Miami’s Kevin Steele: Tackling on Day One of spring, and getting James, Avantae, Kam together
Wanted at the University of Miami: proficient tacklers.
New Hurricanes defensive coordinator Kevin Steele is ready to immediately begin the transformation of a program last season ranked 128th nationally in tackling, ahead of only USF and New Mexico.
Immediately means Monday, the first day of spring practice — despite that day mandated as a no-contact session by the NCAA.
Steele, 63, a longtime prominent assistant who last served as defensive coordinator at Auburn from 2016 and knows coach Mario Cristobal from when they were assistants at Alabama, said Thursday on WQAM that the new defensive staff will begin teaching tackling Monday.
“We’ve already made the practice schedule,’’ Steele told hosts Joe Rose and Zach Krantz. “We don’t have pads on the first day of practice. But the second drill — as soon as we flex when the horn blows, we have a rotation tackling station on the schedule for the first day without pads on. Obviously we’ll have to teach the fundamentals of it without the contact. But we’re starting Day One at the first practice.”
Steele raved about new defensive coaches Charlie Strong (linebackers), Jahmile Addae (secondary) and Joe Salave’a (defensive line). Cristobal still has not officially named a defensive ends assistant, but FootballScoop reported later Thursday that UTSA co-defensive coordinator/former Miami Dolphins DE Rod Wright is finalizing a deal with the Hurricanes to become the defensive ends coach.
“The biggest thing is you have to build confidence in tackling,’’ Steele said. “It’s like your golf game. If you step on the tee and think you’re going to hit it in the rough and you haven’t practiced it enough and your thought process is, ‘I don’t have a lot of confidence in this driver....’ you’re going to hit it in the woods. So we’ve gotta build confidence. It’s going to come through repetition and practice.”
Safety/linebacker changes?
Steele, who reportedly had been set to become the defensive coordinator at Maryland before he accepted Cristobal’s offer to come to Miami, also was asked about getting highly rated safeties Kamren Kinchens, Avantae Williams and James Williams on the field at the same time.
There has been much talk about moving soon-to-be sophomore Williams, a former 5-star talent out of Plantation American Heritage, to linebacker. He is listed as 6-5, 224 pounds, and immediately showed his exceptional skills last season — though at times he acknowledged he was undisciplined and overly emotional, which led to penalties.
In 2021, Williams played in 10 games, with seven starts, and had 31 tackles, two interceptions and two pass breakups.
Kinchens, another freshman who played in all 12 games and started five, was fourth on the team with 44 tackles, adding a tackle for loss, four breakups and a forced fumble.
Avantae Williams, the nation’s top safety from the 2020 recruiting class, played in six games, starting the season finale at Duke, and had 18 tackles and an interception.
“This is my 41st, 42nd year,’’ Steele told Rose. “I’ve learned this: You can get beat real quick if you’re standing on the sideline signaling defenses and you’ve got 11 players out there and one of your best players is standing beside you on the sideline.. You probably need to figure out a way to get him out there.’’
The coach wouldn’t name specific players, but he said they’re “athletic” and “smart.’’
“It’s a good thing to start with guys that have played, that understand football,’’ Steele said. “That’s a very strong group.’’
Take note that Steele told the media last month, regarding possible position changes, that “there will be some movement during spring practice [and] post spring practice, or at least experimentation to get the best combination on the field.”
Last year, UM finished 7-5 and was ranked 82nd nationally in scoring defense (allowing 28.2 points a game), 75th in total defense (389.6 yards allowed a game), 102nd in passing yards allowed (250.6), 76th in third-down conversion percentage defense (allowing first downs about 60 percent of the time). The Canes’ rushing defense was 44th (139 yards), with their best category a No 8 ranking in tackles-for-loss (7.8 a game).
Defensive scheme
Rose said he had heard Steele would implement a 4-2-5 scheme. “Is that pretty accurate or are you flexible on fronts?”
“I’ve been exposed to both,’’ the coach said. “Going back to the question of the best players on the field. We’re gonna be a four-man front. We’re a 4-3 base, but whether that’s a Sam linebacker or a nickel linebacker, which makes it a 4-2 or a 4-3, that depends on what the offense puts on the field.”
More from Steele, who among his stops has coached or coordinated defenses at Power 5 giants like LSU, Alabama, Clemson, Florida State, Nebraska and Tennessee:
▪ On getting to know the Hurricanes during off-the-field training: “The players have been amazing the way they’ve bought in.... We’re eager to get out there on the grass.... We have a very energetic, focused, buy-in group right now, so we just gotta coach ‘em up and get ‘em ready.”
▪ On whether Cristobal really is the exceptional recruiter everyone raves about: “More. You cannot believe how relentless. He enjoys it so much. That’s No. 1. There are some really good recruiters out there but they do it because they have to. He does it because he absolutely loves it. And he does, it seems like, all day every day. It doesn’t matter if he’s got somebody on the phone at 7:30 in the morning or 9:30 at night, he’s got the energy that’s second to none. It’s amazing to watch.”
This story was originally published March 3, 2022 at 10:10 AM.
