Ed Reed discusses what has changed with Hurricanes. And UM football personnel notes
A six-pack of Miami Hurricanes notes on a Monday:
▪ Hall of Fame safety and former UM great Ed Reed, hired by Manny Diaz as chief of staff, has stuck around under Mario Cristobal.
And like most everyone else, he has seen changes for the better in recent weeks.
“We’re doing things different,” he told ACC Network’s Sam Acho. “The kids are looking a lot better.”
What’s different?
“The mentality,” he said. “You see the teaching that’s going on. Different atmosphere. I can tell you for sure it’s changing right in front of us.”
Reed also mentioned heightened competition now.
At least initially, Reed seems to be around the program more than he was under Diaz.
He mentioned to Acho how he approaches players to share input and messages, such as words of encouragement for linebacker Corey Flagg Jr. on Saturday.
▪ In my conversations with former players who attended spring practice, two points kept being raised: the faster tempo in practice and the improved individual instruction.
One prominent former player, who has no personal allegiance to Diaz or Cristobal, said he was “blown away” by the quality of coaching, how the coaching is more hands-on and how drills are stopped to correct errors. He said this staff is a clear upgrade.
“What stands out are the intensity and teaching,” he said. “They’re the two things that popped up to me. We knew it would be faster paced practices. You hear a lot of verbal teaching. The new DB coach [Jahmile Addai] was walking through drills, saying different things. [Offensive coordinator] Josh Gattis, too. This staff is second to none.
“They need to have this competition back, where no one can feel comfortable. You need to tip toe if a dude behind you thinks you can take your job.”
▪ He said UM football is now being run like an NFL team, and that’s a positive.
“Back in the day, we were run like a pro team,” he said. “When guys went to the league, coaches knew he’s a pro already. Being around Nick Saban, [Mario] Cristobal knows how he wants a program run. We have never had this many analysts. We have so more more eyes on players than before, and that can only help.”
▪ Dusty Dvoracek, the ACC Network analyst on the UM spring game, shared a few nuggets from his conversations with coaches: He said Gattis said tight end Will Mallory was UM’s most impressive player on offense before a shoulder injury sidelined him for the duration of spring. (He will be back for the opener.)..
He said defensive coordinator Kevin Steele raved about the cornerbacks, particularly DJ Ivey, Al Blades Jr. (who’s getting some work at safety and the star position) and Te’Cory Couch…
He said UM views the offensive line as having three solid players (Zion Nelson, Jakai Clark, DJ Scaife) and a bunch of solid players competing for the other jobs...
He said UM is determined to maximize the skill set of versatile receiver Brashard Smith.
▪ A few observations from my tape review after attending the game: The reason UM is searching the portal for two linebackers — one might be UCLA’s Caleb Johnson — couldn’t have been more clear. (Johnson will visit Texas this week after visiting UM last week.)
Not only are there deficiencies against the run, but as was the case last season, there were too many breakdowns in pass coverage.
On more than a handful of plays, running backs and tight ends caught passes with nobody around them.
Keontra Smith pointed at himself after Kahlil Brantley was wide open for a 26-yard gain. Flagg was nowhere near Henry Parrish on one pass out of the backfield. Gilbert Frierson was nowhere near Dominic Mammarelli on a 19-yard gain.
In fairness, safeties also bear some responsibility.
But these types of breakdowns at linebacker were commonplace last season. And it must be fixed.
In his defense, Frierson had some good moments, too, including a big fourth-down tackle for loss and a nice pass breakup…
Cornerback Isaiah Dunson had an excellent breakup on a pass to Frank Ladson in the back of the end zone and snug coverage on Jacolby George on another incompletion…
Nelson had a good day overall but was beaten badly by Thomas Davis for one sack. Davis ranks among UM’s five most improved players this spring. He has “been a pain to block” at 235 pounds, Cristobal said…
Logan Sagapulo did a very good job pulling on a Thad Franklin touchdown run. He ended spring as the first-team right guard…
Thad Franklin hits the hole hard and runs decisively. And quarterback Jake Garcia noticed something else, too, with the second-year running back: “His vision is getting better.”
▪ Quick stuff: Five-star offensive tackle Amarius Mims, who had been expected to visit UM in the days ahead, reportedly decided to remove himself from the transfer portal and stay at Georgia. He visited FSU last week…
Jacob Lichtenstein — who had an excellent spring game — said he has played 95 percent of his spring snaps at defensive tackle, but is also comfortable playing defensive end, where he logged a lot of snaps at Southern California last season…
For the 2023 class, the Canes would love to come away with one of two quarterbacks: five-star Detroit prospect Dante Moore (who attended the spring game) and California-based Jaden Rashada. There’s stiff competition for both players. Rivals rated Moore the sixth-best prospect in the 2023 class and Rashada the 63rd-best prospect….
Tyler Van Dyke said the drops by his backs and receivers in the spring game were “rare.” He said he didn’t notice any difference in having the offensive coordinator (Gattis) upstairs in a booth; last season’s coordinator, Rhett Lashlee, was on the sideline. Quarterbacks coach Frank Ponce is positioned on the sideline.
This story was originally published April 18, 2022 at 1:51 PM.
