Rotating veteran UM safeties expected to thrive. And here’s how Avantae stays involved
Amari Carter not only loves the University of Miami, he loves the Hurricanes fans.
On Tuesday, Carter was asked during a Zoom videoconference how he felt about the announcement Monday that 13,000 fans would be allowed to attend the Canes’ season opener against Alabama-Birmingham on Thursday, Sept. 10.
“Football is one of those team sports where having fans there just adds to everything, so us being able to have our fans, that’s a big thing for us,’’ said the senior, referring to the coronavirus pandemic and how it has turned much of the sporting world into fanless competition. “Every single year, even before everything that’s been going on this year, we looked forward to our fans being there. So, Hard Rock being able to allow 13,000 — even if it was 2,000 — it’s still fans.
“It’s people that wouldn’t be to the games [otherwise]. “It’s people that want to be there and cheer with us.
“I suppose as a fan, when you’re at the stadium, you’re not on the field yet you feel you have a sense of belonging to the program. Just fans being there, that’s a big bonus for us because just being Miami, we love our fans.”
Fellow safety Gurvan Hall, who has been having an excellent fall camp, according to coach Manny Diaz and position coach Ephraim Banda, has a bit of a different take on fans being allowed.
“It doesn’t matter to me,’’ Hall, a junior, said. “I mean, we can have no fans [or] we can have fans. Either way, the ball gotta go down and we gotta put on the shoulder pads against whoever we play.’’
Hall dominating
Hall played in all 13 games last season, with 11 starts, ranking second on the team with 66 tackles (along with 3.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, one interception and one fumble recovery). He was asked what has led to his continued improvement and dominance this camp.
“I actually had a little talk with [Diaz] at the scrimmage and... now I’m an older guy so now it’s time to step up. I had previous guys before me like [Sheldrick] Redwine and Jaquan [Johnson]. I was always, like, the quiet guy... Now this year it’s just a different approach. There’s stuff I gotta do, I gotta provide for my family. Now I’m growing up.’’
Hall said the defense “did a great job’’ in Saturday night’s scrimmage. “We gave [quarterback] D’Eriq [King] a tough time back there. I respect D’Eriq. He gives us a lot of trouble sometimes. Overall, we played good, especially our young guys — Brian [Balom] and T.C. [cornerback Te’Cory Couch].’’
Banda said Carter, former USC Trojan transfer Bubba Bolden and Hall will rotate this season, and he couldn’t stress enough how important depth is in light of the pandemic and the unknown of who will be able to play each week.
“This year is different,’’ Banda said. “It’s not about who plays free safety or rover. It’s about depth... getting guys to learn as many positions as possible. Everyone is playing different positions. We’d like to roll a lot of guys...
“This is a year that if you can’t play multiple positions and do different things your value to the team drastically drops. You never know what 2020 will bring. You’ve gotta adapt.’’
Bolden working hard
Bolden, a former first-team Parade All-American and teammate of tight end Brevin Jordan and quarterback Tate Martell out of Las Vegas Bishop Gorman High, had his season cut short last year when he sustained an ankle injury in the Florida State game while colliding with Hall after Bolden’s first UM career interception. He ended up playing in five games.
Banda said Bolden, now a redshirt junior, has had “a great camp,’’ though he “still has to improve on tackling.’’
“Still more to clean up in that area,’’ Banda said.
▪ Freshman Avantae Williams, considered the nation’s No. 1 safety recruit when he signed with UM last February, is still attending meetings and film study and “has done a great job in the film room,’’ Banda said. “He’s really, really locked in. I ask him questions every day in the film room as if he’s out there. Really proud of mentally him staying locked in in these meeting and being able to answer questions as if he was on the field.’’
This story was originally published August 25, 2020 at 3:11 PM.
