Rhett Lashlee on Miami QB D’Eriq King backstory: How Joe Burrow affected his transfer
University of Miami offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee went on 560 WQAM radio Wednesday morning and spoke about Houston graduate transfer quarterback D’Eriq King and what led him to the Hurricanes.
Turns out LSU’s Heisman Trophy winner and likely NFL No. 1 pick Joe Burrow was part of the inspiration.
The interview, with WQAM’s Joe Rose and Zach Krantz, revealed when Lashlee, who had just been hired by Miami, first knew that King definitely intended to transfer. Lashlee indicated that it was Houston’s “coaching staff” and head coach Dana Holgorsen that wanted King to “stop playing at Houston” after four games so he could use last season as a redshirt year.
“I was watching the national championship game back in Dallas with my family when he put it on Twitter,’’ Lashlee said. “I think before the game was over it was scrolling on the bottom of the screen that he was going to go ahead and transfer....
“There had been a lot of rumors that he might transfer, he might not.
Not King’s decision to stop
“It wasn’t really his decision to stop playing at Houston. It was something the coaching staff wanted him to do four games in. I know it was hard on him to not finish with his guys, but he’s a respectful kid. He’s going to do what the coaches ask.
“I think they had hoped they could get him for another year. As time went on he decided he wanted to look around. I think seeing that game [and star quarterback transfer Burrow]” inspired him and “let him know, ‘Man…’
“You know, he’s one of the best quarterbacks in the country over the last couple years statistically. It gave him kind of that fire that ‘I want to give it a shot on this kind of stage.’ I think he knew that there were some schools out there that gave him that opportunity.
“When we knew he was available, I had been fortunate that we played against him at SMU. He had seen us. We were fortunate to win so we played well offensively in those games. But man, he’s electric...
“We were just fortunate to get him here. That was on a Monday night. He was able to visit as soon as that Thursday night. We were able to get him here on campus at Miami and I think he saw that the University of Miami with the tradition we have here, the style of offense we’re going to be playing, fit him. And I think the best thing is he was able to see some of the players that were going to be around him and know that, ‘If I come in, I can be the missing piece that helps these guys and gets Miami back to that stage and gets me on that stage.’’’
During the interview, Rose referred to CBSSports.com’s senior writer Dennis Dodd’s story on Lashlee and King that was posted this week.
‘Teammates love him’
Lashlee was asked what he has seen from King, whose father died in February and whose mother, per Dodd, just had her last chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer.
King, from Manvel, Texas, 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. He was 219 of 345 (63 percent) for 2,982 yards and his 36 passing touchdowns, with six interceptions. He also had 111 carries for 674 yards, a 6.1-yards-per-carry average.
Additionally, in 2019 during Houston’s game at Tulane, King set the FBS record for consecutive games (15) with a passing and rushing touchdown, breaking former Florida quarterback Tim Tebow’s record.
“So far, D’Eriq has been everything we thought he would be,’’ Lashlee said. “He’s just a great person. He’s a leader. His teammates love him. He comes out and he just works hard. He has a passion for winning for his teammates and for wanting to be as good as he can be. One of the things that he gives us is he gives us great experience and so that can only help him when he’s out there competing for the job.”
On an even more positive note, King’s brother Keshon tweeted Wednesday afternoon: “Some good news in 2020... MOM IS OFFICIALLY CANCER FREE. All glory to God. I know my pops up there going crazy right now!”
All bodes well for King, who, barring something very bizarre, is expected to win the quarterback job.
And More:
Canes talented?
▪ Lashlee on if he has seen a lot of talent among UM players, even if they only had four days of spring practice before the COVID-19 pandemic shut everything down:
“I was happy with what we did have. It was a lot better than what I anticipated on tape coming in. Just getting four practices, I know our offensive staff specifically, we were excited. We were excited about the rest of the spring and the offseason — just saw that our guys had a chance. That’s all you can ask for as a coach.
“...My mind-set has always been, ‘I’m going to look at what we have and not what we don’t have.’ We had momentum…
“In 2013, when I went to be offensive coordinator at Auburn and Gus [Malzahn] got the head job they had been 0-8 and 3-9… That was bad. We were bad all spring and in the summer. But we came in as a coaching staff and we tried to focus on what we had. We were hoping to go to a bowl game and long story short we ended up playing for the national championship that year.
“You never know what can happen but we’re excited because we like the guys we have, we like their energy level and how much they’re buying into what we’re doing.’’
This story was originally published April 15, 2020 at 10:45 AM.
