The players being considered for UM’s return jobs and an addition that excites coaches
A six-pack of Miami Hurricanes notes on a Thursday:
▪ With UM losing its top returners in K.J. Osborn and Jeff Thomas, who will replace them on punts and kickoffs?
There are still some very good options, including talented freshmen Xavier Restrepo and Jaylon Knighton, who both participated in the four spring practices before coronavirus shut down spring football.
Jonathan Patke, who coaches UM’s special teams as well as the outside linebackers and strikers, assessed where things stand in the return game:
▪Punt returns: Patke mentioned senior receiver Mike Harley Jr., junior receiver Mark Pope, sophomore cornerback Te’Cory Couch and freshman receiver Restrepo as players capable of handling the job.
Last season, Osborn (who’s now with the Minnesota Vikings) led the Atlantic Coast Conference in punt return average at 15.9 yards per return (16 for 255). Thomas returned five for 44.
“We’re not going to make a decision on that for a long while,” Patke said.
▪ Kickoff returns: Patke mentioned freshman running back Knighton (“that guy is dynamic, electric with the ball in his hands”), Restrepo and Pope. He also mentioned two other speedy freshmen yet to arrive on campus: Avantae Williams (the nation’s top safety prospect) and cornerback Marcus Clarke.
Does UM want different players handling punt and kickoff returns?
“If it’s the same [person] and they’re elite at both, we’ll roll with them,” Patke said. “K.J. did both at times.”
UM wants returners who are good at ball security and have “a natural ability to catch and make somebody miss,” Patke said. “Hopefully, it’s one person. If not, we’ll go with the two best options we have.”
Last season, Thomas averaged 22.3 yards on kickoff returns (16 for 268), after averaging 26.0 yards per kickoff return in 2018. Osborn returned 10 kickoffs for 201 yards last season.
▪ Patke was thrilled Jose Borregales enrolled at UM as a grad transfer from FIU. He’s the older brother of 2021 Miami commit Andres Borregales, who’s regarded as the nation’s top kicker prospect.
“Jose was a huge get for us,” Patke said. “Coming out of a season where we were disappointed in our field-goal kicking, I feel like we needed to fix it and we have. Jose has been a proven commodity at FIU. He’s a great teammate.”
Borregalas redshirted in 2016 and then was 15 of 18 for field goals in 2017, with all 40 extra points converted. In 2018 he made 14 of 18 field-goal attempts and 54 of 55 extra points.
Last season, he was 21 of 29 for field goals and 37 of 39 on extra points — and hit three of his four attempts from 50-plus yards and 10 of 11 from 40-plus.
The Canes in 2019 used three kickers who went a combined 12 for 20 (60 percent) on field goals, largely because Bubba Baxa went 5 of 10 to start the season, including three misses from 20 to 29 yards out — as well as two missed extra points.
Baxa transferred to Houston, but redshirt freshman Camden Price is returning after stabilizing UM’s kicking situation late last season by going 6 for 7 on field-goal attempts and 18 for 18 on extra-point attempts.
“To get Camden to stay, with Jose coming in, we have two quality kickers that are for [supportive of] each other,” Patke said.
▪ Patke was thrilled with Lou Hedley’s redshirt sophomore season, his first season at UM after transferring from a San Francisco area junior college. Hedley was 26th in the nation with a 43.9 average.
“He’s such a competitor; the guy wants to be great,” Patke said. “I always had big aspirations for him. I thought he had a heck of a season and really helped our team.”
▪ Might UM use Tate Martell at another position if he isn’t in the top two on the depth chart at quarterback? Offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee doesn’t rule it out.
“He’s fully involved in trying to be the starting quarterback here at the University of Miami,” Lashlee said. “That’s his first love and passion. Four practices, it’s hard. At some point they’re going to tell us `Here’s how much time we have,’ and we may make decisions without as many sample sizes as we thought we might have.
“Whether it’s Tate or anybody, it’s our job to get the best players on the field. If Tate can help us I’m all for that. … whether it’s Tate or other people we have to probably make decisions quicker. If [he’s not in the top two at quarterback] and Tate can help us elsewhere we’re not going to limit ourselves.”
Martell requested a move to receiver last August after he was bypassed for the starting quarterback job but then requested a move back to quarterback months later.
He’s now competing with N’Kosi Perry, Tyler Van Dyke and Peyton Matocha for the backup quarterback job behind D’Eriq King, who hasn’t been named the starter but assuredly will be barring injury or some shocking turn of events.
▪ Houston grad transfer offensive tackle Jarrid Williams told 247 Sports that he has spoken to coaches at UM, FSU, Baylor, Southern California, Mississippi and Indiana.
UM has one scholarship left and has interest in Williams, who was preseason all-conference (American Athletic) last season before an injury forced him to redshirt. He’s a two-year starter who played with King the past two seasons.
He started 13 games at right tackle in 2018 and permitted two sacks, per College Football Focus. Zion Nelson, who led the nation in sacks allowed as a freshman starting left tackle for UM last season, took first-team snaps at right tackle in spring practice, with John Campbell working at left tackle.
Meanwhile, it remains to be seen if Miami pursues former four-star Miami Norland offensive tackle Issiah Walker, who enrolled at UF in January as part of the Gators’ 2020 class but now has entered the transfer portal because of family reasons, according to Rivals.
Walker has begun following several UM football officials on Twitter and has interest in UM, according to a source. FSU reportedly has shown interest in the past day.
But Miami’s level of interest is unclear; he spurned the Canes previously and his departure from UF - and questions about his inner circle - have raised questions, according to someone close to UM.
Still, the talent level - and Miami’s need for help at the position - warrants consideration here.
UM, FSU and Auburn were among the schools that Walker considered before committing to UF. He was rated Rivals’ No. 31 offensive tackle in the 2020 class.
UM, for a time, had been saving its final scholarship for defensive tackle Willie Moise, but that’s now in question. Moise still needs the grades to qualify.
▪ Quick stuff: UM athletic director Blake James tells me that there have been no furloughs in his department, and “any potential cost-saving measures will be dependent on what the future holds for all of us.”...
Defensive coordinator Blake Baker said striker is the one area where he wants to get UM’s numbers up in the future. There are two players who have been designated strikers on the roster: Gilbert Frierson and Keontra Smith. “We’re deciphering what we want the striker body type or position to be,” Baker said. “We need to maybe get a little deeper in that category.”
Here’s my Tuesday piece with Patke assessing UM’s linebackers and strikers.
This story was originally published May 7, 2020 at 2:04 PM.
