‘Good time’ with Hall of Famers on Miami’s Greentree, and Gattis on ‘creating two things’
Gilbert Frierson could barely stop smiling at the Miami Hurricanes’ opening day of spring football this past Monday. But just thinking about Pro Football Hall of Fame members Ed Reed and Jason Taylor as staff members had him grinning on a different level.
“You walk around the field and see Jason Taylor for the first time,’’ Frierson, who has been practicing with the cornerbacks, was told by a reporter that day. “What’s going through your mind?”
Frierson laughed — with gusto.
“It’s crazy,’’ he said. “Because you know everybody from Miami, you know him, watch him, seen him around a couple times and you just see the blessing. You see, like I say, the experience of guys you have around, guys you can just sit down and talk to in the office, just sit and talk about life, you know what I mean, and their experience.
“He got a gold jacket, you know? Ed got a gold jacket. So having those guys around, it’s just like you want that next step.”
“So, what’s it like the first time you talk to Jason Taylor?” Frierson was asked.
“I just say ‘What’s up?’ to him, ‘Coach.’ And when I need advice I know I can go to him for sure.”
Taylor, 47, the former Miami Dolphins defensive end great, joined the staff last week as a pass rushing analyst. Reed, 43, a former UM and Baltimore Ravens safety, joined the Miami football program in 2020 as chief of staff. Both roles are not counted among the 10 full-time coaching assistants allowed by the NCAA.
Taylor is seventh on the NFL’s all-time sack list with 139.5. He spent the past five years at Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas, first as a defensive line coach and the past two seasons as the defensive coordinator. He also worked Dolphins preseason games on TV and regular-season games on radio.
Reed, considered one of the greatest NFL safeties of all time, was part of UM’s last national championship in 2001.
Miami was off Thursday, but Canes defensive end Jahfari Harvey said earlier in the week that it was “great learning from a legend.’’ He also is thrilled that new defensive ends coach Rod Wright, the former co-defensive coordinator/defensive line coach at University of Texas-San Antonio, joined the staff. Wright, 37, played with the Dolphins from 2006 to 2008.
“They both got pro experience,’’ Harvey said of Taylor and Wright. “We’re just looking at them and trying to figure out everything they know, so we can use it for our game.’’
Josh Gattis on spring
New offensive coordinator Josh Gattis spoke about the process of installing an offense in spring.
“The spring is about creating two things: mentality and identity,’’ Gattis said. “Right now, our effort and how we practice creates our mentality. What we do on offense will be our identity.”
Gattis steered clear of any offensive details.
“We’re taking a little bit slower path as far as creating the identity of our offense, and we’re going to build it around what our players do best, so this spring’s going to give us a good evaluation to figure out what they do best. We’re installing the offense this spring, but what we look like in the fall could be completely different once we get through seven, eight practices and really grasp what our players do best.”
Gattis said the players have been “very coachable,’’ but that they’ve got “a long way to go.’’
“It’s a completely new offense for everyone,’’ he said — learning-wise, concept-wise, what we’re asking them to do, even for the quarterback.’’
Gattis’ impressions of the quarterbacks?
“They work extremely hard,’’ he said. “They’ve always got a positive attitude, they’ve got great leadership. I saw those guys compete all winter conditioning through our fourth-quarter program, just competing in everything that they do and that’s first and foremost what you want out of your quarterback position. You want them to be leaders because everyone else is going to follow their leadership.
“They’ve done a tremendous job.”
▪ Miami’s next spring practice of the 15 sessions permitted by the NCAA is Friday. After that, the Hurricanes go on spring break until they reconvene March 22.
