Manny Diaz on Monday: Top recruits pushing veterans. Also talks running backs rotation
This is what the Miami Hurricanes wanted and needed when coach Manny Diaz signed his nationally heralded 2021 recruiting class: A first-class fight to earn starting positions — and keep them.
Thank players such as five-star safety James Williams and five-star defensive tackle Leonard Taylor, both of whom Diaz mentioned Monday in an interview with WQAM radio. He named other players, too, such as emerging wide receivers and offensive linemen.
“We think very highly of them,’’ Diaz said of his recruiting class. “The ones that obviously came midyear, they all impressed in the spring. But it has been fun to see, whether it’s the wideouts or James Williams, Leonard Taylor, [tight end] Elijah Arroyo. They’ve been what we thought they were. They did everything right in the weight room, they did everything right on campus academically. They’ve got a little something about them as a class collectively that makes them special in addition to their individual talents.”
The battles are just beginning on Greentree Practice Field, as practice began Friday night, continued Saturday and Sunday and is set for Monday night. The Sunday and Monday practices were deemed closed to the media, but Diaz updated some of the ongoings to WQAM hosts Joe Rose and Zach Krantz.
“Real simple,’’ the coach said. “We put all the freshmen for the first three days on the [third team], just so they didn’t have to worry about it. Everybody start and earn your way onto Greentree Practice Field. And they can ascend or whatever from there.
“Every other position, I told the staff I wanted 44 guys to run on one line in the first three days of practice. I just don’t want anybody comfortable that they have a job. I’m pretty sure Louie Hedley is going to be our punter and D’Eriq King is going to be our quarterback,’’ Diaz said, eliciting laughs. “Everything else is up in the air. And I think the players like that. They’re responding to it.
“It really doesn’t matter who a starter is on Aug. 6th or 9th. We’re just going to battle because guess what? It’s human nature: ‘Oh, I’ve got it,’ and then you let your foot off the gas and that’s something that’s been something that gotten us in the past. So, we’re going to stay after it.
“Everybody can have their guesses but whoever ran with the 1s on Day One they’re running with the 2s on Day Two. And guys will now go on battlefield promotions and demotions. That’s just the way it’s going to go here the next few weeks.”
Receivers look strong
The Canes wide receiver group finally seems to have blossomed with the addition of Oklahoma transfer Charleston Rambo and some youngsters such as second-year freshman Key’Shawn Smith and Xavier Restrepo. The veterans are going harder than ever because they’re being pushed by the newcomers, Diaz said.
“We’re definitely noticing it on defense,’’ Diaz said. “There are a bunch of guys that can come after you. Having older guys like [Mike] Harley with his experience and leadership. Rambo’s addition has really changed us on the outside. It’s just so nice to have Key’Shawn Smith back after he missed the majority of the spring with an ankle [injury]. Michael Redding has had really good days, Restrepo is going to make a play every practice the way it’s been since he’s been here. Everybody is getting better. [Mark] Pope had a really good first day.
“You’ve got to build that depth and it can only come through recruiting.It’s the recruiting that pushes everybody to be better. We’ve been nodding our head that yes, the competition on Greentree is the key, but it’s been up to getting the recruiting classes in here that can really push older guys and either push them to improve to the point where they take their game to another level or they pass them by. That’s part of the thing that takes time in building a program.”
More from Diaz
▪ On how the running backs competition between incumbent starter Cam’Ron Harris and second-year freshmen Don Chaney Jr and Jaylan Knighton will play out:
“Coach [Rhett] Lashlee has been pretty consistent in the fact we really want to have a top two. As you know you can never have enough running backs. Running back is a really high-collision position. Most every play ends in some sort of contact, or pass blocking or whatever. But it’s very difficult to disperse carries around three guys. We want to have a top-two pecking order. … I don’t think that means some third guy won’t have a role.”
▪ On if the Canes have a “pretty good idea” of their starting five offensive linemen and key backups:
“No, not at all, but in a good way, because I think we’ve got more than five contestants. Some years it’s, ‘Oh boy, who’s going to be the fourth and fifth?’ That’s what’s going to be fun about this camp. We’ve got some some guys who are competing and stepping up like [left guard] Jalen Rivers.
“You’ve [also] got really old guys with experience.
“What I know is our practices are better because …. our offensive line is better, not just first unit but second unit. You can really now run two units. There’s usually a mismatch in practice. You might have the second-string tackle that can’t block the defensive end...It makes our practice really better having two really solid offensive lines.”
This story was originally published August 9, 2021 at 10:54 AM.
