Miami Hurricanes coaches dish on defensive tackles and linebackers. And injury news
A six-pack of Miami Hurricanes notes following Tuesday night practice:
▪ UM knows what it has in veteran defensive tackles Nesta Silvera and Jon Ford.
The question is how good Jared Harrison-Hunte and Jordan Miller - the other very likely members of the tackle rotation - will be.
Miller has impressed coaches by losing 30 pounds.
“You can’t talk to anybody in our building that isn’t in love with Jordan Miller the person,” defensive line coach Jess Simpson said. “And then you see the worker he is. When we came in [this past offseason], we set a goal weight for him. And a credit to Kyle [Bellamy] in nutrition and David [Feeley] and those guys and Jordan obviously was the one doing the work, buying into the plan.
“The kid lost 30 pounds. He changed his body. And you can imagine putting 30 pounds on your back and try to play football down here in South Florida and then take it off. His speed of play [improved], plays longer, plays faster. His technique is improving. He’s improved a ton. Still has got a long way to go and he knows it. But man, he’s getting better and Canes fans are going to enjoy watching him this fall.”
And Harrison-Hunte?
“When I got back, watching last year’s tape and coming through spring, my message to Jared is he can be exactly what I thought he was going to be when I signed him,” Simpson said.
“Tons of potential. He’s the athlete we want to have inside - a great mover, a former basketball player. Didn’t play a lot of high school football; only played two years.
“I always kid him, ‘I didn’t sign you because you were a great high school player.’
I saw your basketball tape and you knew the toughness and the kind of kid he was. He is really maturing, locked in, detailed in his work. He’s the kid in love with the weight room. Not saying he’s arrived. But he’s improved a ton over the last seven, eight months. Excited about his potential.”
▪ Leonard Taylor, UM’s new five-star freshman defensive tackle, has made an impression early on.
Defensive end Deandre Johnson says it’s clear that Taylor can be a special player: “He’s been very impressive. He’s flashed a lot of talent. Big, quick guy, very loose in his hips and a polished athlete.”
Ford marvels about how Taylor is “quick off the ball, athletic, doing a lot of great things.”
▪ Inside linebackers coach Jon Patke told WQAM’s Joe Zagacki and Don Bailey Jr. on Tuesday night that Keontra Smith is thriving in his move to weakside linebacker, from striker.
“He has been a great addition to our room,” Patke said. “His instincts are off the charts. He diagnoses runs really quick. His footspeed is off the charts. He has a great feel, played a lot of that position in high school. Inside the box, he’s really comfortable.”
▪ Sam Brooks, who missed the spring with a toe injury and is competing with Smith at weakside, “is very eager to get back and get in the mix,” Patke said. “He looks great; he’s big, over 230 pounds. We’re excited to start getting him some reps.”
Avery Huff - a physical specimen who was a non-factor for two years but came on in the spring - also is competing at weakside.
“Avery Huff had a really good spring,” Patke said. “I was really excited about him coming into camp. He just has to be consistent. He’s everything you want in a will linebacker.”
Veteran Waymon Steed also is in the mix.
▪ Corey Flagg Jr - competing with Bradley Jennings Jr. at middle linebacker - “is a ball junkie,” Patke said. “He wants to know every detail of every coverage, where everyone is going to be. What he has done in four days of camp; the guy just plays hard. He runs to the football.”
Patke said Jennings “has been good. He’s a physical player, really leaned up.”
Meanwhile, the other 2020 class linebacker - Tirek Austin Cave - has moved to middle linebacker, competing with Flagg and Jennings.
“We knew Tirek Austin-Cave could absolutely fly,” Flagg said. “He’s put on a lot of size. He looks great. Now he’s settling in at mike linebacker. He’s come a long way. He has great speed and size in the middle of our defense; he’s a thumper. When he hits you, you can feel it.”
Jennings opened with the starters on Friday, Flagg on Saturday.
▪ Though it might be difficult for the freshmen receivers to crack the rotation against Alabama, it isn’t out of the question because Romello Brinson and Jacolby George and Brashard Smith have all flashed early.
“Mello showed me his length, reaching to get the ball,” Mike Harley Jr. said of one catch on Saturday. “Jacolby made contested catches, got up the field. Brashard, 1-on-1s, he caught a one-hander and got two feet in off instincts. I was like, ‘Wow, we are ready.’”
But Brinson walked off with a trainer during practice on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, receiver Mark Pope, who limped off the practice field on Saturday, was not at Tuesday’s practice…
One other injury note from Tuesday night: Running back Don Chaney Jr., back from an April shoulder procedure, was wearing a red non-contact jersey on Tuesday but participated in some drills during the portion of practice open to media.
This story was originally published August 10, 2021 at 9:01 PM.
