UM veteran addresses position switch. And Canes football awaits several key decisions
The name for Amari Carter’s new position is appropriate: striker.
The Miami Hurricanes’ veteran defender has a knack for delivering the big hit, sometimes to his detriment; he has been ejected four times for targeting over the past two seasons.
After opting to return for a bonus season of eligibility, Carter is eager to curtail the targeting and make a smooth transition in his move from safety to striker.
“I love playing striker,” he told WQAM’s Joe Zagacki on Hurricane Hotline on Tuesday, his first public comments since the position switch. “I just love playing defense. As long as I’m able to contribute, I really don’t care [the position] as long as it’s beneficial to the team.
“I got thrown into striker in the spring and took it more as a challenge because I never played striker before. I took it as a challenge to learn the position. With every rep, I get more comfortable doing it. The technique we play, I played some of the techniques at safety. I feel comfortable. Just have to stay in the playbook and have a firm grasp of it.”
Carter, who started nine games at safety last season, will compete with Gilbert Frierson for the starting striker job, with Jalen Harrell and Chase Smith also playing the position.
Coach Manny Diaz said Carter still might be needed at safety at times. The move makes sense for reasons we explained here.
Carter — who has 92 tackles, three sacks, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries in four seasons at UM — is determined to avoid more ejections for targeting.
“It’s something I work on all the time,” he said of playing with the technique necessary to not be penalized for targeting. “This season it’s something I will have to keep in the back of my head to make sure I watch my pad level to keep my head out of everything. It’s something I have to continue to practice. I’ll get better at it. We won’t see it this season.”
New defensive backs coach Travaris Robinson said he has been “working on different techniques and safety precautions” with the goal of making sure Carter is “able to play the whole game. That’s something we talk to him all the time about: tackling, keeping his head up not only to protect the other player but also to protect himself.
“We can be just as physical as we always have been. But we’ve got to do it the right away. Under no circumstances are we going to tell a guy to [allow someone] to catch the ball in the middle of the field” to avoid a targeting penalty.
What’s clear is that UM’s safeties and strikers need to take away the ball more.
Carter had no interceptions last season and one in four years. Safety Gurvan Hall had none last season and one in three years. Safety Bubba Bolden had one last season and two in two years at UM.
Frierson had no interceptions last season and one in three years.
“That’s the goal in our room,” Carter said of snagging more interceptions. “We all emphasize getting our hands on the ball. It’s something we took some focus off of and need to back to that. Tips and overthrows, we have to have those.”
DECISIONS PENDING
At least seven of the 36 players who took official visits to UM in June (and one who didn’t) are expected to select a college in the next few days, with UM among their finalists:
▪ Four-star Orlando-based defensive tackle Zane Durant plans to announce on Sunday and the Canes are considered the favorite over his other two finalists: Penn State and Indiana.
▪ Orlando-based three-star offensive tackle Leyton Nelson tentatively plans to announce on Sunday, picking from a final five of UM, UF, UCF, Duke and Utah. Miami has a chance but isn’t considered a favorite.
▪ Three-star Plantation American Heritage receiver Jacolby Spells plans to choose Sunday among UM, West Virginia and Indiana.
247Sports predicts there’s a 75 percent chance he ends up at UM, 25 percent chance he picks West Virginia. But Rivals makes the Mountaineers the favorite.
▪ Four-star Fort Myers based cornerback Chris Graves plans to announce on July 9, and 247 Sports makes UM the heavy favorite. LSU and South Carolina also remain in play.
▪ Four-star Georgia-based safety/striker Nick Cull intends to announce on July 12, and 247 Sports and Rivals make UM the strong favorite. Mississippi and UF are his other finalists.
▪ Four-star Tampa-based defensive end Mario Eugenio told Canesport that UM, Oregon, Ohio State and Michigan are his finalists and will announce his pick Monday on Instagram. But he hasn’t stepped foot on UM’s campus since his sophomore season, and the Canes are viewed as a long shot.
▪ Demario Tolan, the four-star outside linebacker/striker from Orlando, will announce July 8 and has a final five of Miami, LSU, FSU, Tennessee and Clemson. 247 Sports said “the Hurricanes are in a good spot, but they will have to battle out Clemson and LSU.”
▪ Three-star Texas-based guard Cameron Williams plans to announce on Thursday; UM, Oregon, Oklahoma and Texas are his finalists. UM is considered an underdog.
THIS AND THAT
▪ UM catcher Adrian Del Castillo entered this past season as a projected first-round pick after hitting .331 with 12 homers and 72 RBI in 61 games in 2019 and .358 in 16 games in 2020.
But now he’s out of first-round mock drafts after a disappointing 2020 season in which he hit .275 with just three homers and 37 RBI in 54 games.
In advance of the July 11-13 draft, Marlins amateur scouting director DJ Svihlik assessed Del Castillo in a Zoom call with South Florida media this week:
“There’s other players across the country that are like him. If you look at what he did this year at Miami compared to what he did his freshman year, there’s a huge gap between that and this. So what do we do? How do you address that? It becomes very, very challenging. Is he the guy he was his freshman year? Or, he underperformed a little bit this year. Which guy is he?”
“What we do know about Adrian Del Castillo is, he’s a very talented hitter. He’s got really good bat-to-ball skills. He sprays the ball all over the field. He doesn’t swing and miss, and he plays a position of scarcity.”
▪ Guard Isaiah Wong must withdraw from the NBA Draft by July 7 to retain college eligibility. UM obviously hopes he returns but isn’t sure what he will do. Wong wasn’t invited to either NBA pre-draft combine.
Guard Kameron McGusty announced Tuesday that he has withdrawn from the draft and will return to UM to play next season.
This story was originally published June 30, 2021 at 12:07 PM.
