What Miami Hurricanes football team will and will not do in efforts to control COVID-19
A six-pack of notes from UM media availability Thursday, with our story here about UM’s Greg Rousseau opting out of playing college football this season with the expectation he will make himself eligible for the 2021 NFL Draft:
▪ If a UM player tests positive for COVID-19 before a game, will contact tracing result in several teammates also needing to quarantine?
UM doesn’t believe so, if all goes according to plan.
The UM and NCAA standard for required quarantining is being within six feet of an infected teammate for 15 minutes. From studying every minute of UM’s four spring practices, offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee said no player would meet that threshold during a typical practice, and UM is determined to make sure that threshold isn’t met off the field either.
“Your guys are never within six feet of each other for 15 minutes the entire practice,” he said. “There are a lot of four- to six-second spots where there’s close proximity [such as on the] offensive line. But the good thing is they are never face-to-face. If we have to get creative, we certainly will. Coach [Manny] Diaz and our medical staff has done a phenomenal job to make sure everyone is safe and comfortable.”
UM has done an excellent job of reducing the spread of COVID-19, with a source saying he knows of only three players who tested positive and none currently sidelined by the virus. Diaz said every player will be available when camp opens Friday.
And while the Hurricanes will take steps to keep players protected, there is a limit to what they believe is realistic separation.
For example: UM won’t keep one quarterback from the others. All of the quarterbacks will attend meetings together, but Lashlee said they will be physically separated.
UM expects its players to wear masks but stopped short of saying it would discipline players who don’t. UM doesn’t want its players cavorting around town but Diaz suggested there won’t be a rule prohibiting that.
And UM won’t prohibit players at one position from hanging out with others off campus.
“We are going to make all the necessary changes to what we do with practice,” Lashlee said. “When we meet, our guys are never within six feet of each other. They are spread out. There’s never a contact issue. We can stay in a big enough room and stay safe with the QBs.”
▪ UM camp will have tackling and scrimmages, just as it would any other year.
But players won’t be together when they go for water breaks.
“I think it’s a new world for all of us,” Lashlee said. “We all have a way of learning things and adjust, where guys don’t have to be standing next to each other. Guys [should be] staying spaced out. We’ve been coaching that very hard.”
▪ Lashlee said no player on offense has indicated that he’s considering opting out, but he cannot be sure.
“So far, our guys’ consensus is they all want to play and are ready to play,” he said. “With that said,... it’s fluid. Everyone reserves the right to wake up and feel differently.”
Tight end Brevin Jordan is considered UM’s only top offensive draft prospect.
▪ Lashlee said he wants to settle on an offensive line within the next two weeks.
Lashlee declined to say who would open with the first team during Friday night’s initial practice.
“We are going to shuffle those guys the first couple days,” he said. “We have long athletic options at tackle with John Campbell, Zion Nelson, Jarrid Williams, Kai-Leon Herbert. Zalon’tae Hillery can play outside and inside.
“It’s us finding out who’s comfortable on the right and left side. Left tackle is a little overrated. We’ve got nine days of practice until school starts — we’ll know pretty quickly. I’ve been pleased with the O-line, the way they’ve done voluntary workouts during the summer. Those guys have been showing good leadership.”
▪ Lashlee is uncertain whether the NCAA will grant immediate eligibility to freshman transfer offensive tackle Issiah Walker. “We would love to have him,” Lashlee said. Walker enrolled at UF in January but transferred to UM in May and needs an NCAA waiver to play this season.
▪ With Rousseau opting out, Jaelan Phillips and Jahfari Harvey will get more snaps as UM’s second and third defensive ends (behind Quincy Roche), and several players (Jason Blissett, Chantz Williams, Cameron Williams, Jared Harrison-Hunte) will get a chance to compete for the No. 4 job.
Here’s what defensive line coach Todd Stroud told me this summer about Phillips and Harvey:
“Jaelan is an elite pass rusher. The system they played at UCLA is totally different than ours, but he adapts very well and likes our system. He can be a devastating [force]. He runs very well for a big guy. It’s a shame we got only four practices in, but he got his feet wet. He had to knock off the rust. He’s got a very good skill set. He’s eager to learn…
“Jahfari is not as vertical as those other [edge] guys,” Stroud said. “He’s 6-3 and he’s extremely powerful. He was 218 when he got here, and he’s over 240 right now.
“As far as flat-out speed and ability to run, he’s our most elite defensive end in terms of how he runs. He’s very twitchy, and his short-area speed is unbelievable. He seems to be getting a better grip on our defense, which allows him to play full speed more. He’s responded to the pressure of having to learn this defense very well.”
This story was originally published August 6, 2020 at 3:44 PM.
