No more Big Cane Drill for Miami Hurricanes football as NCAA sets new practice rules
At one point in 2019, University of Miami football coach Manny Diaz had his Hurricanes going at it in a wrestling ring during offseason drills at the Carol Soffer Indoor Practice Facility.
But what seemed to be a favorite drill among Hurricanes football players and coaches in the past for the Hurricanes — and no doubt among players across the country — was barred Wednesday night by the NCAA.
The “Big Cane Drill,’’ UM’s version of the popular “Oklahoma Drill’’ in which two fully padded players surrounded by rowdy, cheering factions (orange jerseys vs. white jerseys) go mano y mano to display their toughness, has been prohibited in the name of safety.
The NCAA’s Division I Council made changes to football preseason practice that include limiting contact sessions “to protect the health and safety of student-athletes while providing the opportunity to prepare them for the football season,’’ the NCAA announced in a release that included various measures approved Wednesday.
The football practice changes include, per the NCAA:
▪ Prohibiting athletic activities, like drills that encourage or create straight-line contact (such as the Big Cane Drill), as specified in policies established by the Division I Football Oversight Committee and the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports.
▪ Reducing the maximum number of contact practices from 21 to 18 and restricting full-pad days to nine.
▪ Increasing the acclimatization period, when players start with just shorts and jerseys and gradually increase their protection gear, from five to seven days.
▪ Additional limits on full-contact practices, including no more than two consecutive days of full-contact practices, a total of no more than 75 minutes of full contact within any practice session and no more than two scrimmages in the preseason.
The changes were precipitated by “a number of data points that suggest the preseason practice period may lead to a disproportionate amount of concussions and head impact exposure,’’ the NCAA said.
In March 2019, when reporters viewed the Big Cane Drill from a distance as rap music blared in the background, former UM co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach Ephraim Banda, now the defensive coordinator at Utah State, spoke about the drill.
“Everyone wants to talk about a team, but it’s an opportunity to go 1-on-1,’’ Banda said. “It’s a big point of emphasis not only for our defense, but for our team. So, it brings a lot of juice.
“It’s just two guys circling up on The U, which I know a lot of the older guys in this program, alumni understand. So, we’re going to circle up on The U and we’re going to see who is tough. The biggest thing you’ve got to do in this program — and I tell everyone — is you have to prove your toughness to the locker room. Not to me or Coach Diaz or to [former defensive coordinator] Coach [Blake] Baker. You have to prove it to the locker room, and that’s an opportunity to do that.”
Name, Image, Likeness
The NCAA’s Division I Council also announced Wednesday that “provided it is feasible to do so,’’ it will “act on legislative proposals regarding name, image and likeness during its June 22-23 meeting. Having the legislation in place by July 1 would provide greater consistency in the name, image and likeness opportunities available to student-athletes nationally as state laws become effective on or around July 1.”
Florida is among five states, including Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama and New Mexico, that has passed NIL legislation that will go into effect July 1. Thus, student-athletes would be able to be paid for signing autographs or profit off their social media presence.
▪ The NCAA also announced Wednesday regarding COVID-19 that “beginning May 20, local public health authorities will determine fan capacities at championship events. The NCAA will not set a predetermined limit.’’
UM officials have said recently the hope is that Hard Rock Stadium will be able to accommodate capacity crowds in 2021.
This story was originally published May 20, 2021 at 1:06 PM.
