Rosier ready to take reins
CORAL GABLES — For three weeks, Malik Rosier has taken to the practice field and sought his coaches’ guidance.
As one of the four competitors vying to earn the Hurricanes’ starting quarterback job, Rosier’s has asked about his turn in the rotation, where coaches needed him to be, what he had to do next.
So on Tuesday morning, even after Mark Richt had already told him he’d earned the starting nod, out of habit, Rosier turned to quarterbacks coach Jon Richt and asked a question. Levity ensued.
“It was kind of weird. I even asked Coach Jon, ‘What’s the rotation for quarterbacks?’ and he was like, ‘Malik, you’re with the ones,’ ” Rosier laughed on Wednesday. “I was like, ‘Oh, OK coach.’ It was one of those things we kind of joked about. Yeah, the guys just stayed with me, stayed around me and they helped me out through the whole way. It was nice.”
Since being told he’d edged redshirt sophomore Evan Shirreffs and freshmen N’Kosi Perry and Cade Weldon for Miami’s starting job Tuesday, Rosier says he’s barely had time to catch his breath.
He hasn’t quite had the chance to talk to family and friends back home in Mobile, Ala. He’s been juggling classes and practice and hasn’t had time to think much about the history he’ll add to when leads Miami’s offense onto the field for its opener against Bethune-Cookman on Sept 2.
That doesn’t mean though, Rosier doesn’t appreciate the opportunity he’s been given or the legacy he’s been asked to
uphold at a school that has produced the likes of Jim Kelly, Gino Torretta, Vinny Testaverde, Steve Walsh, and Ken Dorsey.
The redshirt junior knows what is expected of a Miami quarterback, and he feels ready to take on the challenge of leading the Hurricanes. It helps that he has received so much support from not only his current teammates, but from some of the greats that have worn orange and green before him, including Miami’s alltime leading passer Brad Kaaya, one of his best friends and his former roommate.
“I think the biggest congratulations besides Brad was probably Edgerrin James,” Rosier said. “He actually hit me up, telling me congratulations and that he’ll see me and talk to me soon. I also had Gino Torretta hit me up on Twitter. He told me congratulations, that if I had any questions, he’d help me out as well. … Some of the older guys coming back, helping me out, that means the world to me.”
Rosier, who arrived at Miami as a two-sport athlete and briefly suited up for Jim Morris’ baseball team, was the most experienced of the four signal callers bidding for the starting job. He has played in 10 games as a Hurricane, completing 31-of-61 passes for 370 yards. He started at Duke in 2015 when Kaaya was sidelined by a concussion and performed well in a thriller, throwing for 272 yards and two touchdowns in a game the Hurricanes eventually won after an improbable Corn Elder kickoff return.
But there were, during the spring, questions about his accuracy and decisionmaking. Though he’s always been athletic, coaches and teammates noted there were times Rosier tried to do too much.
He spent the offseason working on his flexibility and studying film. In camp, Richt noted it was Rosier’s “focus, discipline and accuracy” that separated him from his younger competitors. And some of the players that have been around Rosier the longest have seen him mature ahead of this new role.
“He came out and had a tremendous camp. He really did,” said senior receiver Braxton Berrios, who was part of Miami’s 2014 signing class with Rosier and Kaaya. “I think his decision-making, he’s come such a far way. He’s always been athletic. He’s always been pretty smart. He’s always known the offense. But when you get rushed, you get flustered, when you get rushed out of the pocket, are you going to make the right decision? In that keen, split-second, what are you going to do? And from freshman year to now, it’s a tremendous difference.”
For both Rosier and the Hurricanes, it’s now time to move forward and focus on the season ahead.
For months, every player at Miami has faced questions about the most significant position on the field. Now, the Hurricanes know the answer. They have their leader. And he says he’s ready to move forward.
“It’s different going from being a backup behind Brad to actually starting now,” Rosier said. “He’s still helping me out and it’s huge to follow the legacy of great quarterbacks.”