Miami assistant on ‘potential’ being ‘dangerous word’ and ‘video-game physique’ of DE
We have heard plenty lately from the University of Miami’s new, intriguing offensive side of the ball, thanks to new coordinator Rhett Lashlee.
Monday, the defensive side got its shot.
Hurricanes defensive coordinator Blake Baker went on 560 WQAM radio to talk about all things defense for Miami, which seemed like a good break for the coach, who is working from home as his wife Roslyn navigates most of the family care for children ages 5, 2 and 8 months.
Host Joe Rose asked “how good, potentially,” are Temple graduate transfer defensive end Quincy Roche, redshirt sophomore defensive end Greg Rousseau and former UCLA defensive end Jaelan Phillips — the latter rated by 247Sports as the No. 1 player in the recruiting class of 2017.
Phillips, in only 10 career games at UCLA, had 41 tackles, including eight for losses and 4 1/2 sacks. Various significant injuries limited him to four games in 2018. He sat out last year after transferring to UM and will be a redshirt junior when UM’s next season begins.
“Getting Jaelan Phillips in there... We got four [spring] practices in and he hadn’t played football for coming on nearly two years. But man, he’s just a natural. You know how you create a player on your video game? That’s how you create a defensive end from a physical standpoint. He still has a long way to go just not playing the game for a couple years. He’s still knocking some of the rust off.”
‘Special dude’
Baker also spoke about Phillips near the end of UM’s four days of spring before the Covid-19 pandemic changed the landscape of sports worldwide: “He’s a special dude. He’s [6-5] and probably 260-plus pounds, but the thing that’s very impressive about him is how well he hits. He understands leverage. He does a great job getting into the offensive tackle’s pads. That’s one thing that usually takes a little bit of time, the leverage and pad level.’’
On Monday, Baker said Rousseau, who had a spectacular 2019 with 15.5 sacks and 19.5 tackles-for-loss among humongous nationally-heralded stats, said Rousseau can improve even more.
“Greg is such a humble and hard-working kid, [and] as good as the year he’s had last year, there’s so much he can get better at and some things we’ve shown him on film where he really needs to get better. He takes hard coaching. He’s a guy that is a perfect role model for our young guys. Statistically and obviously throughout the media he is getting so much attention but he’s still the same humble, hard working kid that he was on the first day he walked on to campus.
“...Then you put in the mix with Quincy Roche, who has elite ability to turn the corner and really flatten out the pass rush.”
‘Potential’ greatness
Much of how the younger, nationally recognized talent will fit into the defensive end lineup is going to have to do with them and how good a shape they come in to camp whenever that time comes,’’ Baker said. “…Those three guys,’’ he said of Rousseau, Phillips and Roche, “potentially have as much talent as anybody in the country.”
Added Baker: “Potential is a dangerous word, but those three guys have the potential to be the best in the country.”
More Baker:
▪ On recruiting: “Obviously, it’s been really really unique. In a lot of ways it probably hurts a lot of kids that we consider spring evaluations and being able to put an eye on them.. Recruiting has sped up over the years, and every year it seems like it’s getting faster and faster. Kids still develop at the same age. Just the ability to be able to talk to a high school coach or watch them in spring practice or even get them to campus to come to a camp and put eyes on them, who knows if that’s still going to happen? So, [on] those fringe guys I think it really takes a toll.
Virtual videos
“As a staff we’ve done an excellent job with Zoom [video conferencing]. “Every day from 1 to sometimes 8, 9 at night it’s on Zoom calls with recruits or with high school coaches and trying to get them to know us or us to know them. Our recruiting staff has done an excellent job being able to put together videos of our campus or videos of our facilities.
“In a lot of cases we’ve probably done a better job just because we had more time on our hands than normal building those types of relationships with parents and kids... The evaluation part hurts but from a relationship standpoint it’s been as good as ever.”
Baker said his defensive tackles, led by Nesta Jade Silvera and Jonathan Ford, “early on those first couple of days’’ during spring, when players did not don pads, “there were a lot of guys looking at the sideline with those puppy dog eyes” trying to get adjusted to UM’s new, no-huddle, spread offense. “But they got the hang of it, and it was making everybody better.’’
How did Baker describe the new offense?
‘Dizzying’ offense
“Dizzying. That thing is fast, man. They are rolling. It was phenomenal. We talked about from a defensive perspective you have to know your stuff to be able to succeed….. You find out a lot about your guys from a conditioning standpoint and from a mental standpoint at the pace that they go. I love it. I think it’s going to be a good change for us.”
Baker said “the first week or so’’ of getting used to working from home because of the mandated isolation “was rough.”
“...I generally try to get up early in the morning to give myself at least an hour of peace by working out and maybe 30 minutes of just sitting there before pure chaos ensues,’’ the coach said lightheartedly.
By now, however, he is into the groove.
“It’s our anniversary today,’’ he said after being asked by co-host Zach Krantz how “quarantine’’ has been. “It will be a fun quarantined anniversary and fun day dealing with those three rugrats.
“...We’re blessed. It could be a lot worse. Being able to be around these kids, these are days are days you’ll never get back as a coach. So it’s been a lot of fun, too.’’
