Miami Hurricanes excited about possibilities with their multipurpose weapon. And notes
A six-pack of Miami Hurricanes notes on a Friday:
▪ Among the players the Canes are excited to see this fall: second-year wide receiver Brashard Smith, a multipurpose weapon who can also play running back.
Offensive coordinator Josh Gattis said he will be creative in finding ways to use him.
Departing receiver Mike Harley Jr. said Smith is “just electric. Put the ball in his hands. He reminds me a lot of a Deebo Samuel-type of guy, and [former UM receiver] Jeff Thomas. Put the ball in his hands and he can make things happen.”
Samuel, the 49ers Pro Bowl receiver who recently requested a trade, caught 77 passes for 1,405 yards last season and ran 59 times for 365 yards.
As a freshman in 2021, Smith had 14 catches for 199 yards (a 14.2 average) and two touchdowns and ran six times for 23 yards.
He also returned eight kickoffs for 146 yards (18.3 average).
Last year, Rivals rated him the 22nd-best receiver and 160th-best prospect in the 2021 class. Smith starred at Miami Palmetto High.
▪ It will be interesting to see if the young veteran cornerbacks — Isaiah Dunson and Marcus Clarke — stick around to compete at a position that’s very deep. Both had some good moments this spring.
Defensive coordinator Kevin Steele said: “Isaiah Dunson has really stepped up, has ice water in his veins, has been very focused and done a nice job.”
Steele said he has been “pleasantly surprised” by the cornerback position. ESPN’s Dusty Dvoracek indicated that UM told him that Al Blades Jr., Te’Cory Couch and DJ Ivey — in no particular order — were the top three corners.
And that doesn’t even include the team’s best cornerback, Tyrique Stevenson, who missed the spring recovering from a shoulder injury, or West Virginia transfer Daryl Porter Jr., who will compete to start when he arrives in the weeks ahead.
And that group of seven doesn’t even include four-star early enrollee Khamauri Rogers, who missed the spring due to injury, or fellow freshmen Chris Graves and Jaden Harris.
▪ UM showed very little of its new offense during Saturday’s spring game, but Gattis acknowledged one change in the offense he runs compared to Rhett Lashlee’s (and this was no shot at Lashlee, obviously):
“We’re way more multiple in things we do,” Gattis told WQAM’s Joe Zagacki.
Gattis said quarterback Tyler Van Dyke “is a very cerebral guy. Obviously there will be a ton of eyes on him, a ton of pressure” this season.
▪ We hear DeMarcus Van Dyke, who coached UM’s cornerbacks last season, turned down assistant coaching offers from FIU and elsewhere to remain at UM as an analyst.
So as analysts, what can Van Dyke and Jason Taylor do?
They can evaluate film and offer on-field coaching to UM players in a classroom environment. They can receive phone calls from recruits but cannot initiate the calls. They can interact with recruits on campus when they visit but they cannot take in-home visits.
▪ Two players in attendance at UM’s recent alumni weekend said former linebacker Jon Beason gave a very good speech, about how UM players outworked everybody. That was a theme in Mario Cristobal’s speech, too.
Among those in attendance: Mel Bratton, Warren Sapp, Gino Torretta, Steve Walsh, Bernie Kosar and Lamar Thomas.
Florida Senator Marco Rubio also had permission to attend, and he was allowed inside UM’s final closed practice of the spring.
Walsh and Kosar were among those who attended UM’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Thursday. Walsh, who had been a quarterbacks coach in the Canadian Football League for the past four years, is returning to his native Minnesota to coach his alma mater, Cretin-Derham Hall in St. Paul.
▪ A couple of highlights from Cristobal’s speech to the Orange Bowl Committee earlier this month, per an OB member in attendance:
He said former UM coach Butch Davis once said to him: “So you want to be a coach? Are you ready to give up birthday parties, holidays, family gatherings, and evenings with your wife? What’s your end goal?”
Cristobal’s answer: “To sit where you’re sitting.”
That conversation, Cristobal said, was 25 years ago.
The person in attendance said that Cristobal called quarterback Tyler Van Dyke a “generational player.” Cristobal is working 20-hour days and raved about his coaching staff.
NEWS NOTE
UCLA linebacker Caleb Johnson, a Hurricanes’ target in the transfer portal, plans to announce his new college choice at 6 p.m. Friday. He has visited Miami and Texas. [UPDATE: Johnson committed to Miami.]
This story was originally published April 22, 2022 at 12:08 PM.
