2 network analysts explain why the Miami Hurricanes football team will be much better
A six-pack of Miami Hurricanes notes on a Tuesday:
▪ Even after a 6-7 season, some analysts are cautiously optimistic about UM’s chances, primarily because of the hiring of offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee and signing of quarterback D’Eriq King.
“Lashlee is a massive hire,” ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky told me. “I think Lashlee could be on the fast track to being one of the great offensive minds in college football. The way he understands the game, the tempo, the changing of tempo, matchups, pace, formation use. He’s really, really smart, has got a very creative mind. It’s a really, really good hire for Miami. Lashlee is a coach that’s an aggressive mind.
“And D’Eriq King is a freak,” Orlovsky said. “We thought he was going to LSU. That’s a big time signing, fits the offense perfectly. They will utilize his athleticism as well as anyone.”
So could this be a top 20 program this season?
“Well yeah,” Orlovsky said. “Yeah, absolutely. With the young talent that’s there, and if the defense continues to play really good football, and if the young skill players take a step forward. Really, the offensive line will be a big part of it as well.”
Danny Kanell, who works games for CBS Sports Network and hosts a 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. talk show on Dog Day Sports Sirius XM Radio, agrees that King is the real deal.
“I covered King a lot at Houston and he’s an electric player,” Kanell told me earlier this year. “I [told my UM friends], ‘You guys finally found a quarterback.’ That’s the biggest reason Florida State and Miami have struggled. If you don’t have a quarterback, you don’t have a chance and both schools have really struggled to find that guy who can play that position consistently and raise up the level of everybody around them. That’s why they’re stuck in this wasteland.”
Could King be UM’s best quarterback since Ken Dorsey?
“He’s the best playmaker they’ve had at that position, and when I say playmaker, I mean difference maker where he can bail you out of bad situations,” Kanell said. “He can mask issues along the offensive line with his athleticism, and he’s a really good thrower too. Rhett Lashlee is going to have a field day to dial up plays and schemes that are going to utilize his skill set.”
And Kanell said UM’s move to a spread offense was necessary.
“If Nick Saban was essentially forced to do it, then you better be paying attention because he has the best talent in the world and he’s saying, ‘I can’t take my program where I want to go without running a wide open system,’” Kanell said. “I think you have to do that in today’s game.
“The quarterback talent coming out of high school is playing in those types of systems. They’re excelling in those types of systems and the rules of the game are promoting this type of wide open offense. So you’re kind of foolish if you stay with your head in the sand and say we’re going to go old school.”
And “the thing that’s misleading,” Kanell said, “is you can still be a physical team and run the spread and run um-tempo. That’s a misnomer when people think you’re just going to be finesse and throw the football.”
But if you ask Kanell — who’s an FSU grad — who’s closer to being good again among the Canes and Seminoles, he leans toward FSU.
“I think Florida State is closer, especially with the change in the head coach position,” Kanell said of FSU’s hiring of Mike Norvell, who went 38-15 in four years as head coach at Memphis. “Some of the initial moves Norvell has made, creating a staff that’s impressive, and getting signature recruits.
“Miami is in a tough spot this year. There’s a lot of pressure on Manny Diaz or they can find themselves in a similar position to Florida State last year.”
But as Orlovsky and Kanell indicate, Diaz has helped his chances with his offseason moves.
▪ The view here: Beyond King and Lashlee, there’s a lot to be excited about so far, including the emergence of electric freshmen running backs Jaylon Knighton and Don Chaney; Jaelen Phillips’ work at defensive end (he’s bulked up and there’s no question about the talent); Will Mallory’s growth as a No. 2 tight end (late-season improvement has continued into 2020); the early signs from the freshmen receivers (especially Xavier Restrepo, but all four of them) and the promising signs from freshman defenders (end Chantz Williams and linebacker Corey Flagg, among others).
But left tackle (John Campbell) and one guard spot (Ousman Traore or Jakai Clark or Zion Nelson) are big questions; so are striker (Keonta Smith or Gilbert Frierson), defensive tackle (no dominant player has emerged there) and the linebacker spot opposite Zach McCloud (Bradley Jennings has made a case in the first week of camp).
▪ Most would say Sam Brooks has a higher ceiling than Jennings, who has been getting the bulk of the first-team snaps at middle linebacker.
But coaches have a comfort level in experience, reliability and players who know the system inside and out, and that’s where Jennings has an edge, despite injury issues in his past (he missed the 2019 season with a groin injury) and modest production (15 tackles in 16 career games).
And if Jennings wins the middle linebacker job, that allows McCloud to play weakside, where he has more experience.
▪ Jennings is listed at 6-1 and 225 pounds but McCloud said: “He’s powerful. He’s a strong guy. That power shows on the field when he gets the chance to make contact with somebody, but it’s not reckless. He knows when and where to do it.”
And McCloud credited Jennings for being “really diligent about staying on top of his recovery due to injuries. He’s a guy that people could depend on to be where he needs to be. He was a model for other teammates who needed to see somebody else doing it the right way.”
▪ King likes what we has seen from his skill position players early on.
“As far as receivers, I feel me and Mike Harley have a really good connection,” King said. “[Dee] Wiggins and [Mark] Pope, Xavier, Mike Redding — a lot of big plays were made” in Sunday’s scrimmage.
Harley had two touchdowns, and Mallory, Restrepo and Jeremiah Payton one each. “The way we were moving the ball - everyone was clicking,” King said. “I had a real good feel out there.”
McCloud, incidentally, said UM’s fast pace on offense takes a toll on the defense.
“The pace has an effect because you have to be on your P’s and Q’s, know how to line up vs. different situations,” McCloud said. “You can’t catch your breath. You really don’t know what to do; it has an effect on the defense.
“They throw a lot at you at one time. You have to really prepare to another level. The guys, they’re lining up quick, know their jobs. The defense has to be just as sharp.”
▪ A UM official said the program would lose out on $50 million in revenue that it would ordinarily make if there’s no college football season and would lose out on $30 million if there’s a season but no fans at games.
Privately, people at UM aren’t optimistic that the Pac-12 and Big Ten will be able to play a spring season, though they would never say that publicly.
This story was originally published August 18, 2020 at 3:07 PM.
