largely on watching players’ film. It’s all the Hurricanes really can do these days.
“It makes you rely on film and, at the end of the day, you want to recruit guys who are good football players,” Justice said. “e really have to rely on the opinions of the high school coaches and really what we see on that high school tape, and I think that’s the biggest thing we’re trying to take, as far as our offers. And it helps if you know the coach because then you can know whether his word’s good or not, but that’s been the biggest thing and plus what else do we really have to do right now? We have to fill our day with recruiting and from a positive standpoint it’s allowed us to really take a step back, take a deep breath and really do a nice job of what we’re doing recruiting-wise.”
