Summer game plan? Connect with kids
CORAL GABLES — The start of training camp may be more than two months away, but the Hurricanes are back towork.
They’re enrolled in summer classes. Muscles are aching again as offseason workouts kick up a notch. New teammates have arrived on campus in recent days, and on Wednesday players began participating in Miami’s summer community outreach program. Nearly two dozen Hurricanes visited with students at Carver Elementary, not far from the UM campus in Coral Gables.
For a little more than two hours, the Hurricanes played catch with kindergartners, spoke with firstgraders about their career aspirations, did arts and crafts with some older students and ran football drills outside during a physical education class.
In the coming weeks, The Hurricanes will also volunteer at the Miami Mission, visit with students at Tucker Elementary in Coconu tGrove and spend time at an after-school program in Miami.
It’s all part of the school’s efforts to help the players grow off the field.
“I think they get, number one, some perspective, I think,” said Hurricanes director of player development Joel Rodriguez, who organized this year’s community outreach projects. “On Tuesday, we’ll go to a shelter and serve lunch to the homeless community. We’ll visit sick kids at Holtz [Children’s Hospital] throughout the course of the summer.
“We’ll do things that maybe aren’t as fun and that gives them perspective in that, ‘You know what? Coach yelled at me and I had a bad day, or I failed a test, or my girlfriend’s mad at me, but here’s a family with a kid that doesn’t know if he’s going to eat dinner tonight or where he’s going to sleep.’ It gives them perspective.”
Added quarterback Malik Rosier, “It feels so good to just give back.”
Working to lead
Rosier, who served as Brad Kaaya’s backup the last two seasons, has emerged as one of the frontrunners in the competition for the starting job, a position made available after Kaaya opted to bypass his senior year and enter the NFL draft.
Throughout spring practice, coaches said they wanted to see Rosier take on more of a leadership role, and Wednesday, he said that’s something he’s striving to do. While motivating and encouraging his teammates during offseason workouts is part of his job, he’ll be doing something else: mentoring freshman quarterback Cade Weldon, who is also in the running for Miami’s starting job.
Rosier said Wednesday that while he works with Weldon, fellow post-spring front-runner Evan Shirreffs will be working with summer arrival N’Kosi Perry to help him learn the playbook ahead of camp.
“Our mindset is really just to lead,” Rosier said. “[Tuesday] me and Evan went to see Coach [Mark] Richt and talked to him about the summer schedule and how we’re going to work. … Iwant to lead these guys and come in, be the same guy every day.”
Eager to see newbies work
Like fans outside the program, several of the veteran Hurricanes said Wednesday they’re eager to see how some of Miami’s newest arrivals will do once they get on the field for workouts.
The Hurricanes welcomed 11 new players Monday for the start of summer classes, among them the highly touted Perry and cornerbacks Jhavonte Dean and Dee Delaney.
“I’m looking forward to seeing wha to ur two corner backs can do,” said Hurricanes defensive end Demetrius Jackson. “They’re going to help us deep. But most importantly, I want to see what that quarterback can do.”