More season-ending injuries to Miami starters and some hobbled Canes to return for UNC
University of Miami coach Manny Diaz delivered more discouraging injury news Monday during a Zoom videoconference with the Miami media just five days before the Hurricanes meet North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
Just a few hours after announcing that starting quarterback D’Eriq King would have season-ending surgery, Diaz said starting center Corey Gaynor, a fifth-year redshirt junior, had season-ending knee surgery to repair a problem that turned out to be more substantial than originally believed, according to Diaz.
And former starting cornerback Al Blades Jr., a fourth-year junior who has 14 career starts, had surgery for a sports hernia and is out for an unspecified amount of time — likely long-term.
“Al Blades we don’t expect back,’’ Diaz said, though UM later clarified to the Miami Herald that the program does not believe the Blades’ situation to be season-ending. “Al, he was able to compete the first couple weeks. Al, it turns out, had a sports hernia that had to be fixed, and it just became too much for him to play through.
“Just a very, in the time that I’ve been doing this,’’ Diaz said, “a very peculiar rung of injuries that kind of all jumped on us at the same times. So guys will have to step up.’’
Blades played in four games this season and has three tackles, combining on a tackle for loss. Last season he played in eight games with seven starts, finishing with 29 tackles, two interceptions and a team-best seven pass breakups.
Additionally, Diaz told WQAM earlier Monday that vaunted freshman quarterback Jake Garcia had ankle surgery and he possibly — “optimistically” — could return “some time in November.’’
Gaynor’s knee
The 6-4, 308-pound Gaynor, out of Parkland Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High, had started 27 consecutive games — 28 in all including one start his freshman season in 2017 — before the knee pain got too severe to continue, Diaz said.
“Corey Gaynor since the Alabama game was dealing with a knee situation that was bothering him,’’ the coach said. “And it was not allowing him to be the player he could be. His play was suffering because of it.
“There were scans of the knee. There was a problem identified and it was one of those where the surgery could be a small fix or it could be a large fix. And it became a situation where the way that Corey was playing right now he couldn’t play another play with the way that his knee was. So he decided to have the surgery and hope that it would be the small fix. It turned out to be a big fix. And that fix on Corey’s knee ended his season as well.
“So, a big loss in terms of our time of year in the offensive line room. I think Jakai Clark has done a phenomenal job of filling in at center in the interim.”
The starting five offensive linemen, according to the depth chart released Monday, will again be, from left to right, tackle Zion Nelson, guard Navaughn Donaldson, center Clark, guard DJ Scaife and tackle Jarrid Williams.
Promising update
Diaz did give some promising updates for UM (2-3, 0-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), saying that defensive tackles Jared Harrison-Hunte and Jordan Miller (out for Virginia) are expected to be back for UNC (3-3, 2-3), as well as cornerback Tyrique Stevenson, who missed the latter part of the Virginia game.
Diaz said former starting weak-side linebacker Keontra Smith is also expected back for UNC, although the new depth chart still has Waynmon Steed as the starter, with Avery Huff as the backup — and Smith not listed.
Striker Amari Carter could also return Saturday.
“They’re all back practicing right now,’’ Diaz said.
Smith, a third-year sophomore, was converted from striker to linebacker in the spring and turned out to be one of the team’s most gratifying surprises. He was injured Sept. 11 against Appalachian State. He had five tackles in the opener against former No. 1 Alabama and 1 1/2 tackles for loss. Before he was injured, he had four tackles against Appalachian State.
Four-star decommits
Four-star cornerback Trequon Fegans announced his UM decommitment Monday afternoon on Twitter.
“I would like to say that I’m decommiting from the University [of] Miami and reopening my recruitment...” Fegans, out of Allabaster (Alabama) Thompson High, posted. “My recruitment is 1000% open!!!”
Fegans, 6-2 and 180 pounds, is rated by 247Sports as the nation’s No. 12 cornerback recruit in the class of 2022. Rivals has him as the 16th-best cornerback.
The Canes are now down to eight commitments for the 2022 class, ranked 55th by Rivals and 59th by 247Sports.
Locker room dissension?
Diaz spoke on WQAM earlier Monday and was asked by host Joe Rose about the difficulty of “taking some time away from veteran guys and giving more to this last draft or two.’’
Diaz’s response: “From a football standpoint it’s not difficult in terms of getting the snaps to the guys who are being productive and making plays. What has been a challenge for this team, with the — I don’t know how else to say it — a bloated roster, right? You’ve got more older guys than you normally have on a team, and getting everyone comfortable with what their roles are. That’s what surely has been an issue.
“...Older guys want to play. And when they’re not playing, when their role is reduced, that can cause a problem in the locker room. So we have been working through that. Sometimes as the roles get through the season, you’re finding yourself.
“...I think guys are a little bit more accepting now of where they’re at. They don’t have to like it, but they’ve got to accept it for the team to be able to move on. It’s a unique challenge. It’s tough when you’ve got older guys, some guys who have started and they’re not playing. That’s a tough pill to swallow, but it is life.’’
Rose then added that “the tape doesn’t lie, guys know. Would you agree with that?
Diaz: “The locker room always knows... But great teams have a sense of everybody pulling for one another, everybody pulling together....Here’s the point: Sometimes you still need guys to play in a backup role. We’re not saying you can’t play, we’re just saying that your minutes may get reduced. There are only 11 guys on the field at one time. If you’re one of those 11 we need you to play at a really high level. And that’s what you see sometimes, that when guys get their roles reduced, and then they allow their level of play to diminish when they are in there — in essence their performance gets worse, which does hurt the team.
“So, that’s been something we’ve been working through in a lot of one-on-one conversations with some of the players. For us to be our best going forward everybody has got to accept what their roles are.”
This story was originally published October 11, 2021 at 4:29 PM.
