As COVID-19 surges nationwide, Miami will ‘try like heck’ to limit issues, keep playing
University of Miami football coach Manny Diaz did not reveal Monday during a Zoom video conference interview how many Hurricanes who regularly play will be unavailable Friday for North Carolina State because of general illness or COVID-related issues.
“No. 1: I don’t know because we tested today,’’ he said. “We’ll test two more times before the game. We’re not going to discuss the guys who have been out, that have been unavailable. It’s a strange, weird deal and our players are not going to discuss it.
“We’re going to try like heck to have a football team that we can stick on an airplane and fly to Raleigh on Thursday to go play them Friday. So, I’m going to find out when you find out. That’s kind of how 2020 goes.’’
The Herald learned Saturday that several more players than the original six listed as being unavailable for Miami’s last game Oct. 24 against Virginia have been isolating the past week with COVID-related issues. But specific players weren’t revealed by a source close to the situation.
Diaz was asked if No. 11 UM (5-1, 4-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) shares the information privately with opponents before playing them, in this case NC State (4-2, 4-2).
“No, there’s no protocol for that amongst the teams,’’ Diaz said. “As you know, we release [an availability] list an hour before [the games]. I know Virginia had some guys out for our game last week. I never even heard of who they were officially for the game. But you kind of look at pregame warmups and sort of look down the other side of the field and see who’s not there.
“It’s a serious deal and I don’t mean to joke about it, but it’s a threat that our players can feel because the numbers are going up. Obviously, last week in the country was not a good week. Again, we take it very, very seriously because the challenge is not getting easier, it’s getting harder as the year goes on.”
UM defensive end Quincy Roche agreed with Diaz that it is getting more difficult to cope with the unpredictable virus.
“That’s big [for] every team across the country just not to get lazy, not to get complacent,’’ Roche said. “Stick with the protocol, stay disciplined, stay responsible, wash your hands, wear a mask, etc. All those little things, they kind of get tougher down the season I think across the country. That’s a challenge that everybody is going to have to deal with.”
Added King: “It’s tough just because you literally can get it from anywhere. Here I think everybody has done a really good job of just keeping it out of the program. I know in the building everybody is masked up at all times. Even at practice, we try to socially distance at practice as well. I think we’re doing a really good job here. And I just keep hoping and praying that it stays out of here.”
Roche on bye-week improvements
Diaz said in his earlier Monday interview with WQAM radio that he had coaches “make point-of-attack tapes for all their players, where they could really analyze, ‘Look, halfway through the season, this is what the opponents see out of you, and here are some things that are giving you trouble [and] here are some things that you’re doing well, and let’s really focus on our weaknesses.’’’
Roche, tied for second in the ACC and fifth in the nation with 9 1/2 tackles for loss, said he appreciated the tapes and they have “made the team better at the halfway point just evaluating your past performances, seeing how you’ve been going.”
“It’s different when you get a week off,’’ Roche said. “You kind of get to see yourself from outside of the lens, from outside of the box. It’s something that everybody embraced and it’s going to make us better the latter half of the season.”
When asked the areas in which the defensive line needs to improve on run defense, Roche said, “Playing with better hand placement and not getting cut out of our gaps from the backside of the stretch… Just some of the things I’ve seen pop up in film. There always room for improvement. We’ve been doing a decent job, but it’s not nearly good enough.”
Quarterback King on his challenges
Quarterback D’Eriq King said the bye week was “really good’’ for the Canes, “just to see what certain players were good at and certain players were not bad at. And if we are bad at it, then why are we bad at it? We did a lot of self-reflecting during the bye week, and it made the team a lot better as far as just noticing the little things. This week of practice [has] been a really good week so far.
“I want to get better in my feet and eyes. I think my feet and eyes have a lot to do with how I throw the ball. Some games I throw the ball really well. Some games I’m off a little bit. I’ve been focusing on that the last two weeks.’’
King also indicated he can make his own contributions to enhancing UM’s recently deficient running game.
“Just getting myself involved early, maybe pulling a few, will open up a lot of stuff,’’ King said. “We’ve got to just keep playing. I trust the O-line, running backs to get going as well. Yeah, I think if I just get a little more aggressive, maybe, that’ll help a lot of things out.”
▪ The ACC said it will wait until after this weekend’s games to announce the kickoff time for UM’s Nov. 14 game at Virginia Tech.
This story was originally published November 2, 2020 at 4:01 PM.
