Paradise Camp? Avantae Williams? 5 things to know from Diaz’s pre-spring press conference
The Miami Hurricanes are on the brink of spring practice and Manny Diaz ushered in the season with his pre-spring press conference Friday.
The coach and Rhett Lashlee both answered questions about what to expect from Miami in the next month. Here are five things to know — other than the status of D’Eriq King:
Paradise Camp (probably) returns
The NCAA’s recruiting dead period has now stretched nearly a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, although it could finally be nearing an end. Currently, the dead period is schedule to conclude on the final day of May and schools are already operating under the assumption they’ll be able to bring players to campus starting in June.
Diaz said it’s probably premature to already be formally scheduling anything — like the West Virginia Mountaineers have with a visit weekend planned for early June — although he is optimistic the Hurricanes will welcome recruits to Coral Gables throughout the summer.
Most importantly, Paradise Camp should be back in 2021 after the coronavirus forced its cancellation in 2020.
“We definitely want to have Paradise Camp,” Diaz said. “Ideally if things go the way we want to, we’ll have Paradise and I think you’ll see a lot of guys taking visits in the summer, and I think you’ll see a lot of commitments in the summer.”
Miami is down to just one commitment in the Class of 2022 after three-star Hollywood Chaminade-Madonna defensive end Jamaal Johnson decommitted Wednesday.
Diaz isn’t concerned about the state of the class, though.
“Just talking to the recruits under the assumption that things open up in some way in the summertime,” Diaz said, “everyone’s going everywhere, so I don’t know what good a commitment is and obviously we’ve made some strides to kind of get out of the decommitment game.
“There’s no recruiting cycle that’s like this cycle that this group is going through right now.”
Avantae Williams ready to debut
Safety Avantae Williams is finally set to suit up this spring after missing his entire freshman season because of an undisclosed medical issue. It didn’t keep the last year from being productive, though.
“It’s so difficult to come your first year and sort of be told that you can’t play and he had to just sort of do nothing for a long time in the fall,” Diaz said, “and then he could kind of do some non-contact, 7-on-7 stuff and Avantae’s such a competitor he just wants to play.”
Williams, who was the top-ranked recruit in the Hurricanes’ Class of 2020, was able to focus on academics and the weight room last year.
Still, nothing compared to getting cleared to play.
“The joy on his face and in his voice when he found out that he’s going to go through spring was really, really emotional,” Diaz said. “It was fun to hear.”
Who will fill Mallory’s void?
Miami will be short four potential starters for spring practices. King and cornerback Al Blades Jr. aren’t surprises — King tore his right anterior cruciate ligament in the 2020 Cheez-It Bowl, while Blades is recovering from a myocarditis diagnosis — but tight end Will Mallory and defensive lineman Nesta Jade Silvera are new to the injury report after having, “some maintenance work done on their shoulders,” Diaz said.
Mallory’s absence creates an open competition at tight end, which could provide clues about who could be No. 2 on the depth chart next season.
Tight ends Dominic Mammarelli, Larry Hodges and Elijah Arroyo should all get time with the starters in the next month.
Mamarelli and Hodges both played sparingly in 2020, and will have a chance to emerge this spring.
“I’m really excited to see can Larry Hodges, can Dom Mammarelli, can they take the next step now with that opportunity without Brevin or Will out there?” Lashlee said. “We’re going to need them this year.”
Arroyo is a highly touted freshman, who was the No. 213 player in the 247Sports.com composite rankings for the Class of 2021. Lashlee said Miami could ease him in as he was “dinged up” as a senior last year at Independence in Frisco, Texas.
“He’s a guy that we have high expectations for,” Lashlee said. “We think he’s going to be a really good football here and fits what we want to do.”
Any position changes for Miami?
Jalen Harrell is making the move from safety to cornerback with the Hurricanes’ still shorthanded at corner, given Blades’ absence.
“Jalen played corner and safety in high school. He’s got some length, we’ve watched him move around in our offseason program. We’re a little thin there still,” Diaz said, “and we said, You know what? It’s spring. Let’s take a look at Jalen, see what he can do out there.”
The extra year of eligibility — granted to everyone because of the COVID pandemic — means an exceptional level of depth for Miami this spring and it could make it easier than ever to move players around.
The back seven of the defense, Diaz said, will have a lot of flexibility in the spring.
“You get guys from safety to striker, you have guys go from striker to ‘Will,’” Diaz said. “There is some positional flexibility that we’ll use the next 15 days to find out who we think can play.”
Spring game date is set
Miami will hold its annual spring game April 17, Diaz said, although there probably won’t be fans in attendance at Hard Rock Stadium.
“Unfortunately right now, given where things are,” Diaz said, “I think fans is still highly unlikely at this point.”
